Front Springs Rattle!! Help

[DKoerber]

I have an 05' and have had a rattle for quite sometime. I finally figured out that it is coming from both front springs. It gets really bad when going slow and hitting a bump. I have had leveling kit on the front since it had about 10,000 miles on it and it never rattled. I now have 215,000 and it has rattled for about 40,000 miles. There are no rubber grommets or clips to hold the springs and if I hit them with my hand they rattle. Do springs go bad? I just had the front end gone through new ball joints, tie rods, etc. and it still rattles from the springs. Looking for some help.

 

[Bob4x4]

There should be a rubber isolater at the top
There is also a possibility of them not being
Indexed correctly

 

[Prairie Dog]

Check your sway bar end links if they're OEM - you have to remove one to really see if it's loose but they are a common failure and make a noise like your describe. Good luck,



EDIT: sorry, didn't see the part about hitting them with your had. Are you sure they got indexed correctly on install?

 

[RAton]

OK, this is probably a dumb question, but I don't understand why the springs aren't under compression with the wieght of the front end sitting on them. They shouldn't rattle, be uncompressed, unless something else is taking the weight of the frontend, correct?

 

[DKoerber]

I have not done anything to the front springs or shocks since the leveling kit was put on at 10,000 miles. The springs are the stock springs but I changed the shocks when the kit was put on. I have the 2" Tough Country leveling kit. I never had a problem until the truck had around 170,000 miles on it. Never had any irregular wear in the front tires so I drove it until about 210,000 and finally couldn't stand the rattle anymore. I had new ball joints, tie rods, track bar installed and the springs still rattle. My mechanic said he has never seen this before. I agree that the weight of the front end should have the springs compressed when it sits but I can hit them with the palm of my hand and they rattle really bad. I looked at the upper housing and it does have a rubber grommet between the spring and leveling kit so maybe the rubber is worn. What do you mean when you say they might not be indexed correctly and why would it start after 160,000 miles on them?

 

[Bob4x4]

they are wound in such a way that there is a step,the spring seat has a step to match.

another possibility is that the springs have collapsed enough that a coil is touching another under the right conditions or even a crack allowing it to touch

 

[Hoefler]

Springs do wear out as well. They may be getting tired if you have run with them heavily loaded for some time.