Pop/Clunk in front end
 

I have a 2004 stx 2wd with 48,500 miles on it and a 6" PC lift that i have only had on the truck for maybe a couple thousand miles. My truck was making clunking noises when going over any bump so i changed out the sway bar end links. that fixed the problem of the clunking over all bumps. except when i am backing out of a drive way and the wheel is turned, when the tire goes off the curb onto the street it makes this very loud clunk/pop. i cannot figure out what is making this noise. the sound only started about a month ago. any ideas? i am going to re torque everything down this weekend again.

anyone?

Perhaps a failing ball joint on one of your control arms. Another thing you may want to do is go back under and re-torque all your suspension components that were added/modified by adding the lift. Have heard of cases like this where components have come lose.

On last thing, not sure what tires you have, but any chance your tires when cut in revers are hitting something under travel?

Its definitely not the tires. it also does it when going forward up or down a curb. im hoping it is just a loose bolt and not any ball joints since all 4 got replace about a year ago.

thanks

If they are that new, and since you should not have too bad of angles on them with that kit, I am betting its a lose bolt. Not being 4wd throws out a lot of potential issues. I think if it was a wheel bearing, if it was to a point of "clunking" you would have other signs, vibration, noise while driving, heat issues and so forth. The only other thing would be a tie rod end, but I don't see why it would "clunk" under vertical movement.

yeah, this is the only sound the truck makes. And going up a curb with the wheels straight it wont make the sound. The noise sounds like a bolt not fully in the hole and holding on to the side of the hole with just the threads. then when you hit a bump it slams into the hole. Very loud. When i was putting my new sway bar end links on i did not see any noticeably loose bolts. i will just have to look harder tonight.

Some to check:
Where coilover goes into frame horn mount (3 bolts).
Not sure if that kit uses a spacer or a strut extender but check those too.
Check drop down bracket that LCA's connect to.
Check torque speck on UCA and LCA ball joints.
ALSO, may not hurt to check and make sure break caliper is bolted on securely.

thanks, i will check all of those. The lift kit i have is the PC stage 2 with the adjustable coilovers.

Thats sweet! How far cranked are they, are your control arm angles pretty level/parallel?

i have them cranked about 2". the control arms are down some, they look just like they would on a truck with a 2" level. Ill probably make a new thread with pics when i get my new bilstein 5125 shocks. When i cranked the coilovers i also added a 5.5" block.

That should not be too bad then. Let me know if you find anything loose under there.

Any luck bud?

i snugged up all the bolts and i havent heard any noises yet. the bolts on top of the coilover werent loose, but i was able to tighten them up a good amount. im going to drive it a lot more today and ill let you know if anything comes up. i do have a lot of squeaking coming from the front left. im guessing just a dry ball joint. what do you think. it squeaks over every bump.

It could be bushings squeaking also

alright, I'll try to grease everything again.

2 problems.

The squeak is coming from the rear shock bushings. What should i use to lube them with the shocks still on the truck.

Back to the pop in the front end. it did it again today after i snugged everything up. now what im thinking it might be is the coilover in the LCA. the way the coilover bolts to the lca, it is able to be moved side to side a little. im thinking that it turns hard when i go off a curb when the wheel is turned. here is a pic of how it connects. Anyone ever see a coilover do this?

https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...9-cimg0222.jpg
https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...8-cimg0221.jpg

Not sure here, having the wheel turned should not change anything there, its always vertical travel regardless of wheel position. However the bolt should be able to float through the CO, wonder if its possible for it to have dirt or something in there causing it to bind and when it does give it pops. I am thinking this is pretty doubtful though.

well i guess i am going to have to take it in somewhere. thanks for all your help. ill let you know when i take it in and what they say.

After thinking about what could be causing this sound, i thought it might be the upper or lower ball joint bolts not being tight enough. i was able to tighten both uppers but not the lowers. They were on too tight. Since i was already down there i decided to tighten up the left tie rod. After doing that, i had my girlfriend turn the wheel all the way to the right. About 3/4 of the way to the right, it popped. So now im thinking it might be the tie rod. After i was done tightening everything again i took it for a drive around my apt complex and drove it up and down the curbs going into the parking spots. The front would make the pop with the wheel turned over the bump. then i would back right out, without turning the wheel, and it would pop again. It seems to only pop backing out of the spot, if it pops going over the bump to begin with. Im thinking its something to do with the steering. Kind of like its binding an popping. I no longer think it is a loose bolt from my lift. Any idea what could be the issue in the steering? I know my fare share about cars but not too much about steering components.

if anyone is wondering, i found out what the problem is. The bolts that hold the LCA onto the cross members are loose so the lca bolt is slamming into the edge of the cross member . Im going to tighten the on saturday and im going to do my best not to screw the alignment too bad.

Guess I should have added more detail LOL, implied information is not always helpful. Glad you found the problem :beers:

when i went to tighten everything, thats the only thing i did not touch. i didnt want to screw the alignment up. And i didnt have any help so it would have hard to tighten those by myself. Thanks for helping out so much. i really appreciate it.

No problem - enjoy the "new" ride.