95 F150 Extended cab 4x4. 5.8L with E40D. I can hear a sort of bumping or thumping noise in the front end while driving over surfaces that aren't smooth. I can also feel it in my feet coming through the floor. I repacked the wheel bearings and when I had it on stands I checked for play in the ball joints. I was told to grab the top and bottom of each tire and try to move it in & out for the ball joints. They were good as were the radius arm bushings. Any ideas what it could be? Even if I could not feel any play while checking with it on the stands could it still be ball joints?
TIA!

 

Yeah, mine does it too and it drives me nuts. Check out your:

Radius arm bushings
Axle beam pivot bushings
Shock bushings
Spring mounts
Balljoints
Swaybar bushings
Tie rod joints
Axle u-joints

You already checked your balljoints and RA bushings are good, so I'd say check the swaybar bushings next.

 

Is it more a rattle or is it a hard noise? Does it go away if you touch your brakes. I say this because I had a more rattle noise that disappeared when I touched the brakes (only on rough roads) I found on front brake caliper wasn't sliding as it should, plus they make a kit to replace the rubbers clips etc in the front calipers.
Just a thought.
To check ball joints you need to jack up the truck & let the front end hang free. Other wise you preload them. Then jack up the front axle & see how much movement you get on the top joint. The other thing is spray the crap out of the rubbers on sway bars with a something like Tri-Flow you can buy it at most hardware stores. It is the best spray lube on the market IMO. It has teflon in it, so it doesn't wear off over night.
Craig
Craig

 

It's more of a hard noise. No rattle at all. So when I check the ball joints, should I put the jack stands under the frame so the suspension is completely unloaded?

 

is it four wheel drive and does it have automatic lockers in it the factory ones wear out and try to engage when they shouldnt from time to time and it makes a hellasish nock

 

also if 4wd check your u-joints on the front diff

 

Warn manual lock hubs.

 

Do you know for a FACT that radius arm bushings are good? I'd be most suspicious of them.

 

^^ x2
I've had the bushings "look good" but they were junk. Just about every time I have a clunk in the front end its those bushings. The mounts can rot too. I had a bent/cracked one at one point. The easiest way to tell is if on the front side of the mount the mount is sort of polished where the bushing&radius arm move up and down. The first time I noticed it my dad was slowly driving my truck down the driveway, stepped on the brake, and I saw the radius arm move up as I heard a clunk.

 

^^ This. My old radius arm bushing looked fine but after some investigating I found that they would move from their "normal" position whenever I reversed, causing at least 1 of the noises I was constantly hearing.