I have a noise in the front end that is only happening during suspension travel. it is really bad on bumpy roads. I thought it was my sway-bar end links but they are a year old and tight. I have checked the shocks and they are tight. it is driving me crazy. It sounds like a clunking noise. Could the front drive axles be making this noise while not locked in?

 

I had this issue after doing the sway bar end links and mine was the sway bar bushings where it connects to the axle. I would have thought so, but that was it.

 

Or body mounts.

 

Mine's doing the same, but I know the front shocks are obliterated on the internals. Mounts are tight, insides are probably in many different rearranged pieces.

Moral of story - don't accidentally jump your Excursion on an unfamiliar road.

 

I have the same issue. But I have new shocks. I climbed under and tried to shake, rattle and role everything I could. Only on bumpy roads, its a heavy clunk?

 

I currently have a clunking sound coming from my front end as well. I am about to change ball joints, bearings, complete tie rods, and shocks because they are all suspect. Hopefully the sound goes away, but I'm mentally prepared for it to be something else like the above mentioned body mount.

 

My ball joint is going out and makes this noise. You have to jack up the wheel off the ground and use a long prybar or 2x4 under the tire and pry upwards to duplicate the clunking mine does. Can't do it with your bare hands.

 

Thanks. That gives me hope that the noise might be gone after I get everything replaced.

 

I just replaced upper and lower ball joints a couple of years ago and the truck does not get driven much. I guess it could be a bad one. It is a heavy clunking noise. I have thought maybe it is internally in the shocks since it happens when I hit a bump or the front is rocking on bumps.

 

Does it sound like it is a single event or more like multiples--kind of like a rattle (but its not a rattle)?

 

Mine sounds like a multiple clunking event while the vehicle hits bumps. On smooth surfaces, there's no noise.

 

Mine sounds exactly like what done12 said

 

I am already in the process of replacing all ball joints and front hub assemblies because they are suspect, but I decided to replace all my shocks at the same time.

All my parts will be in next week. I can do the ball joints and hub assemblies and test it before putting the new shocks on. That should give us a better idea of what's causing it. I'd break it down even further, but I need to do the ball joints and hub assemblies together in order to save a lot of time.

 

You might consider taking a shock completely off and checking it. If you changed your front springs and are running factory sized shocks, they will have to travel further than intended. I went through 5 sets of shocks on a 2011 Grand Cherokee with Quadralift. 2 of the sets I could reach through the wheel and pull at least 1 of them sideways. The other ones I could not-yet they all made the same noise. Some of the shocks would lock and you couldn't compress them anymore which created a noise against the mount. Point is, it's easy to pull one off and see if it is compressible and/or if you can torque it sideways outside the mount.

My body mount used to clunk when the body/frame was torqued say going across a speed bump at an angle.

I've had rear door that would rattle at the very bottom sounding like the noise was from underneath--it did not have a rubber insulator between door and body.

The X is a big giant cave. I've never been misdirected by sounds ever as much as these do.

Good luck--let us know what it is

 

I forgot to come back and update you. I swapped all the ball joints, hub assemblies and shocks first. The clunking noise was still there.

Based on the recommendations mentioned, I replaced the sway bar end links and sway bar bushings and the Ex is perfectly silent! Other than that noisy thing under the hood.