Another clunking thread

[ichoplin]

Man I know there are a ton of threads here about clunking noises from the frontend of 4wd trucks, here's mine.

My 06 has 80,500 miles and I've had a noise coming from my front since I bought this truck last fall. My noise comes at slow speeds, straight or turning, and I can feel it in both the stop and go pedals.

Here's what I've done so far:

new oem ball joints

new axle u-joints

new wheel bearings(both sides)

new track bar bushings

3 new u-joints in rear d-shaft

I even took the front driveshaft off and I still got the noise/clunk.

Where do I look next? Radius arm bushings?

I don't have to tell anyone here, I've got a small fortune in this already and I'm ready to quit puking money on it.

Thanks,

Ian

 

[rbattelle]

Is the front suspension stock? Of so, I'd say yes radius arm bushings are the next suspect part.

The noise happens when driving over bumps? Or when turning the wheel? Or just constantly whenever the wheels are rotating?

Ryan

 

[ichoplin]

Noise comes with and without bumps. Mostly at slow speeds, like slowing down to stop and leaving from a stop.
To top all this off, the shop that installed my u-joints apparently messed one up. As I was leaving for Topeka this evening, I got a pretty healthy vibration at any speed over 40mph. I came home pulled the d-shaft to check that the yokes were in phase and they were. I have to think that maybe they buggered up some needle bearings somewhere. Wish me luck trying to get them to fix it.
Ian

 

[ichoplin]

Oh yeah, stock suspension.
Ian

 

[rbattelle]

I notice the carrier bearing isn't in your list of attempted fixes. Have you tried replacing that?

Ryan

 

[ichoplin]

Have not replaced that yet. I've read the recent thread about it though. How does one determine if it is bad or not? There is movement in mine, but how much is too much?
Would a bad carrier bearing make a clunking sound?
Ian

 

[Prairie Dog]

My money is on the sway bar end-links. The best part is they're cheap too.

 

[Tinman]

Sounds similar to my truck. There is a current thread about it as well.



https://www.turbodieselregister.com...s/223088-loose-steering-driving-me-crazy.html



I don't hear anything though, I just feel it.

 

[rbattelle]

Would a bad carrier bearing make a clunking sound?

It could. It's very common for these to crap out, so my inclination would be to start there.



If you're careful about it, you could pull the rear driveshaft and then drive in 4wd on the front only for a short distance to see if the clunking disappears.



Ryan

 

[brods]

As Prairie Dog suggested, definitely check the swaybar links and the swaybar bushings as well. While it might not be your problem, it is easy enough to do, but you'll probably need to disconnect one swaybar link to unload the bar and then try wiggling it to see what has play. That or just pull the bar and links off and go for a drive around the block to see if the clunking is gone. I was surprised how substantial the clunking was because of the worn swaybar bushings. They did not feel loose when yanking on the bar by hand with everything hooked up and the truck parked on the concrete pad, which in hindsight must not have been level enough to unload the bar. The stock links and sway bar bushings lasted a bit past 60k on my truck. Hope you get it solved.

 

[TCDiesel]

It's the Transmission Cross Member Bolts,They need to be Re-TQ. The Four 24mm. You will need to do them twice to eliminate them completely.

 

[ichoplin]

I did drive up my driveway w/ the rear d-shaft out and it still clunked. Haven't checked the crossmember bolts. I did grab the sway bar with my plier-hands and couldn't get it to move, I guess that's not the test(lol). just had the local Dodge house tell me it was the intermediate shaft. I'm definitely following Tinman's thread.
I'll try those bolts and report back.
Thanks,
Ian