The front end of my '00 F150 4x4 flareside is making a clicking noise at low speeds. It can happen while braking or not and doesn't seem to make more noise turning one way or another or moving straight forward. Doesn't do it all the time, but only seems to happen at very low speeds such as idling from a stop or to a stop. I was thinking it may be the CV joints, but am not sure how to check this. Any advice/tips/suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

mine does that too but i have a 04 and it was the vacuum solenoid for the 4x4 located on the spindle

 

You can easily check the front CV joints. Just jack up one side and turn the wheel by hand. As long as you are not in 4x4, you can do this. Look for tears in the boots. If you have them, the CV joint is probably toast. Especially if that is what is clicking.

 

Thanks guys. Anybody know if I have the same solenoid on my '00 as Truespeed has on his '04? I'll check that when I'm looking at the CV joints. If the CV joint fails does the wheel come off or anything like that? This thing has been clicking for a couple of months now. Anything else I should be looking at while I'm under there?

 

No you do not. You do have a set of solenoids to lock and unlock the front diff, but your front axles always turn. That is why I suspect CV joints.

 

check your hubs while you're in there.

 

can someone give a quick map on where to find this solenoid and where to check for the vaccuum leak?

and also, what do you check for in the hubs?

 

Thanks again guys, hope to do this tomorrow if the rain let's up.

I would also appreciate any tips on how to check the hubs.

 

My 03 2WD King Ranch Supercrew does this too. I have taken it to two mechanics who can find nothing causing it. Did you ever determine what it was? Its driving me nuts!

 

pull the wheel and spin the hub by hand (grab the lugs). make a few revolutions at just a normal speed you can turn it. try spinning it backwards and forwards. if you hear a grinding/grating noise or feel a vibration while spinning the hubs then the bearings are most likely bad.

i recommend going to rockauto.com to find a replacement. if you have basic hand tools then the hub can be replaced in driveway in half an hour tops.

the hub is the actual piece that the wheel bolts to. it can be removed by removing the hub nut (36mm fits) and three 15mm bolts (at least on a metric truck) on the backside of the knuckle.

 

Sorry for the delay in updating this. I checked everything up front and found nothing. I can't reproduce the sound when I am looking. I'm going to start looking at the rear end now.

 

Just wanted to update this post. I finally checked the rear brakes after searching again on here and this clicking turned out to be the right rear E-brake pads had separated from the shoes.