Hey gang,

Just a quick note to say that I have finally solved "my" front end noise.
Quite some time ago I replaced all the usual suspects regarding the front end, ball joints, tie rods, pitman arm blah blah blah. Fixed the majority of my issues and simply chalked up the rest of the remaining rattles and clunks to being the typical noises that a big heavy truck has.

As recently as a year ago I replaced the sway bar end links as the noises were becoming louder. Sway bar end links in, again better but not perfect.

This past week the wife says "hey, the truck sounds terrible up front and I can feel it under my feet"... WTF right?

So I roll under it yesterday and grab the end links, solid. Bust out the tools and remove the brackets securing the sway bar to the axle. Driver side bushing is a little larger than it should be, passenger side no longer 38 mm's... That sucker was loose as a drunk prom date.

New bushings in and HOLY CRAP... I have a new EX..

Laundry list is:
Ball joints.. check
Tire rods... check
Idler arm... check
Pitman arm.. check
Sway bar end links.. check
SWAY BAR BUSHINGS front.... CHECK

Boy is my face red... pretty sure that the bushings have been the source of my clunks for awhile now..

 

What was your fix??? Thanks

 

The front sway bar bushings were bad, oe ford and 120k. Replaced with MOOG and all banging under foot went away. All the other items needed replacing anyway but at the time I was hoping that this particular symptom would be corrected with each part replacement I had done.

The bushings looked fine just eyeballing them but you really need to remove them to see whats going on.

I disconnected the sway bar end link from the sway bar and immediately could see and hear the problem.

When the bushings are good you should be able to disconnect both end links from the bar and the bar should "not" bang around in the mounts, actually it should not move at all.

Hope that helps ...

 

That does help. Thanks Bigpappa!!!

 

Good work! May I ask when you were hearing this noise before you fixed it though? The sway bar bushings, unless really loose seem to me like they would only make noise when turning into parking lots or areas where the front axle articulates a little bit. I ask because I have what sounds like the body mounts creaking when I pull into parking lots but this may be something else I want to check. My end links are tight but I haven't looked at the axle side of the sway bar closely.

 

I would only hear the noise when traveling down a "not so smooth county road", lots of repairs, potholes and such.

With the sway bar connecting the frame to the front axle any compression or rebound of the suspension will produce a rattle or clunk if the sway bar bushings are loose or worn. Simple test, remove the sway bar completely take it for a little drive and see if the noise is gone.

The sound I was hearing was as if the sway bar was mounted metal to metal with no bushings..

I would imagine that turning into a driveway or parking space would not produce the same noise unless the suspension were to compress as if to hit a tall curb at the entrance to a driveway.

I have heard that the body mounts may creak and pop when turning as the vehicle flex's so much more.

 

After a few weeks of driving my "all better Ex" it is now making on the driver side, a periodic heavy squeak when turning the wheel while stationary. I quoted Skinsfan6 because I am now questioning the dynamics of the front suspension.. With the sway bar presumably firmly attached to the frame with new end links and attached to the front axle with new bushings (non grease-able), there should be no noise when turning... correct?

Any suggestions would be great. I will be going home to try and track this down

 

Describe the "squeak".

Is it consistent every time?
Does it only make the noise when turning the wheel one way or both directions?
Is it more of a creak than a squeak?
How loud is it outside of the cab?

 

Not consistent at all.
Left and right turning.
Creak, yes more like a creak.
Loud enough to hear it with the truck running.

Crap, I hope it's not the ball joints again.

 

Just asked my wife if it made any noise today and she said no.. This is her daily driver.

 

Mine was consistent every time and was the ball joints. I disconnected the steering damper first to make sure that wasn't is. I used the old screwdriver stethiscope to narrow down the noise a bit. How many miles on the ball joints since you put them in?

For you, I hope it's not the ball joints too.

 

HMMMMMM I did replace the steering stabilizer the same time as the sway bar bushings... I'll have to check that.

Thanks bro..

Maybe 20K since new serviceable ball joints..

 

The next sound you'll hear is a body mount loosening as it ages. It's all good! As long as the radio works and those '70, '80 tunes still play...

 

80's hair bands baby... Just might change those things now, "an ounce of prevention..." so they say.

 

Thanks for the update. Keep us informed!!!