Can bad bushings do this?

Hey all,

I have been chasing a (believed) suspension clunk for a few months now and can't seem to nail it down. I originally thought it was one of the aging suspension components from the front end of the vehicle - I purchased the truck last year and most of the front suspension was still from the factory. Since then I have been replacing parts that are failing or on their way out: upper and lower ball joints on both sides, CVs on both sides, sway bar end links on both sides, and outer tie rods on both sides as well. I expected one if not all of these was contributing since they were definitely in need of replacement. Despite this I still have a persistent 'clunk' noise that I would liken to a joint popping when it doesn't slide smoothly within a socket. The first occurred when turning and has since begun singing when going over rough terrain or potholes.

So my question for everyone here is, can old bushings cause something like this? I have read numerous threads on people replacing the LCA, UCA, and steering rack bushings to improve ride quality and reduce noise but never something exactly like this. Should I be looking towards the inner tie rods instead as a possible culprit or do you think that the bushings could be making this sound? I now have it happening on every turn and during most road conditions. If none of these things are a likely culprit, where else should I look?

I should also add that after the outer tie rod replacement I took it in for an alignment and the tech found the camber bolts to be frozen solid and was unable to move them. I plan on replacing these with the LCA bushings as soon as I can but the process looks challenging without all of the right tools and I am working without a garage or anybody nearby to bail me out if I mess something up.

Thanks.

 

Since you said you took it in for an alignment, and the camber bolts were frozen in place, does that mean no alignment was done?

That'll cause some bad, uneven wear on your tires.

I had a bit of wandering steering, clunking front end, as well as uneven wear in my tires and I replaced my lower control arm bushings.

Alignment went well afterward, steering is tighter, and I don't get that clunk anymore.

I have my own issue of a nasty creak that I developed after off roading though; I thought it was gone when I drove it again just 2 days ago but it's back again.

Hopefully what I did fixes your issue, and doing what you've done so far fixes mine.

 

Replacing the LCA bushings would only be a pain if things aren't rusted in place; my truck is from CA so I was able to pull everything off and replace my LCA bushings in my parking lot.

 

@Kwikvette the alignment was done to some extent, they tweaked the outer tie rods and still charged me full price. Not much I can say about it unfortunately but it is what it is. The tires are alright, no noticeably bad wear but it doesn't perform as good as it could on the road. Hitting bumps will make it jump a little.

How was the clunking? When did it occur? If the new bushings fixed it that certainly might be my problem then. I know my bushings will be a pain since everything here in Ontario gets a good layer of rust, even with undercoating to the vehicle. I try to do most of the work on it myself but I've had to bring it into a shop a couple times already so they could use their torch on things to free up stuck parts.

Hopefully you find your issue soon though. Sometimes I find that just water and mud can make that creak if it gets into things not greased enough, have you ruled the small things like that out?

 

Have you inspected the coil over springs? A broke spring will give you a very noticeable clunk.

I couldn't see mine was broke untile I took the tire off.

 

I forgot to mention I have also replaced the spring and shocks with some of the Monroe quick struts. It shouldn't be them since the noise was there before the replacement and persisted afterwards.