At a loss guys, here is a list of what I replaced and any mods in the past month. It's a 2001 2wd. 92000 miles

all four ball joints
new fabtech upper arms
new stock lower arms
new shocks front and back
new hubs
new brakes
3 inch lift coils
sway bar end links
drive shaft ujoints
had the rear rebuilt
new wheels 16x8 4.5 back spacing
new tires 265 75's
idler arm

I fixed the shift linkage clunk
I adjusted the steering gear box
I checked and double checked all fasteners and shocks

The truck rides awsome now, it's a dream but this front end clunk is driving me nuts. I can feel it through the pedals and sometimes through the steering wheel. Mostly happens driving on slightly bumpy roads. A big bump or hole is fine. Somtimes it clicks or pops with out hitting any bump at all. Braking or accelerating doens't make a difference. As far as I know the only things left to replace on the front is the steering linkage. But it all looks pretty tight down there. I'm planning on doing a 2 inch body lift so I allready decided to get a borgenson steering shaft. But my shaft doesn't seem to be that bad.

Also, with the amount of new front end parts I put in would that cause the old parts to REALLY show their true faults? I'm tempted to just buy new tie rods and a center link just so I can say it's all new. After talking with a friend that used to be a dealer mechanic about the the linkage. He said not to replace the pitman arm, the never go bad.

ANyways, at a loss guys. Thanks for any help.

 

did you check the steering shaft for play?

 

How about the axle/hub U-joints?
Mine would make a clicking sound as they were getting bad. Could notice it easy when driving past a privacy fence or barrier wall/bridge at low speeds, 25-30 MPH or so.

 

I'm in the same boat. I just did all four ball joints, both u-joints at the wheels, the hubs seem fine, I put new shocks on and a track bar. My steering wheel seems tight, I don't really feel it there, but I feel it in the pedals and just resting my feet on the floor. The outer tie-rods look good and there is no play at the wheel, the inner at the pitman arm is loose if i shake it front to back but not in and out or left to right so I'm confused. I believe that might be it but I'm not sure. Could it also be that the steering stabelizer is bad or just worn out. Or is it just that everything else is new and now I'm feeling every imperfection in the road??! Let me know how you make out or vis versa. Whatever it is its anoying.

 

Try taking the steering stabilizer off and see if it's gone. Worth a shot.

 

Thanks guys, I have a 2wd drive though. The steering shaft looks pretty good. I'm getting a borgenson anyway pretty soon for other reasons but I really don't think that is problem. No u joints or steering stab. to check. The only other thing I can think of is the new shocks. They are fabtech shocks that came with the upper arm/coil kit. The bushings are smaller then my last set of ranchos. The factory mounting bolts don't really fit nice and tight in the lower arm either. There's some play but it was always like this before and I never had a problem.

It is really annoying to do all that work and still have problems, I agree.

If I can find a really tight fitting shock bolt and a new buishing sleeve to match I can at least rule that out. I'm having trouble finding the sleeves though. Anybody know where?

 

The lower shock bolt should be torqued to 100 pounds, or else it will rattle (2wd and 4wd). When changing the shocks I made this mistake and it rattled like crazy until I tightened it up with a piece of pipe over the ratchet handle. 100 pounds is a LOT.

By the way, on my rear shocks, one of the lower bolts had been eaten away so bad by rubbing around in the shock grommet that I had to replace it.

 

Yeah 100 ft pounds, I know. It's alot but that number is for stock shocks and stock bolts. The new shocks have a smaller eye and bushing. I use grade 5 bolts I bought to replace the factory bolts and I can reach 100 ft easy. Any more than that and I risk bending the arm too much. Besides that, they are tight. I'm starting to think the problem is the shocks themselves. Not that they are bad, but the the tube is too close to the arm and all bushings flex so I'm thinking the actual shock is hitting the arm. I need a shock with a bigger diameter eye or I have to make /fix the way the shocks mount to the arm. The past 2 days have made me feel like the shocks are the problem. There are scrathes and paint missing where the shock would be hitting the arm.

So I need to find where I can buy/make sleeves for whatever size bolt I choose to use. Which would be anywhere from 5\8 down, or I need to buy a shock with a bigger eye and bushing.

I'm pretty sure the stock bolt size is 9/16, which still has play inside the arm mounting holes. And I have also heard that the 2wd fornt lower shock mounts are a problem even with the stock shocks. Though I never had one. At this point I'd rather have a hunk of poly to fab my own bushing and make my own sleeve to fit a bigger bolt.

I get the noise over small bumps and when the front end is forced to move side to side. Like when I pull out out of a new lot at work with no driveway, just big stones and left over cement droppings.

 

Well, I went over the shock mounts again. And I reinstalled the end links checking all the bushings. They are fine. Has anybody ever installed a bad ball joint?

It's driving me nuts. But I guess it could be a possible. I have fabtech upper arms that came with new ball joints and I had to buy new lower arms that came with new joints rivited on.

At this point, if it doesn't get any worse I might just accept it. A shame with all the money and time put in though. Then again, I'm not the type that just accepts something.

The only other info I can give is this.......It's a tight sounding/feeling pop. Side to side sway from the front end sometimes brings it on. Other times it does it on driving on a smooth roads at like 30 mph. I know, that's not much to go on but that's my truck. she tricks me all the time.

I've spent alot of time reading through all the posts and wanted to thank you guys. I learned alot about these trucks and fixed some other things on mine without having to post. Very cool site.

Next weekend the body lift goes on, with or without the clunk fix. One last question.........after the body lift, can I ditch the steering extension if I put a borgenson shaft in?

Thanks guys

 

This weekend the 2 inch body lift and borgenson shaft goes in. Maybe the new shaft will cure my problem but I doubt it. Anybody do a body lift lift with a borgenson shaft? Do you need to use the PA extension with it? I'm guessing I don't because I think the new shaft extends more than the stock one does.