new to the boards.great site,wish id found it sooner.i have a 98 quad 4x4 that sounds like the front end is going to fall out any day now.the truck is a 1 owner with 50k miles.new shocks didnt help,and the bottoms are tight.jacked up truck and tried to move the wheels top to bottom with my hands to check for play,ball joints seem tight,tie rods feel good.it steers great,nice and tight,no death wobble,so i assume track bar is good.lower control arm bushings looked cracked,could this be the culprit?how do i check the upper and lower control arm bushings??any ideas guys? the clunking is terrible,wife is scared to drive it,and quite frankley so am i.its just a matter of time before it leaves me stranded.and i dont just want to start changing parts,ive checked all the old school ways that i was taught to check suspension for loosness.

 

Check the sway bar links. Have a helper rock the truck side to side while you look for and feel for play. Check the shocks for play in this same manner. Look for rust colored areas around fastners, (Could be a sign something is loose) Also if you knotice the noise while turning and hitting the brakes at a slower speed and you can feel in column check the steering innermediant shaft. Good luck..Keep us posted.

 

shocks are tight,as are the links,no sign of cracking.it dosent clunk around corners or braking.drive it down a bumpy and i mean small everyday bumps and the clunking is very loud.i wish i knew a way to check control arm bushings

 

I know what you mean. I have the same thing if the sound and thump feels like its at your feet, by the pedals?
The only thing I can see in that area is the suspension arms (I think they are the same as control arms?).

 

So can you duplicate the noise while rocking the vehicle or bouncing the F.E. with your body weight? Or does it only do it while driving?

 

Ok if your lower control arm bushings looked craked or pieces missing your need to replace them asap. But if they are only craked slightly then your ok but from what I learned if there are pieces missing you need to replace them immediately. Also this is just another suggestion also take the caliper of and the grease cap on your hub and take out all the bearings and clean it up real god and spin it to see if it sounds like the bearing is bad should make a noise like if it was in need of grease i cant really explain in words sorry. But you should be able to tell if the bearing is bad, or if they are in backwards you never know maan but i hope this helps you out. Keep us posted if it owrks out or not

 

On my 2000 4x4, I've had problems with the tracbar being loose... the front end was moving during turns and it was wandering alot. the stock bar sucks, have it checked for play. another problem i've had was I busted an RS 9000 shock on the inside... it was rattling quite a bit. swapped it out and it was good as new. you could not tell that it was bad unless you were driving it.

your lower control arm bushings being cracked could be a problem... you might have too much movement in them. I swapped mine out for urethane ones a month after I had it. they were a bitch to put in but it sure helped the front end out.

 

found em,bad tie rod.ill replace all with new moog fom rock auto.


thanks