Just a few hours ago I was wheeling the D and on my way out of the trails I noticed a knock when I turned the wheel. Driving home I noticed my steering wheel wanted to turn strait more than normal. Its hard to explain. Almost pushing then giving in. Then when I got home it made he same knock turning into the driveway. I thought maybe there was a stick wedged somewhere it shouldn't be but found nothing. Any other thoughts as to what it could be?

 

"On my way out of the trails" = a bend A arm, broken TRE or BJ most likely.

Really didn't think of those?

 

Sounds like a CV joint.

 

I was thinking of the cv as well. A friend who was with me said it could be my pitman arm. I plan to jack up the frond end today and wiggle stuff around and/or have someone turn the wheel while I sit underneath.

 

Pitman arm wouldn't make noises like that, or cause the steering to pull in any direction. Your steering might become loose or it might have alot of play, but it wouldn't pull.

Check your CV's before you do anything else, from what you've said it's about an 80% probability.

 

Is there any way to truly check the cv other than completely replacing it?

 

You bet, just jack your wheel up a little and turn it back and forth slightly, you should feel and hear it if you have a bad CV joint. What usually happens is the grease dries (or is lost because of a damaged/missing boot) and the ball bearings inside the cage wear (and sometimes fall out), causing uneven torque and thus, the vibration and clunking, torque steering, etc. Bad CV joints can make you think your whole front end is bad. When you see what a bad CV joint looks (and feels and sounds) like, you'll realize you didn't have to worry about replacing something that wasn't ruined...it'll be obvious.

I don't know my way around that well inside the front of these Durangos yet, but they're not so different from other vehicles I'm familiar with, so I'm reasonably sure it's a CV joint.

 

I'm with Indy on this one, it sounds to me like an outer tie rod end. If it were a ball joint you'd be able to definitely see damage just by shining a light at it but jack it up and hit the wheel on either side to see if it makes that knocking noise.

Check your control arm bushings as well, one may have been wearing and finally split.

 

Jacked it up today and there was a little bit of knocking when I turned the wheel. So I got underneath and spun the wheel and could definitely tell, and feel, that it was coming from the cv. thanks for the help everyone. Now I've only replaced these on atvs so is there anything special to doing it on a vehicle? I'm used to grabbing it with vise grips and hitting with a hammer. Will this work?

 

It's probably going to be a little more involved this time I haven't done one on a Durango yet, but I'm pretty sure you'll be pulling the entire shaft. It'll probably have a nut on the outside of the hub that has to come off (it should have a cover with a cotter pin in it), and the brakes and rotor will probably need to come out. And anything else that's in the way, of course. You should download the service manual, it'll probably give a blow-by-blow on the R&R.