OK, yes, those are (were?) the radius arms. I'm not sure of their specific purpose, but learned long ago that once one part of a suspension system is weak or broken, the additional stress causes other parts in the system to get weak or fail.


I'm not sure if missing radius arms would cause clunking, but a worn ball joint or bushing or end link or rear shock mount can. Pry or squeeze (with large channel lock pliers) all of the ones that you can see. If the noise is easily reproduced by bouncing the vehicle around in your garage, it helps a lot to have it up on ramps and have a helper bounce it while you look underneath at what is moving excessively.



I'll be going through a similar process to locate the source of rear end sway on mine. I can actually push on the rear quarter panel and the vehicle will oscillate side to side.