I know suspension clunks/noises are hard to diagnose without actually hearing them, but i have one that i was wondering if anyone else has had or knows what might solve the problem. Whenever i leave a driveway from like a grocery store or any kind of parking lot where there is a sharp but short angle to the road i hear a loud clunking kind of noise while the suspension is flexing. I also hear this noise while hitting larger bumps in the road, but usually not on small bumps. It seems to be coming from the passenger side, but im not sure. I have replaced all 4 ball joints, all 4 tie rod ends, the front hubs are fairly new, along with the front axle u-joints. The sway bar end links have also been replaced. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The noise is REALY annoying.

My truck is a 2001 1500 4x4 sport off-road.

Also does anyone know what is a good shock to put on the off-road package ram and are the shocks different from the regular ram?

 

Seeing how you have addressed most every other thing, I suggest checking the lower shock bolts. These tend to allow the shock to wiggle, which causes a very annoying clunk. They are supposed to be torqued to 100 ft. lbs.

As far as shocks go, its hard to beat a Bilstein. Much more expensive, but you get what you pay for.


Also, have you checked the track bar ends?

 

As far as i can tell the track bar seems to be fine. It seems very solid and the joint isn't loose at all on it. I have a new steering stabilizer still on the way that i ordered, but i will check on the lower shock bolts.

Does bilstein make a shock for the off-road package? Is the off-road package shock longer?

 

I torqued the lower shock bolts and also the track bar end with the bushing. Neither seemed loose at all. Any other suggestions? I did not take it out on a test drive again tonight to see if the sound is still there or not. I will check tomorrow. I also tried to rock the truck to see if it was coming from a shock, but i didn't notice any movement in the shock bushing and i didn't hear any noise in the amount that i could move the shocks. Im lost for ideas. Any help would greatly be appreciated.

 

is the top shock bolt nice and tight? i had a rattling type sound when i hit bumps, and it turned out that i didnt tighten the top bolt enough...tightened it and sound went away....just something to try

 

Ill give that a try...i'll throw the torque wrench on the top bolt and the tower bolts too. I'll try giving a post tomorrow to see what the results are. Does anyone think this could possibly resemble a problem with the shocks themselves? They do there job going down the road pretty well for being original, but could they be making this clunking/popping noise of the suspension when being extended weird such as these situations?

 

Im in the exact boat you are i just did all 4 of the ball joints thinking that was part of the problem and everything else is great on the front end but im still getting a clunking sound when going over bumps or when im having articulation with the front end. Idk were to go and was going to do shocks next. I was looking at kyb for shocks but this is my first full size truck dont know what works best.

 

KYB is a good shock Bilsteien is a good shock, ranchos are good


and you have the original suspension on it? that could be some of the reason...its not hard to do, i changed all four of my shocks in less than 2 hours

 

I've got the same problem, which is why I joined this site, to see if anyone else is having the same problem. Mine clunks at random times, some days a lot, other days hardly at all. Doesn't matter if I'm accelerating or slowing down or braking, smooth road or bumps, and some of the clunks are really loud. Its not my differential or my drivetrain, they've tightened the bolts in the rear suspension and on my running boards, and they also repositioned the rear fender skirt bolts/clips b/c it looked like the skirt was moving around. Still doing it. I don't know what track bar ends are, but I'll have them look at that along with the shock bolts. Any other suggestions?

 

OMG! I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem. I have the same clunk when I hit bumps in the road or pull in driveways. The clunk can only be produced while driving. I am at a loss. I have yet to check the upper and lower shock mounts. But the shocks are brand new Bilstein 5100s. It's funny though, when I do hear the clunk I can feel a slight flexing in the driver floor board. Hopefully someone will chime in with a solution to this annoying clunk.