2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission clunking front end

[shendren]

i have a new

-track bar (lindstadt)

-dss

-ranchos with tight bolts

-borgeson



what else could be clunking at low speeds? i can feel it in the pedals. could it be the steering box?



on the borgeson..... i drilled into the lower shaft. it did not appear to be hollow. i was getting very close to half way through. the shaft is very hard to slide (brand new). thus, it is hard to install/uninstall etc, every time i want to check something. . the upper shaft is open at the top end so don't waste your time putting a zerk in the upper shaft. .



thanks.

scott hendren

 

[Roadhogz]

My truck used to clunck. It was the new set of front skyjacker shocks I installed. The metal sleeve that slides into the polyurethane bushing (bottom) for the bolt was to big and created play between the mounting bolt and the sleeve. You can tighten the bolt, but it won't help, you'll still have play between the bolt and sleeve. I used the stock sleeves with the new shocks and the cluncking dissapeared. Your new ranchos might have play and cause that clunck noise.

 

[Extreme1]

Is the Linstead tight? (The adjusting part). Use whatever size drive fits in there, I don't remember if it's a 1/4" or 3/8".



Next suspect would be the 2 halves of the Borgeson. Have someone wiggle the wheel while you push it to one side. You'll feel it there if that's the problem.



The bearing in the bottom of the column can get loose and cause problems too.



The there's always the pitmann arm, the idler arm, the tie rods, etc...



Edit:



Oh, and the front wheel bearings too.

 

[Kalaehina]

I had a clunk, just looked under the front yesterday and found that 2 nuts were loose on the trailing arms. Today no clunk .

 

[shendren]

the lindstadt adjusts from the bottom. it has a big "X". kind of like a phillips screw driver but looks like it will take a BIG tool to tighten it..... ???

 

[JPLB22]

My truck used to clunk also. I had the exact same problem as Roadhogz. I had the Rancho 5000's. I put the OEM shocks back on there and no clunking whatsoever.

 

[LandShark]

My 'clunking' at low speeds, especially in turns, was caused by bad front axel u-joints.

 

[tmacc]

Ball joints? I could feel my front end 'clunk' on city streets at low speed. New driver's side ball joints took care of the problem. Thanks Jeff, Ron, and Larry. If you atempt this on your own. Make sure you have some help. Preferably w/ at least one left handed person. Beating the hub off was a bear of a job.

Tom

 

[shendren]

a post script... ...



i have the new borgeson in... . didn't help the clunk.

i have the dss in... ... didn't help the clunk... .....

i have tightened the shock bolts. (rancho 9000's). no help.

new lindstad track bar... . no help... ... ... .



what could this be?



also, i feel it when i drop the pedal and when i let off of it quickly... ? as well as at slow speeds.....



thanks. scott.

 

[GWHaley]

Originally posted by JPLB22

My truck used to clunk also. I had the exact same problem as Roadhogz. I had the Rancho 5000's. I put the OEM shocks back on there and no clunking whatsoever.

I agree with these guys, you're just going to have to pull the shocks back off and make sure the sleeves are the right size

 

[KL]

Scott, is it a constant clunking or occasional clunking noise?



If its an occasional clunk. Have you checked the front driveshaft? A bad U-joint, Constant Velocity joint or slip yoke can clank when you accelerate or suddenly slow down. KL

 

[shendren]

how do you check these components? just stick a big prybar and check to see if they move???

 

[KL]

Scott, I am not a mechanic but I had a 76 Blazer years ago which always had drive shaft (and drive shaft component) problems. It seemed that some component needed to be replaced yearly. The Blazer had full time 4wd and a NP 203 transfer case. I am not sure how your 96 is set up from the transfer case to the front axle.



Try this, make sure your truck is in Park, on a level surface and in 4 wheel drive. Crawl under the truck and try to turn the drive shaft. If you can turn it slightly and it clunks it may be a U-joint and/or CV joint.



Just behind the front axle push up on the slip yoke. It should be tight. If you feel any up and down movement it is probably your slip yoke and/or drive shaft. My previous 96 1500 gasser had some type of axle disconnect where the yoke and drive shaft met, but I don't know if the 2500 or 3500 does. Hope this helps. KL

 

[shendren]

thanks for all of the help... i will check the drive shaft components now... ...



scott... ...

 

[shendren]

when i bought my borgeson, it was so tight that it would hardly pull apart. i called borgeson. they said to send it back and they would "repair" it. is the borgeson supposed to be that tight?



i took the truck to a front end guy today. he checked every part and said he could find nothing loose. could the shaft be so tight that it is not sliding and absorbing the shock?

 

[fishjack1]

shendren,



I had the same clunk and tried everything you have done - mine turned out to be a loose bearing preload on the steering gear shaft input. Tightened it up and the clunck stopped. Pretty easy to do. It would be worth checking if you have not checked it yet.



The instructions are on the bottom of this TSB from the dodgeram.org site:



http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1997/19-10-97.htm

 

[shendren]

that's interesting. clunking is not one of the symptoms of the bearing preload being too loose. i will check that as well.



the problem with taking the truck somewhere is that i feel that i am armed with more information than the typical dealer mechanic or the front end guy.....

 

[Gregg Mig]

shendren I know what you mean about knowing more than the people working on these trucks for a living. As for the borgeson shaft mine too was tight and did not stop the clunking even after I loosened it up buy filing it ,thats what borgeson told me to do so I sent it back.

 

[shendren]

Gregg,



what did you replace it with? another borgeson? flaming river? or what?

 

[Gregg Mig]

Flaming river,and I was still getting the clunking. As I said earlier the warmer the outside air temp, the more pronounced the clunking.