hey guys, so i was driving my truck today and noticed that when i turn i hear a loud clunk. i think its coming from the front and feels like it switches from side to side depending on which way i turn. !s it safe to drive until i fix it?? Suspension??

let me know
thanks

steve

 

There are a lot of joints in the steering and suspension system that could cause this noise. From your description, I'd suspect ball joints (there are uppers and lowers) or one or more of the steering linkage joints. You'll need to lift the truck (or at least one corner at a time) to find the loose joint. I don't know how safe your truck would be at this time, it depends on the severity of the wear in the joint. I tend to consider all things that keep me in a straight line and allow me to stop to be safety critical, so tires, brakes, and steering I constantly monitor and repair before they let me down.

 

Okay, thanks I'll check that out

 

Yep, get under there and start inspecting. Ball joints, tie rods, sway bar buchings and end links, control arm bushings.....

 

I've had a similar "pop" from side to side that started a few years ago, but never got any worse. I've been through all suspension and steering parts twice, and I'm beginning to suspect it may be a couple opposing body/frame bolts that either loosened up over time, or maybe have bushings that wore out. It's either one or two "pops" that happen somewhat frequently on turns that are hard enough to induce body sway, but it's definitely not a swaybar link problem because the bar is out. I've also been through new strut isolators (and struts), new upper control arms/bushings, re-tightened up the crossmember bolts under the engine and steering rack bolts to service manual torque, all so far to no avail.

 

silver001,

I'm sorry to learn of the recent clunk noise you're experiencing. In some cases a clunk or pop sound can be caused by a misaligned intermediate shaft.

 

hey guys, so i took it to my mechanic and he is thinking sway bar links and bushings. So i picked some up and will be installing them this weekend. Hope this is the fix.

thanks everybody for there input. Will let you know if it fixes it.

steve

 

In my experience, and YMMV, sway bar end links, even on these trucks, tend to go AFTER the struts/shocks are pooched.

 

hey, so sway bar links and bushings were a fix so no more clunk. turns out the link on the driver side was basically ripped apart, so its a good thing i decided to replace them. also thanks for the input guys, and most likely i will be replacing the shocks and struts soon cause the ride is getting a little rough, but that's a couple pay checks away!

thanks!

steve