2014 Prius V groans, pops and thunks in the front end... why?

So.... Result of my work.... The all important feedback!

I replaced the struts this morning with KYB struts. I have to say that the OEM guys looked fine except for the ripped rubber hoods. But, off they came! I torqued everything back to spec, visually checked everything else (including the links) and didn't see anything amiss, so I powered up the car and tuned the wheel from stop to stop. It was blissfully quiet! I then took it for a drive. Ahhh.... It hasn't been that quiet in eons... so long that I had forgotten, frankly!

But wait! What was that? Darn! The tick is still there, although now more on deceleration than acceleration. And it isn't as prevalent as it was. So, I was right to think of these as two separate problems. The struts fixed the groaning and popping when turning the steering wheel, but the thunk/tick is still there. Strangely, however, the strut replacement did affect the degree of the thunk/tick though.

Because I had already purchased a set of the links, and because it is an easy replacement, I decided to replace the originals. I didn't really expect a change but, why not? So, I lifted the car again and did that. When I took the originals off, I gave them an even closer review and I could not see one thing wrong with either of them. That was disheartening because I'd really like this tick thing to get resolved. But, sure enough, the car still has that even with the new links.

So.... Any ideas on that? I did note that the brakes can rotate easily on the around the axis of rotation when the wheel is removed. Well, it can only go as far as the 5 studs, but that is a sloppy fit. Yes, when the lug nuts are tightened down, it should tighten the brake disk too, I guess... But a car has a lot of inertia. Is it possible that the ticking is the brake(s) slipping on the axle flange and then hitting the lug studs? That seems improbable, but??? Yes, I'm grasping as straws here, I know! I am just mystified.

 

Well, it was a long shot, and I didn't really think it could be the brake disc, but I'm stretching for ideas so I went ahead and pulled those. I cleaned up the surface between the disc and the hub so that there was no rust/residue/etc present. Unfortunately, right out of the driveway.... THUNK on acceleration. So, definitely not the problem. The turning was pleasantly quiet, though, so I'm feeling good about having resolved that problem.

 

Any chance this is a bad motor mount? I don't get any vibration at speed (or anytime, frankly), but possible the thunk? It seems to be on the left front side.

 

Any idea, agreement/disagreement surrounding whether or not the thunk could be a motor mount? Maybe a bad CV joint (although it is a new axle....)?