Clunk in front

I know this is going to be very hard to explain/diagnose via the interwebs... I just know there are some clever people on here who might have a voice to chime in!

I have an '18 Sport with 6112/5160, leaf pack, bumpstops, etc. I also had the ECGS needle bearing replacement put in awhile back. Everything has been fine (awesome actually) up until about a month ago when I got a random "clunk" noise that sounded like something loose and sliding back and forth and making contact.

The noise did progressively get worse after a long trip up north, so I decided to take it in. It has been at the repair shop for two days now and they can hear it but not pinpoint it... With the vehicle off you can jerk the wheel sharply, not moving it much, and it will "clunk". Do the same in the opposite direction and it repeats. Last Friday it rained here and the noise got very very quiet... almost like the rain lubed something and made it go away? As it dried out, it came back.

I am at a loss on what to do; let them keep digging at it, take to another shop, drive it til the wheels fall of, etc.

The shop had one guy go through the whole suspension, tierods, you name it. Now they transferred it to another tech to see if he sees something the other guy did not, which I think is a great idea.

Reading on here, I see cab mounts can possibly be a culprit and may be something that they are missing. Anyone else have any thoughts?

 

I had this problem when going over large speedbumps or something similar. It went away when I replaced my struts. I have a 6 spd Manual sport too 4x4

 

Well struts are new 6112 and springs. I have the truck back now with no resolution except it rained again and the noise is diminished. Once it dries out today it will come back.

 

Rack bushings, inner tie rod ends, upper/lower ball joints. What UCA is installed?

 

They started at the rack and went to the wheels through all components and suspension with nothing found. I have the All pro UCA and they are right at 5k for service of greasing, which I plan to do this weekend, but I do not know if it will help with the issue. The sound transfers when it clunks so it leads me to believe it is bushing related somehow but I am not a mechanic, just a guesser.

 

OP I hear a similar noise up front turning passenger. Doesn’t happen all the time frustrating. IMO I off-road and flex truck out. Honestly I’m not going to worry about it until something grinds or lights come on flashing etc. LOL. RIDE is great no complaints

 

End links?

 

Yup I am in the same boat now, gonna run it til it breaks or becomes so obvious Ray Charles can find it. I do spend lots of time off road climbing sand hills and so forth, so if is gonna break or become worse it wont be long...

 

They say no... I can only go on what I was told, since I do not wrench on stuff myself really. I am very confident tho with what they did to try and find it, so I believe them when they say everything was tightened again/ inspected.

 

I forgot to add that I am also gonna ditch the swar bar for a weekend and see what happens

 

Nice bro report back

 

Honestly, that's my best guess. They will clunk. They can be hard to track down as the source of the noise, and they may not be immediately obvious as being bad. I'm kind of shocked they would go bad this quick, but if you're doing heavy wheeling, maybe... I would say for sure it's a rubber bushing or something along those lines because of the rain thing. Good luck!

 

Thanks! It bothers me but is what it is until something falls off! LOL! I am curious tho as to what will happen when I remove the sway bar...

 

If you get no joy removing the sway bar I've seen chassis microphone kits for around $100. You basically magnetically mount them underneath and rock down the street listening to see which one is picking up the noise. Probably a handy tool to keep around the ol' tool shed.

 

OP I’ll take a video of mine tonight if i can replicate it

 

UCA ball joint is where my $ is. Uniball on a daily driver.

 

You said uni Ball

 

You should hear the shit I say off the internet!

 

Check torque on everything.

I'm thinking specifically the LCA alignment cams, but check everything else too.

 

I had similar clunking sounds from my front end a while back. They would get worse when the truck warmed up, or the weather outside was hotter. It ended up being faulty SPC upper control arms.