Rattle sounds from the left front

[PeonySilver]

Perhaps someone has encountered this situation.
I have been delving deeply into my 06 sport sans ACE.

Background information. Initiated with a rattling noise and an unstable steering wheel when applying little brake pressure.

Replaced rotors produce same noise.
Replaced control arms; noise persists. Both arms exhibited characteristic deterioration and loose ball joints.
Replaced strut assembly; instability ceased when braking.

The noise persists. It seems like an individual is using a hammer. This occurs only with little braking pressure.

Caliper pins are effective. The sway bar bushings are rigid. The rack and pinion seems to be constricted.

The sound seems to be in close proximity to my left foot.

I saw a peculiar body strut when I removed the plastic tire cover and was interested if anybody had experienced a failure of that body strut. It was somewhat loose, although I was unable to produce a knocking sound when manipulating it; yet, that is precisely where the noise appears to originate. I may just eliminate it for a test drive.

What is its purpose, anyway? Does the body oscillate enough from the frame to need a shock absorber?

I have seen someone substituting the steering rod for the rack. Mine seems constricted without any significant free movement.

Any insights would be appreciated.

[CryptoGuru]

The front body dampers were removed from my 2011 3.0 L320. The back components remain there, however they were never affixed to the front. I would want to mention that I own ACE, however I am uncertain whether it has any significance.

[PeonySilver]

Intriguing. A search reveals a Technical Service Bulletin about these dampers, applicable just to ACE vehicles. I will likely remove it to assess its impact.

This evokes memories of my former Bavaria BMW from my childhood. Replaced the driveline and differential to identify that the noise was from a $20 front wheel bearing.

[GamerXtreme]

Does the term "control arms" include the upper ones as well? The upper bushings were deteriorated, although being three years newer.

[PeonySilver]

Indeed, both upper and lower components. The uppers were quite constricted, but the ball joint exhibited looseness. No genuine engagement, only laxity. The lowers were all substandard. The bushings were fractured, and the ball joint exhibited significant play.

I have only been changing components on the left side. I own the correct components for the right side, but I have been concentrating on this peculiar hammering sound.

The damaged strut likely resolved the shaking, since it must have been defective. I have not removed the airbag for inspection, but I suspect that the airbag was functioning as the shock absorber.

[CryptoGuru]

It may be a wheel bearing, since they exhibit unusual behavior.

[PeonySilver]

It is possible. This point is becoming tiresome.
The left body damper was frozen and deformed. The right was satisfactory. Removed both. No alteration.

There seem to be several discussions on front-end clunks. I will continue to replace components till I identify the solution.

The front differential has many questionable bushings; nonetheless, they do not display significant play, but braking may cause the differential to shift somewhat. They seem almost hard to extract from the vehicle.