navygz19 Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 Hey all. I've been noticing more and more a horrible clunking coming from the front (drivers side) when I turn the wheel, pretty much to full lock in forward/reverse. It seemed to start happening recently after Tropical Storm Ernesto flooded a lot of streets and I was in a lot of water that day. Bushings? Struts?. The struts are on the list for replacement, as are the tires. When I'm driving off road I can also feel that clunking in the steering wheel...don't really know enough about suspension to make a diagnosis. Help? Thanks a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96SE Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 My guess is ball joints. In my pathy it happened mostly when the wheel was turned to the left, or when going straight down the highway and hitting a bump. It's pretty easy to check the ball joints. Lift up the driver's side front wheel (you can leave the tire on, but it is easier when it's off), grab the rotor/hub assembly and see if you can wobble it top to bottom (in relation to the truck. You should be wobbling it as if you were trying to pull the top/ bottom of the tire out away from the truck. I can't think to describe it better than that right now ). If there is play then the ball joint is worn. If it is worn get both sides done at once, since they tend to go around the same time. That's my guess, see what others have to say. Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entropy98 Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 See if struts are leaking. I also had something similar latley, and had both of my inner tie rods replace that seemed to take care of the problem. They had a little play in the bal joint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max_stryker Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 cv joint...would be described as a nasty clunking noise. have a look se at your boots/joint and rst of the half shaft to see its condition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevs03pathy Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 Could be a strut bushing. There have been several threads here about the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navygz19 Posted October 26, 2006 Author Share Posted October 26, 2006 cv joint...would be described as a nasty clunking noise. have a look se at your boots/joint and rst of the half shaft to see its condition Did that, they look alright to me, no tears or anything. My Pathy's only got 65K on it...isn't that a little soon for ball joints to be going? I hardly ever wheel it either because there's no place to go. Those are expensive aren't they...geez...holiday's are coming up, yikes :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navygz19 Posted October 26, 2006 Author Share Posted October 26, 2006 My guess is ball joints. In my pathy it happened mostly when the wheel was turned to the left, or when going straight down the highway and hitting a bump. It's pretty easy to check the ball joints. Lift up the driver's side front wheel (you can leave the tire on, but it is easier when it's off), grab the rotor/hub assembly and see if you can wobble it top to bottom (in relation to the truck. You should be wobbling it as if you were trying to pull the top/ bottom of the tire out away from the truck. I can't think to describe it better than that right now ). If there is play then the ball joint is worn. If it is worn get both sides done at once, since they tend to go around the same time. That's my guess, see what others have to say. Adam I'll give this a shot and post what I find. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navygz19 Posted October 27, 2006 Author Share Posted October 27, 2006 Ok I tried that yesterday, no such luck with finding it loose. However, I removed my AC skid yesterday (which is a PITA to do by yourself) and threw on some anti-seize compund on the 4 bolts (which are not galvanized so they're rusting pretty bad) I put the skid back on again and didn't quite tourque down the bolts as much and today, I haven't duplicated the clunking. Maybe the skid was binding on the subframe? I mean, I first started to notice it after that torrential rainstorm, which subsequently submerged the skid for an entire day. :confused: :confused: We'll see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02silverpathy Posted October 27, 2006 Share Posted October 27, 2006 Miss my rig already...check the strut bar end links...mine did it too...try to swerve left to right and see if it is constant with the sway of the truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navygz19 Posted October 27, 2006 Author Share Posted October 27, 2006 Thanks, will do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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