I have a 04 4.6 f150 4x4. I have had some off road wear on the truck but put a stop to it here recently. I have replaced ball joints , struts , sway bar linkage , hubs , and now have a clunking sound going over every bump no matter the speed. Everything is tight underneith while stopped, other than the front driveshaft. It seems to have too much play to me? Any idea what it could be ???

 

Did you buy the struts already put together? If so, try tightening the nut on top of the shock. They were loose in mine

 

I would double check those swaybar end links.

 

Sway bar links are good but haven checked the struts, will do tonight, but deally think its coming from the front driveshaft or front diff

 

Did you ever get that figured out? I have the same issue, all the same new replacement parts.

 

No i dont have a definate answer, i just learned to live with it, i do believe it was my sway bar links just being cheap replacements even though they were moog's. They are not as wore out as the old ones i replaced but dont feel like new when i check them by hand. I did get rid of the big wide mud tires and got a set of all terrain coopers and its like a new truck. I think the tires are putting less strain on the sway bar links though. I have since bought a 2015 ram 2500 cummins this thing is built rock solid, full of power and tough as nails, i kept the ford for my wife a winter truck. Do you have stock tires on your truck?

 

Sorry i didnt read what i wrote prior. I did end up checking the struts and front end and everything did check out. Like i said a minute ago the end links felt like they has some play but definatly not as much as before and before they werent broke just wore out. After buying a new vehicle i never realized the road noise the 04 ford had until driving my 2015. I think that made me think the noise was worse than it was.

 

Thanks for the reply. I actually had BELLE TIRE replace the front struts and it seemed like the noise appeared after that. I took it back in and asked specifically for them to review their work and ensure that everything was tight. They drove it around and said they thought it was my running boards.

So this is what I did:

1. Took off the running boards cleaned them up and re-installed
2. Replaced the sway bar bushings and links with moog parts.
3. Drove around with a buddy and both listened to the suspension while one person stood outside the truck and the other drove over bumps. Could still hear the noise from the passenger upper wheel well.
4. Replaced the lower ball joint and upper control arm both sides.
5. noise was still there
6. Took the sway bar completely off because the moog links felt like they had play in them at the bar linkage point (same as you mentioned). Again, noise was still there.
7. Had my buddy open the door and rock the truck by bouncing on the door step.
8. BELLE TIRE did not tighten the nut on the strut and I could see it moving in the strut mount while the truck was rocking. This was the issue and the noise is now gone.

A lot of extra work for one loose nut...so I guess the lesson is that having a buddy flex the suspension while the truck is parked can be a good place to start.

BTW I had General Tire AT2 Grabbers put on while the struts were changed to replace the worn BFG AT-TA's. I like the Grabbers better than the BFG's and they were less expensive.

 

Yea i hate it for ya, wish i could have helped more, thanks for the insite though.