Hi. A month ago I had new Bilstein HD 4600 series struts and shocks put on (at 109000 miles) and now with about 1000 miles on them I am starting to hear a loud clunk/knocking sound coming from the passenger side strut at the front right axle. When I'm driving down the road regardless of the speed the littlest bump makes the strut create the loud noise. I can replicate it and confirm it's only the front right strut by driving the wheel up on a curve and then backing down off of it. As the wheel comes back in contact with the pavement it makes the loud sound. When I do it to the driver's side strut it makes no sound at all. Does anyone know what this is or has had it happen to them? My research so far on the internet points to a few things but nothing concrete. Thanks!

All2surreal, good morning. There are a few different things that could be the issue but without the vehicle/more detail its hard to be exact. To better assist your search it will be beneficial to take the front wheel off, open the hood and use a floor jack to raise and lower the front axle to find your play. If your getting any play in that area it should be noticeable. This will allow you to give us more detail and or allow you to see the issue.

possible areas to look if strut related are:

bushing end located at the axle
mounting hardware at the top (under hood)
shock shaft/rod retainer nut (under hood)
spring perch

(PLAY) any movement or none movement of a part in which should be and or should not be moving. As a strut compresses it should travel with the axle BUT should COMPRESS not lift or delay in travel.

Be sure to inspect all moving parts in the area for damage and or noticeable wear as it may not be the strut.

Thanks for the reply! will take a picture of each side and upload them for comparison.

Okay here are the pics I just took. The first one is of the driver's side and the second one is of the passenger's side.

Here is the driver's side strut:


Here is the passenger's side strut:


There is something very obviously wrong with the passenger's side strut. It appears as though the bushing got pushed right through the top-mount housing. What does this look like to everyone else? Or is there something else wrong too? What would be the fix here? Thanks!

All2surreal, Okay so now the strut needs to be removed to find out whether the strut shaft/rod or the Xterra's upper seat failed! Once out, if the failed piece is not apparent just snap another pic of both areas and we'll go from there.:)

If removal needs to be explained just let us know! It can be done right where she sits in roughly 15 mikes.

It looks as though the seat itself has rusted through but looks can be deceiving and that would be a interesting breakage. However if your wheeling the X its possible!

If the lower washer was left off this could also happen but would have or should I say should have happened with the first compression of the strut?

Thanks for the replies. I'm bringing it into the shop tomorrow morning; the same one that put them on too. I'll let you all know what they say.

So the shop had to remove the entire strut with the springs attached and replace the entire fixture. They could not find the proper parts to be able to use the Bilstein shock with the factory top-mounts. They ended up buying a Monroe brand quick-strut which has the strut, top-mount and springs as an all-in-one piece. They removed the Bilstein shocks and factory springs and top-mounts and installed the quick-struts on both sides.

So they lost a washer and in the end, had to ditch awesome Bils and left you with Monroe's?

Yes. It was a mess.

Grrrrr insert foul language and something about buying a washer from home depot here...