One more Poppin Dodge
I don't think its in the column.. You can hardly feel it inside except in the floorboard. Outside it is loud and you can feel it in the frame. I will test that though.. I will also check the shocks. Honestly, This truck has had about 10k miles added to it in three months.. Up and down the mountain.. Could be very well that something is loose.. But underneath wise, Everything is tight. I'll check those two areas next. Thanks!
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Joined: Jun 2015
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I found the “KLUNK” in my 2000 Dodge Ram Van. No remedies from several mechanics and none from the Internet. I hope this revelation helps someone out there that may be experiencing the same problem, even though there are many situations that can cause “clunking and popping” from the steering and suspension areas.
My discovery happened accidentally-on-purpose:
In addition to reading hundreds of automotive articles from the WEB, I started the long painful and expensive process of buying and replacing everything related to the steering and front end suspension system on this vehicle.
As I finished the installation of ALL new MOOG tie rod ends from Rock Auto, I noticed “the clunk” was still alive and well, right where I left it before installing these latest parts... Most clunks were occurring during extreme slow right and left turning maneuvers, in and out of parking situations.
This whole nightmare was somewhat of a fluke that was not even my fault or even caused by any worn out or bad automotive parts. I think I've spent somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand dollars in car parts on that stinking clunk, not to mention at least 100 hours of labor.
What happened was this: The last time I took the van into a shop for a front end alignment, the technician aligned it correctly, but as he finished tightening the tie rod adjustment sleeves, he left the adjusting sleeve bolt point up instead of down. This positioned the adjusting sleeve bolts RIGHT IN THAT PATH OF OTHER MOVING STEERING PARTS AS THE VEHICLE WAS MAKING SHARP TURNS. He didn't notice his error because as the car sat on his alignment lift, there would be no need for him to turn the wheels extremely left or right to complete the alignment... I accidentally spotted the problem while finishing the installation of the inner and outer tie rod ends when laying under the van and moving the steering system to the left and right to get the new parts in position. It didn't "clunk" earlier for some shops because the front end of the van was off the ground with no load to produce the "world famous clunk", but with the van on the ground I could see were the conflicting parts were coming into contact with each other as the steering went from left to right and vice versa.
So I guess we have to call this one an honest mistake by the alignment shop because when doing an alignment on most cars, those adjustment sleeve bolts can be left pointing up or down.
Fortunately, half of the parts that I installed were going to be due for preventative maintenance replacement in the next year or two.
My discovery happened accidentally-on-purpose:
In addition to reading hundreds of automotive articles from the WEB, I started the long painful and expensive process of buying and replacing everything related to the steering and front end suspension system on this vehicle.
As I finished the installation of ALL new MOOG tie rod ends from Rock Auto, I noticed “the clunk” was still alive and well, right where I left it before installing these latest parts... Most clunks were occurring during extreme slow right and left turning maneuvers, in and out of parking situations.
This whole nightmare was somewhat of a fluke that was not even my fault or even caused by any worn out or bad automotive parts. I think I've spent somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand dollars in car parts on that stinking clunk, not to mention at least 100 hours of labor.
What happened was this: The last time I took the van into a shop for a front end alignment, the technician aligned it correctly, but as he finished tightening the tie rod adjustment sleeves, he left the adjusting sleeve bolt point up instead of down. This positioned the adjusting sleeve bolts RIGHT IN THAT PATH OF OTHER MOVING STEERING PARTS AS THE VEHICLE WAS MAKING SHARP TURNS. He didn't notice his error because as the car sat on his alignment lift, there would be no need for him to turn the wheels extremely left or right to complete the alignment... I accidentally spotted the problem while finishing the installation of the inner and outer tie rod ends when laying under the van and moving the steering system to the left and right to get the new parts in position. It didn't "clunk" earlier for some shops because the front end of the van was off the ground with no load to produce the "world famous clunk", but with the van on the ground I could see were the conflicting parts were coming into contact with each other as the steering went from left to right and vice versa.
So I guess we have to call this one an honest mistake by the alignment shop because when doing an alignment on most cars, those adjustment sleeve bolts can be left pointing up or down.
Fortunately, half of the parts that I installed were going to be due for preventative maintenance replacement in the next year or two.