Front end problem

Reply Subscribe

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

Sep 26, 2011 | 08:27 AM

jgilrfr

Thread Starter

Laughing Gas

Joined: Aug 2008

Posts: 804

Likes: 0

From: Staten Island,hamilton ny

Front end problem

I am getting a banging noise when I turn my wheels.I have jacked up the front,put a bar under the tires and lifted and have no play in the ball joints.I did notice play in the passenger u joint and changed it.While changing it I had both wheels off the ground and no more noise.I turned the wheels by hand and had no problems.I dont have any play in any of the tie rod ends.It seems as if something is binding but I cant figure out what.I still have the binding after fixing the u joint.I tried jacking up one side and turning the wheels,then the other and it is the same,still binding.Any help on what to do from here is appreciated. John

Sep 26, 2011 | 09:07 AM

86fu50

Junior User

Joined: Aug 2006

Posts: 68

Likes: 0

From: Davidsonville, MD

It sounds like you have one or both hubs locked. when i first rebuilt my hubs I put the spring on the wrong side of the gear. so the hubs were always locked. It made a banging noise while i was turning.

Sep 26, 2011 | 09:35 AM

jgilrfr

Thread Starter

Laughing Gas

Joined: Aug 2008

Posts: 804

Likes: 0

From: Staten Island,hamilton ny

thanks for replying,i checked and they are off ,I found I have a cracked hu on the passenger side and removed it and turned the wheels,still binds,the noise seems to come from the passenger side

Sep 26, 2011 | 05:58 PM

jgilrfr

Thread Starter

Laughing Gas

Joined: Aug 2008

Posts: 804

Likes: 0

From: Staten Island,hamilton ny

just for fun,i disconnected the sway bar to see if that helped,it didnt,then i tried to disconnect the tie rod at the passenger side and the nut is frozen and the bolt is spinning in the tie rod end,does this have to be cut out somehow?

Sep 26, 2011 | 06:22 PM

Shake-N-Bake

Post Fiend

Joined: Sep 2003

Posts: 6,096

Likes: 27

From: Mesa AZ

Is your tie rod end loose in the steering arm (up and down)? I had a clunking noise a while back and I crawled under the truck to check and found a gap on both of my tie rod ends. One had more play than the other. I know the nuts hadn't loosened on their own because the cotter pins were in place still. I removed the pin and nut and the tie rod lifted right out quite easily.

So, I pondered the situation and decided it just might be time to replace the whole front steering assembly since they are original parts with almost 280k miles. I had to order the parts and it was going to take about a week to arrive so I decided to put some grade 8 washers in there so I can use my truck while waiting for UPS to arrive. After I did this, the clunking noise during turns went away and the steering still felt nice and solid. I went to the alignment shop to have them check it out (since I paid for a lifetime alignment) and they said what I did will work and the tie rods were nice and tight and the alignment was within spec.

So, long story short, I've been driving like this for the summer and I plan on changing out the parts later this fall when it cools off some. So, you might be able to get away with a similar fix (if you can get your nut loose...). Do you have an impact gun? That might get the nut off...

Attached Images