Hey Blue97X-

I too have the same noise and havent figured it out yet. I just had the shocks changed about 1 month ago so its not them. Just had the brakes done yesterday, not them. Pitman arm done last month, and still have the freaking noise / rattle over bumps. I am probably going to end up taking it to the dealer because Im stumped. Let me know what you find.

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'97 Expy 4.6L, 2wd XLT, Airaid, Rancho 5000, Superchip

 

Try looking at the cover on the spindle nut
(the stamped castle nut that the cotter pin goes thru)
it's only held in place with a little
black tar if it's loose there is a annoying
rattle in the front end.

 

It seems to be coming from the front pass. side. You can only hear it over certain "potholes" or bumps in the road. I thought it was the front sway bar so I took it off and cleaned and lubed the bushings and endlinks. I also went under the truck and tapped around on things but I could not duplicate the noise. The only way I could get it to make the noise was to push forcefully up and down on the front bumper and even then it was very faint. I've come to the conclusion that it could be two things,shocks or torsion bars. Any ideas. Please help me, I can't stand such a nice truck making noises as it goes down the street.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I still think it's something in the front suspension since it only does it when I hit certain bumps or when I push on the front bumper. I wonder if it could be the control arm bushings. Are the Rancho RSX shocks that much better than the 5000's? I figure I might as well change the shocks since the truck has almost 70k on her. Thanks again.

 

The mechanic 2 bays down from me had a similar problem with an Expedition. It wound up being the upper ball joint squeaking. If you have a grease "needle" you could pierce the boot with it and inject grease into it and see if that helps. If it's under warranty, just take it to the dealer. It's not worth beating yourself up about. Let them worry about fixing it, and finding it.

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1997 F-150, 4.6, automatic, Dark Toreador Red, Supercab, Flareside, 4X4 Off-Road, Towing Package, Ford hvy dty rubber floor mats, Kenwood 10-disk cd changer, Kenwood am/fm cassette head unit, Ford bugshield, Chrome Grizzly Wrap Around Push Bar with 2 KC 100w Daylighters, Lund Lunar Visor, Ventshades, Ford bedliner, Lund Premier tonneau cover, cab and bed professionally undercoated, Code Alarm Sure Start RVS remote starter, Ford alarm, Realistic CB with Wilson Little Wil antenna, ported MAF sensor, and Lots of TLC!! (Besides being an F-150 nut, I am a Ford auto technician.)