When my friend makes a slow turn, we hear a clunk sound from the right rear. It doesn't last, just one clunk. There's no loss of control or anything. It's a 2X4. We've wiggled the truck from side to side to see if we could hear the noise and it seems to come from the leaf springs. He thinks that it's slipping. If this is true, then how can we fix the clamps holding the leaves?

 

First try to tighten the U-bolts down.Theres a good chance their gonna be frozen so u might have to replace them.
I would replace them ASAP.U don't want the suspension block to find its way out.

Jerry D

http://hometown.aol.com/dvldog458/myhomepage/auto.html

 

dvldog458: good point, that would be bad. I'll soak the hell of'em with liquid wrench or something before we give it a try. Thanks for the response.

 

If the right rear is loosening up, you will be able to tell in 3 minutes. Get on the freeway/highway, and drive a steady 65 mph. Quickly back off the throttle (but don't hit your brakes). If the leafs are loose, the truck will unexpectedly lurch to the right. If the truck doesn't pull at all, the leafs are tight. Try this: buy a fairly thick plastic "for sale" sign, and cut it into 1.5" x 3" strips, and, with a floor jack, slip them inbetween the ends of each leaf. Worked for me.

Chris

 

PKRWUD
I'll try that next time I'm out. Now that you mention it, it seems logical. Thanks for the tip on the for sale sign, I imagine that that is about the right thinkness then?

 

Okay, confession time. I am a professional mechanic/business owner who has had several years of experience in racing, and even worked for Bill Elliott at one time. That makes this very embarassing for me: Not long after I bought my truck, I realized the stock leafs weren't going to last very long with three full toolboxes and an air compressor in the bed full time. So, I bought a set of add-a-leafs. I wasn't familiar with leaf springs, and loosened the center bolt on the right side. What a mess. Anyway, after I got everything installed, it drove great. After a month or two, however, it started to develop a kick to the right after letting off the gas on the freeway. I went nuts trying to figure it out. It turned out to be that I hadn't properly tightened that center bolt, and as it loosened, it made the right leafs unstable. I have since found out that this same effect will occur regardless of which bolts are loose. In order for the leaf springs to work properly, they all have to be tight.

As far as the plastic shims, my truck also had a very annoying rattle sound that almost sounded like paperclips inside a hubcap. very un-nerving in a 1 year old truck. I searched hi and low, and after several hours found that the metal band that the factory installs at either end of the leaf set was loose on the drivers side, forward half of the springs. Fixed it and life was sweet. A few months later, I started hearing loud, annoying clunks, squeaks and so forth whenever I made tight turns or drove over speed bumps. I tried lubing every single contact point I could find, with no luck. Someone suggested greasing the ends of my leaf springs where they contact each other, and I did. It was like magic! It eliminated all the odd noises. A month later we got our first rain of the season, and the noises were back. I mentioned this to a friend at Ford, and he said there are plastic shims available in the aftermarket that are inserted where I had placed the grease, and had the same quieting effect, but lasted much longer than grease. I couldn't find anyone else who had ever heard of them, let alone sold them, so I got creative and made my own. I used some plastic stock I had lying around that was originally intended for nameplates. It was exactly 1/16" thick. This worked great for about two years. They eventually either wore out, or became dislodged due to grease remnants, and it needs to be done again. I just haven't felt like it lately.

~C

 

I knew something was fishy...hahaha... Regardless, if your tip works for that long, shoosh, that IS a tip. We're gonna try it this weekend and see what happens. Infact, we might just do a combo of things that you suggested i.e. oil and the plastic. I'll tell ya, he was getting pretty paranoid, kept thinking that he was gonna loose his rear axle. It is a rather annoying sound tho eh?

 

PKRWUD:
you're not gonna believe this, but it was the spare tire making all that noise. We took it out on the highway and did what you suggested and nothing. So, into the garage to see what we could do. Loosened the U bolts, torqued'em back down, and same thing, clunk! so my friend tells me to wait at the bottom of my dirveway and see if I can hear it when he goes by, maybe pinpointing the noise. Sure enough, it was that sad excuse of a spare tire system. Man, that's one thing they've improved on on the new F-150's I'll tell ya. SHOOSH

 

I never would have guessed! I'm glad you guys got it figured out! in fact, I may just go pull my spare tomorrow for the hell of it. Hmmm.

Take care,
-Chris

 

I just took that damn thing out from under the truck and threw it in the bed of the truck. Then took the rest of the spare tire carrier stuff off and chucked it out. This way when you have a flat, you don't have to climb under the truck to get the tire. And odds are, it would be raining, you would be in good clothes and the damn thing would get stuck half way down so you couldn't get it out totally. Just the way it is and the way it would probably go.

Have Fun & Keep on Truckin'
Dean