I hear a thumping sound coming from the front when going over bumps. What could it be? Ball joints, something else?

 

i notice mine does the same thing and i took it to the mechanics shop to have my ball joints looked at and he said they are fine and also says he dont see anything wrong anywhere, i guess i just have to live with it. but it has to be something

 

take a look at the sway bar end links, common to make noise on bumps when they start to fail as the sway bar will move up and down on the one side where it's failing when either tire moves on bumps even though the noise sounds like it's happening only from one side. Unless both are bad, then your truck would make alot more noise, it might sound like two sounds happening close to or at the same time from either side, both on the upstroke and the downstroke of suspension cycling.

Ball joints are also a common thumping on bumps culprits but not as common as the sway bar end links. This would be a noise happening only when that one tire on the failing side is moving.

Very much lower on the list and a PITA to replace would be the strut bushing in the lower control arm. like i said, this one is uncommon but can cause the same type of noise.

 

+1 for the sway bar end links. Mechanics will say nothing is wrong, and the visual inspection looks good most of the time, but when they go bad at all, you really hear them.

Wife's 2006 Durango, back when she had one, had this issue. Replacing end links in the front solved it.

 

This has happened twice to me and both times it was a long PITA to figure out. First time it was the front brakes bouncing so I had to buy the brake anti rattle clip kit from a parts store and put them on the brake pads. Second time it was the sway bar end links which looked good but when I took them apart they were definitely bad. I also replaced the sway bar bushings and the aftermarket split ones did not fit properly so I bought the one piece bushing from the dealer that were more difficult to put on but were a proper fit. Good luck!