My 1996 Explorer V8 AWD sat for 2 years and I'm now trying to get it back on the road. To resurrect it I've replaced upper and lower ball joints, CV axles, shocks, and wheel hubs.

However when driving there is a "clicking" sound from the front end (can't tell if it's drivers or passenger side). After doing some research on the forum i went ahead and replaced the CV axles again, still clicks. More research and i replaced the original 200k mile wheel hubs, still clicks.

The clicking is with any forward motion and increases with speed, no more or less when turning, and no more or less when braking.

At this point short of the front transfer case i don't know what else rotates in the front end that could be making the clicking noise. Any ideas?

 

Are you able to better describe the clicking, like does it sound like a playing card in bicycle spokes, or more like something metallic? Does it change with engine speed, or only vehicle speed? Does it seem to go away after some vehicle speed, and does that vehicle speed correlate to a transmission shift point? Have you looked at anything in the rear in case the noise is actually coming from back there but sounds like it's from the front? If you happen to have a GoPro with stereo microphones you could mount it under the truck to try to better determine which direction the sound is coming from.

-Rod