Going slow down my drive way I'm hearing a metal clanging sound from the front end. I have found three problems so far but I'm not sure that any of these are causing the noise.

1. ball joints
2. leaking seal in diff.



3. A seal or something loose between the drivers side knuckle and the u-joint.



Rotating things by hand I can't get it to make the noise. Would any of these cause the sound I'm hearing, or what else should I be looking for?

 

What about the sway bar drop link bushings. Are they in bad condition?
The seal in the end of the axle is just a dust seal and in normal condition. They are not a very good design but not your problem

 

Sway bar end links perhaps?

 

that leaky pinion seal makes me wounder if your yoke is loose. that lets your pinion climb and hit the dif and make a heck of a racket......bin there done that..lol

 

Your needle bearing could also be bad in your wheel bearing hub assembly, try moving the front axle at the knuckle up and down some and see how much slop you have.

Just bear in mind there could be several answers to this question, and the issue could well be more than one of these on top of that....

 

Dust seal can just ride around like that?

I didn't look at the sway bar end links. I'll go out and check those shortly.

Thank you both for the reply.

 

The seal definitely needs replaced, but everything seemed tight. The noise didn't change with the hubs locked or unlocked.

Thanks for the reply!

 

There is some movement of the axle shaft in the hub assembly. Not a lot of movement, but it does move.

Thank you for the reply, and I hope I can get this tracked down. I like using the SD for my farm truck and family minivan lol.

 

Sway bar end links look like the bushing are worn. There appears to be metal to metal contact but I couldn't get it to make that noise again. I drove it around some again today and it never made that noise again.

Any ideas?

 

Sway bar bushings are usually more of a annoying clunk going down the road. I did experience a very similar noise that you discribed. Only noticed it at random times while coming to a stop or driving very slow. Drove me nuts. Checked everything, nothing was moving around and no signs of wear and since it was so random and minor we never really figured it out until about 9 months after it started. It turned out to be the first signs of the wheel bearing/hub assembly going ( as mentioned above). Your's could be something else but I'd keep a eye on it until it gets worse so you can postively identify what it is.

 

Yes. Yours looks like most of the dust seals on any of theses trucks that have not been changed and on many that have been. Just not a great design. There is a newer seal you can use when you get ready to do ball joint or axle maintenance that stays put longer. There is another seal deeper in the axle. This one is just a dust/dirt/mud seal.