I recently went to see family in Baghdad eerrm... Montreal and on the way back I noticed a crazy knocking I get when hitting bumps. Its on the passenger side for sure, when I'm driving I cant tell where it is but my wife says she feels it under her feet. How much stock I put in that is debatable however.

I looked underneath and the balljoints still LOOK ok, didnt play around with them at all though, shocks wouldnt do it, doesnt feel like its bottom out(it does that also due to spring sag).

I did however notice that the radius arm on passenger side can be wiggled a bit by hand, albeit with some force while the drivers side has zero play in it. Could it be the radius arm bushing being shot causing this noise?

I'm pretty broke and going back to school, I really cant afford the mechanic bill so I'm going to be fixing anything it is myself however I need to figure out exactly what it is before I go throwing money at the truck. It needs enough things as it is.

Any help diagnosing this noise?

Edit: Btw vehicle specs are:
1997 Ranger, 2wd, manual 2.3L Lima. No mods except for 235/75R15 tires

 

Welcome to FTE. This is a great site for all things Ranger.

You need to get the right front corner of your truck up in the air (be sure to use jack stands or something similar for safety support). Then try shaking each component, especially the ones you mentioned as possible culprits. While you are at it, do the same thing to the other side. Also, check the exhaust pipe, muffler, clamps, and hanger supports.

Let us know what you find and we will try to give you more help to fix the problem.

By the way, how does the steering seem? Does the truck wander as you go down the the road? Does it seem to pull either to the right or to the left. What do your front tires look like? Are there signs of abnormal wear on them And, how many miles are on the truck?

You may want to try a tire dealer for a free alignment check to determine if there are problems anywhere in the steering system.

 

Exhaust is loose and always has been so i know its not that. As for the other suspension components I'll take a look later with my pry bar for them. I was hoping someone would pop up and say yeah thats for sure the RA bushings so i wouldnt need to worry about it being balljoints. I dont have the time to do balljoints with my one day off this week.

Steering seems normal for a 260k vehicle, a little shakey like everything else in the truck, been like that for 10 years now. Its not shaking like out of balance shaking, just like its a truck thats been heavily abused since it came out of the dealership parking lot.

Doesnt wander very much at all, has a VERY slight pull to the right. At 120 it'll go to the right after maybe 1km.

Tires wore perfectly but are basically bald now with 120k on them, I'm going to be installing my winter tires next weekend probably.

The shops here in town will never give a free alignment, best price I've found is 70$ for it and as soon as they see its a ranger its 80-90$. The mechanic I go to regularly for things I can't do myself or dont have the time to do is priced at 69.99 and thats again not for a Ranger. He might let it slide at that price but unless I'm giving the owner a blowie behind the shop i'll never get a free anything here.

I'll take a peak under when I have my tea and wake up a bit. I live in a town home complex so any work at all on my truck is a giant hassle that requires working up to. lol

 

With 260K on the vehicle, have the wheel bearings ever been serviced/repacked & or the looseness adjusted???? If not you'll likely find plenty of play there & if really worn they'll clunk when going over bumps & it'll cause some wander in the steering!!!!

 

Wheel bearings were replaced in the spring. Doing the brakes on this truck requires bearings because ford are retards and couldn't just make it internal and discs a separate part like on my Jeeps.

 

KOK, probably good that they've been replaced. Ford specifies we check/adjust wheel bearing end play every 30K miles/48K Km & inspect/repack/relube them every 45K miles/72K Km, but most folks forget to do that.

SO, with the mileage/KM's you have on this ride, rubber suspension parts, ball joints, shocks & the like are all good suspects for the clunk noise & you seem to have located one good loose suspect.

Let us know what you find.

 

My shocks are pretty well done aswell, think that could be it?

Looks like I'm going to be doing this work next weekend anyway as its raining out today and I dont feel like spending my only day off bashing my knuckles open soaking wet.

My plan when I have money was to replace shocks and coils up front because i currently have 3/4" of uptravel on my front suspension before the Ibeam hits the bumpstops. I know that noise well enough that I know for sure this new noise isn't that, but shocks finally giving the quits does seem plausable however I find the noise far too harsh to be that, especially since I can FEEL the clunk when it happens.

 

here's a vid to give you an idea how to check those RA busings. They don't last long so if they are original they prolly need replacement. radius arm bushing 1994 f150 - YouTube

 

Ok so I'll wait till the wifes home then have her turn the wheel while I look to see if theres movement like that. thanks guys.

 

Wife got home and turned the wheel for me while I checked. It has quite a bit of play, not anywhere near as much as the guy in the video but still more than I like to see so I'll be fixing it next weekend.

 

Why is an alignment check on a Ranger more than any other vehicle. Did I miss something?

 

One other thing to look for is loose ends on the sway bar. These will clunk when they get worn and can break off too. The shocks can make the knocking if the rubber bushings on the ends are completely shot. In fact, all those suspension components with rubber bushings on the end are likely candidates!