Drove car in the driveway the night before and it was perfect. Drove out the next morning and it was making a loud clunking from front suspension and turning the wheel made it much worse. Seemed like it was a strut mount failure but upon further inspection the lowest part of the spring had broken (maybe in conjunction with a bad mount bearing?). Complete front struts are available online for less than $100. Nonetheless, if it had broken and gone into the tire it could have been very serious (as it has happened on other Ford's).

Had a clunking noise coming from the front of my 2003 focus...so I replaced both springs and all four shocks (found front Left Spring snapped at the bottom) still wasn't solving the problem...replaced the tie-rod ends,still not the problem...replaced the driver and passenger CV joints, still wasn't the problem...replaced all four tires and a 4 wheel alignment, still not the problem...checked the front sway bar, still not the problem...just bought the front right motor mount because I'm convinced THIS is the actual problem..if it is, I will post!!

I had noticed the loud vibrating noise coming from the front of the car. My dad always liked to take care of my cars and he always said it was nothing. One day, I had the battery replaced at SEARS and the tech told me if sounded like the engine mount. I took it to my dad's mechanic and sure enough. He place belts on the engine and lifted the engine and the noise was gone. He then proceeded to check the engine mounts and the right hand side was broken. The noise got really annoying right when the extended warranty was expired . I called FORD dealership and they wanted about $100 for each mount. He replaced the right hand side and and the noise was gone. He bought the parts aftermarket and charged me $100 parts and labor...not too bad.

A year later, the noise is back. I took it again and now the left hand side mount is broken and it was replaced as well as the right one(again) because it was wore down already. My dad says it's because I hit potholes and speedbumps fast. The Car is front heavy and the suspension sucks and the impact is all on the mounts. But anyway, this is what i did to solve. My dad's mechanic suggested i no longer buy FORD....i wont.

I first noticed the clunking noise around last January '09. At times the noise can be so loud everyone can notice it. First I 'figured' that it was the struts. So I bought the struts online. Saved money on sales tax and got free shipping. My mechanic charged me around $170 (with tax) to install them. I got my car off their shop and hit the road only to find out the noise was still there as if I had done nothing about it! I guess the struts weren't in such bad shape after all.

Someone suggested to check the ball joints and to lubricate them. Well, the ball joints on a Ford Focus were not designed to get greased on a periodic basis. There is no grease insert on them so you have to use a grease gun with a needle. You put in excess grease and it will just come right back out. It took me about 2 hours to get the job done properly and I was so disappointed that the clunking noise was still there!

The control arms look fine except for, maybe, the bushings. But I'm not going to mess with that. I am almost convinced that the coil springs are the reason for the nightmare. I will be saving my money and buy them from the same online merchant as before since they have great customer service.

What a pain this has been. The ride sucks. Sometimes I'd rather just walk to work but I can't--it's about 10 miles. There is no public transportation where I live so I am screwed.

My car has been making this noise for over a year and I took it to a dealer who said it was nothing. Then I took it to Midas who said it was the link arm. They fixed both sides but the noise was still there. Had my dad look at it (who rebuilds cars for a living) and he said it is the coil springs and struts, so today we will be fixing them.

All 2000/2001 have been recalled due to this problem but not the 2003. I guess they want me to keep blowing out tires and end up killing myself before they recall my 2003. The government needs to look into all of this and make them do something before more people are killed over simple things that could be fixed in just a hour.

What a headache, the front end of the car sounded so bad with every little bump in the road, i had the front end looked at & replace the small stablier arms for both sides, then came to find out that it was the front coils, & struts. Looking at a cost of $650- $800 for replacement. I had an honest mech. look at the year of the car & checked the vin. number to find out that it was covered by Ford thru a rare owner correction problem...no recall or TSB on it, it was a hush item that Ford knew was bad but wasn't willing to step up & correct unless we complained enough about it. Found on road die....it's hard to go back & buy crap like this again...

I have discovered a clunking sound coming from the front of my car. It's an annoying rattle that occurs over every crack in the road, over every curb, over rail road crossings, over the transition from the pavement into the garage. Pretty much ever road imperfection sets off a clunk/rattle from the front suspension. I have pressed up and down on the front of the car on either side and decided it's coming from the driver's side. I don't know what it is yet, but have read that Ford has installed fault strut coil springs on certain models in certain years that break. Not sure if this is it. It may be anything. Steering feels tight yet, suspension action seems the same, and nothing else per handling seems to have changed. I'm going to have to have it checked out soon. Ridiculous. I can't believe all the stuff that I have experience with my car at only 65K miles. Poorly constructed, poorly build, unrefined, and can't imagine it lasting more than 120K without some serious issues and expensive maintenance. Another thing I've heard is that the Focus is notorious for suspension not staying in alignment, and with this fancy "control blade" setup, you have to have 4-wheel alignments that usually run up to $90 or you wear out tires prematurely and reduce fuel economy. Oh, and the tire size on the focus is a notch lower than the most common size for compact cars, meaning that they COST MORE. Didn't Ford build the suspension beefy enough, or does it change geometry after running over a spider? Sorely disappointed. I should have bought a Corolla back in 2003 or waited until '06 for the new Civic.

Apparently coils spring are 'weak' on some Ford models. I brought my car to my regular garage guy who had to fix my heat shield (whic had rusted and was dangling around) and was well-enough informed to let me in on the fact that Ford covered coils springs on my car for free. Turns out it's not on warranty, and it's not a call back. They explained that it's just a courtesy coverage offered by Ford since they realized a weakness in the coils springs used on certain models in certain years. I had been there for other problems and they failed to mention that small bit of info to me at those times. hmm. Interesting. I have an appt tomorrow morning.. The questions is: will they replace both coil springs or will I be making another trip to Ford soon??