Ive been on a wild goose chase trying to find this front end noise. As of right now, its a clunking sound when turning very slowly or hitting extreme bumps. The only thing suspension wise that hasnt been changed is the outer tie rod ends. My question is, how hard is it to replace the outer tie rod ends. I've came down to this conclusion because I have new upper & lower ball joints, new lower control arms, as well as the upper, new sway bar bushings & end links.

 

Anybody????

 

Not hard. Do NOT COUNT Threads as many will tell you to do so. Measure from a designated spot on your rack housing using a tape measure. Measure from there to the center of your current tie-rods. The center meaning where a grease fitting would go on the topside(backside). That is the True center of the actual balljoint.
Write that measurement down. Do the same for both sides. When you put the new one's on, you screw them in until you get that exact measurement. if your precise enough, you won't need an alignment right away. When i did my Exploder, I was dead on.

Doesn't matter where you measure off the housing, just remember that spot. I like to hook the tape onto a lip or something similar. Makes things easier.



However, i would say your clunking is a result of your lift and it will never stop unless you take your level out. It creates an extreme angle that causes the clunk you are describing, but if you wanna change your tie-rods anyways, go ahead, but i don't think it will solve your problem.

You could just jack up your front and check the tie-rods for excessive play.

 

Thanks for input dirtydog. To the clunking noise, i had it before the level. I remember this because i was driving through a ditch, before the level, and i remember hearing the same clunking noise. After all the things that have been replaced, suspension wise, noises like popping and loud clunking have gone away. The only thing left is this slight clunking.