Another suspension knock thread

[CornishFlyer]

Sorry for starting another thread about suspension knocking, I have read the others post by post but I'm still scratching my head.

I've got a MY10 Lib GT Wagon, 130,000KMs, purchased from the dealer in another state about 4 months ago. Ever since I drove the car it's had a knocking from the front over small and large bumps, you can't feel it through the wheel but can through the floor. They tried to convince me it was the low profile tyres but I now know it's something bad in the front end. I've taken it to three garages, one of them a Subaru service centre who said it was probably the front struts and possible the sway bar end links and bushes - around $2K to fix.

The second place is a renowned Sydney suspension place who had the struts reconditioned and also replaced the sway bay bushes front and back (the noise is still there). They thought the LCA rear bushes were looking a little tired but not really that bad, they couldn't really point to anything that it could be. The car was there twice. That little lot cost be $1.4K, the noise was still there.

The third garage undid the sway bar links and drove it and apparently the noise is still there, they also couldn't find the issue. They didn't charge me for their time.

I went under the car myself yesterday and checked the tightness of the rear front cross member bolts and basically anything else I could reach with a wrench. The rear bolts on the cross member where quite loose, I gave them about another quarter turn with a 12" bar, I couldn't reach the front bolts because of the under tray.

When I jack the car up on both sides and tug on the front wheels nothing feels loose or makes a noise, there is no knocking from the strut top bearings if I try to lift the front wheels up, the wheel bearings feel free of play. I jamed a large screw driver between the LCA bushes and tried to move them around, they feel pretty solid to me, certainly no sign of hitting anything else.

I can jump up and down on the front end and I don't hear anything. Steering is smooth, handling is good.

I'm starting to loose hope really... I've read so many threads now..

Things I could do with some advice on:

* the top strut bearing carriers are perhaps somehow cracked
* Cross member front bolts that I can't reach?
* Steering rack mounting (steering feels good, and the car runs straight, no wobbles)?
* End links, even though there is no play when tugging on the wheel?
* LCA bushes, even though they look good, could the noise be coming from inside them? What do they look like when they are going anyway?
* Engine mounts?
* Something else loose that I haven't found yet.

Really hoping someone else can point me in a useful direction,
Dylan