My typical "Clunking" front end experience with solutions

[darksparkz]

So, I have a 1997 Toyota Camry LE V6. It has the typical clunking that occurs on most Gen4s. Mine is at 120k miles or so. I have replaced the struts with KYB GR-2s and still running on stock springs. The clunking has been coming from the front and many say its the strut mounts.

So what I did was order OEM strut mounts and just swapped it out. I ended up breaking a sway bar link in the process, but it was fairly easy to do. All I needed was a strut compressor and bam, it's done. The strut mount replacement actually did solve my problem.

The clunking is typically louder in the winter time, but I've had it done for the past few weeks and it works great. No more clunking and the steering itself does feel a bit smoother with the struts being able to rotate more freely.

All I would recommend replacing at the same time is the strut bearing plates thats directly underneath the strut mount. I forgot about them and didn't buy any. But for those who want to fix that annoying clunking sound, I vouch for the strut mount replacement.

[yeskay]

does it require alignment after the strut mount replacement? can you do it yourself.
Thanks

[darksparkz]

Yeah, it does require alignment. Realignments are usually better done with a mechanic because they used computertized alignments, but its somewhat possible to do it by hand following the manuals for the proper settings.