Now that it's gotten cold, I've had this noise develop that's driving me crazy.

It sounds like something coming loose in the front end, but for the life if me, I can't find it. On bumpy or rolling ground, it's got a kind of popping, grinding noise, like a nut has backed off of it's bolt some...like a mount is shifting or something.

I replaced the ball joints and radius arm bushings this summer. I've checked all the steering linkage, engine and trans mounts, cross-member bolts, general other engine compartment stuff, and I've found nothing.

I had someone suggest that it could be the coil spring isolators, but just for a test, I sprayed the springs at the top and bottom with penetrating oil just to see is it might change the noise at all, and it didn't. I also sprayed all the body bushings as another test. I was hoping that spraying these areas might change the "quality" of the noise just enough that I might be able to say "Oh, there it is!", and then address it. I've also looked at, and sprayed, the i-beam bushings. No change.

Any ideas? Maybe king pins? I don't know. Someone PLEASE point me in the right direction, ANY direction.

Thanks!

Oh, I just wanted to add: It's coming from the drivers side. I'm sure it's coming from the front end area. I don't feel it in my steering when driving.

 

Im sure you have already thought of this, But maybe wheel bearing?. Just a thought.

 

Can you tell what side its on? After I replaced my coil spring isolaters & front shocks ALOT of that rattle type noise went away. I would just do a double-check and grease the fittings one side at a time....
Wish I could help you more Bro

 

BTW... I went back with poly not rubber

 

I agree i would check wheel bearing, jack it up and see if it makes any noises when you spin the wheels. but it might only make any noise unde pressure.

 

Yea, it's coming from the drivers side. It started up when the weather changed, and the colder it gets, the louder and more frequent the popping gets.

Wheel bearings? I've had those go bad in other vehicles before...they sound like you're driving over "crush 'n run" gravel. This is more like something is riding up and down on a loose bolt, like a mount or cross-member, which I've checked. Believe me, it's kinda loud. You can't miss this one. It pops more than grates, and only over uneven ground (like my driveway...)

Could it be a spring moving around on a bad isolator? What does a bad king pin sound like??

 

Ya know.. it also could be your ball joints are not tightened to specs, and you are hearing them "bounce". Might be worth rechecking the torque on the bottom ball joint

 

Maybe-- A shock sticking then popping lose?

 

I just had something similar going on with my f250. turns out it was the brake caliper guide pin.

 

When the noise starts apply the brakes lightly and see if the noise goes away or changes. If it does let off the brakes and wait to see if noise comes back. I had a noise kinda like yours and finaly found the brake caliper keeper was loose causing the caliper to float and hit make the anoooying noise.

 

Applying the brakes wouldn't help, the noise isn't that kind of noise. I hit a bump, or a dip, and POW (or KLUNK, or POP). It's not a constant noise. Truck is quiet as a mouse on a relatively smooth road, at any speed. It doesn't do it under normal breaking conditions either.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try a "panic stop" to see if I can make it pop....I haven't tried that yet. I want to see if I can get the thing to "perform" for me...might be easier to track it down that way.

 

Oh yea, I'll check the shocks and ball joints again. Both are new this summer, but you never know.

 

Well, I know the isolators are bad anyway, so I'm going to go ahead and replace them to see if anything changes.

I looked around a little on the Internet, but I can't seem to easily find isolators for my specific year. Anyone know which isolators I should get for a 1985 F150 2WD Regular Cab with a 351W? I don't know the specific spring dimensions, so I don't know which one of the "Universal" isolators to get.

 

You be supprized about how a calper will "float" making a popping/cluncking noise(at times it sounded like a clucking chicken, cluck,cluck,cluck......) at it hits the top mount and falls back down. It took me about 6 weeks to find my noise as it was intermittant.

Hitting the brakes will cause the problem to go away as the caliper is being forced onto the holder. Hitting bumps usually can make it happen but not all time. It depends on how loose the pads to rotor is.

Another possablity is if its a 4x4 a hub could be sticking causing that noise if you have 4x4. I replaced the hubs under warranty thinking they were causing it. But wasn't the case.

 

Yeah!! I found it!

Control Arm...I'm not sure if it's coming from the bushing, or the hanger (bracket?).

It's in the low 20's outside, so it was clunking/popping up a storm this afternoon. I finally got tired of this crap and stood on the bumper, at the drivers side corner, and started bouncing like a madman. It clunked and popped. This was the first time I was able to reproduce the noise at will.

I ran into the house, and got my son to come out and bounce on the bumper while I slid up under the truck. Well, he's about half my weight, but he was still able to get it to pop a couple of times. Sure enough, I was able to "see" where the popping was coming from, but it was getting really dark, and cold as hell.

This past summer I had the bushings replaced, and paid to have it done because I didn't have a way to cut the rivets that held the hanger on. Like i said before, it sounded like a mount or something was coming loose. Could be that the bolts that were used to replace the rivets are not tightened completely...or the hole that the control arm bushing goes through is egg-shaped or otherwise buggered...I don't know just now.

You better believe me though, tomorrow I'll know.