I just replaced the lower ball joints on my 99 xlt 4.0. There was a noise that i began to hear when the weather got colder. I assumed it was the lower joint because my dealer told me the last time i had it in that they were ready to be replaced. O.k. I did that but the noise still is there. It happens under the right center of the vehicle. it sounds kinda hollow as if a wheel is loose or something. I checked all my lugs and they are tight. I also tried pushing on the rear axle to see if i could get it tomake the noise again..to no avail. could it be something with the torsion bar? The saound happens when i drive over smaller bumps on the right side of the vehicle only. Left side makes no difference there is no noise. Confused at what it could be...
Thanks guys..
Paul

 

This sounds very familiar to what I noticed when driving my father's 00 XLT. I mentioned it to him since I had my ball-joints replaced on my 98 Sport over a year ago and it sounded the same. He told me it started once it got colder and during a recent warmup, the noise had gone away. Once it got cold again, the noise came back.

I don't know what your weather has been like where you live, but here in upstate NY, we've had temps in the teens down to below 0 a lot this winter.

 

That is the same thing i'm noticing, Did he ever figure it out? it is definetly affected by the colder weather.
thanks
Paul

 

No, he hasn't figured it out yet. If he does learn something, I'll let you know.

 

Here's a thought. If it is only hapenning in the cold and goes away with the warm weather. Check your spare tire if it is mounted under the truck. See if it is tight against the body of the truck. I had a thudding noise when it got cold and I hit a bump or went around turns. It turned out to be the spare. The colder it is outside the less air pressure in the spare the looser it was in the held position. Try putting air in the spare or tightening it in the holder.
Just a thought.

 

I Will check the spare thanks, Mine seems to be a suspension thing. seems like the right hand side only does it. I can't tell exactly but i think it's the front. HUH. I'm baffelled..
Paul

 

When the Kevlar pad wears off the top of the torsion bar adjuster your adjuster you will hear a metal to metal clank sound anytime your suspension goes up or down. The adjusters cost $27 each at Ford. Ford issued a TSB about 3 years ago regarding the problem. I replaced mine once at about 40K. They've needed replacing again for the last 20K (have 102K on my '97 now) but haven't bothered with it. I have some stiffer torsion bars that I'm going to put in. I'll probably pick up the new adjusters again at that time. If you have Ford replace them, figure on $54 in parts and 1 1/2 hours of labor at your Dealer labor rates.

 

That's it i bet i am going to check it out tonight. Thanks much.
Paul
Is there a special torsion bar tool out there? How do you go about lowering a front end?

 

I use a heavy duty 2-jaw puller that is similar to the one Ford shows in the TSB. The jaws are about 6" apart and have a supporting brace through the middle. The threaded shaft is about 3/4" in diameter. To remove the torsion bar, jack up the side you are working on until the tire just leaves the ground. This will remove most of the spring tension. Remove the torsion bar adjuster shield. Remove the torsion bar adjuster bolt so that the adjuster lies on the threaded block that the screw goes through (about 3/4"x1 1/2" piece with threaded hole through the center). Position the puller claws on each side of the torsion bar adjuster and thread the shaft into the extra dimple that is in the bottom of the adjuster. Tighten down the shaft until the adjuster is lifted off of the threaded block. Remove the block. Slowly (and carefully) back the shaft back down. Once the adjuster drops about 3" below its starting point all of the tension will be releaved from the torsion bar. At that point you can pull the adjuster out and put the new one in. Be sure and position it identically to the one you remove. There are six sides to the end of the torsion bar. If you get your adjuster off by 1/6 your torsion bar will either have way too much tension on it (if you could even get it back together) or no where near enough tension to support the vehicle.

When mine were bad, I could see the Kevlar patch getting squeezed out all around the top of the adjuster once I removed the torsion bar adjuster shield. The shield is only held on by 4 bolts and takes about five minutes to remove if you want to verify it before buying the parts. If you see the material getting squeezed out all around, then you knwo they are bad. If you don't see the material you will have to remove them to inspect them.

 

Thanks... But what is the TSB?
Paul

 

Technical Service Bulletin !
That Ford generates when the have a service bulletin for dealer tech's .

There used to be a site that had all of them someplace.

But Ford is becoming concerned that people are knowing more than the dealers techs before they take their vehicles in I think there not free anymore.

Not positive on it though.

Rich

 

In my 5 years of looking, I never did find a place that had the complete text for free. You can get a 3 or 4 line text description for free from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's web-site (www.nhtsa.gov) and can order the complete document as well. I think they charge a couple of dollars for the complete document. An alternative is to purchase a membership to www.alldata.com which will give you the complete text. It is about $25 for the first year and then $15 to renew each additional year. They have a lot more information available than just TSBs also and find my yearly membership much more valuable than the price I pay. It has paid for itself many times over.