OK, i'm a little bummed.
I have a 74 F250 4x2 8100# GVWR
anyway yesterday morning, I was turning left, and the front end started to make a clunking or nocking sound , that seemed to come from the passenger side.I pulled over and looked under the truck, and couldn't see anything wrong. I drove a few more blocks, and the noise went away.I was hoping I had a stick stuck in the suspension or something stupid that had fixed itself, and tried not to think about it. last night I had to go out again, and the noise started again after a tight left turn in McDonalds drive thru, but it was dark, so came home and parked it.today I went out, and crawled under it, but couldn't notice anything loose, or broken, so I drove a few blocks, at first it kinda just barely made the noise, then it seemed OK. I still didn't trust it, so got under again, and this time I noticed the passenger side tie rod end, had clean grease visible, that didn't match the dirt on the rest of the undercarrige. I'm assuming this means the tie rod end is shot, and needs replacement.

My questions are:
1 does this sound like I have found the problem, or am I missing something?
and 2.do you think its safe to drive it to my buddies house to work on it, about 5 miles?

any advice is appreciated, its been 12 years since I have done any steering, or suspension stuff, and my memories not what it once was.
Thank you for your time

 

May be a stupid question, but can you "feel" it too? i.e. when the noise occurs, can you feel it through the steering wheel? As far as seeing the grease, not sure about that. One other thing to check would be to pull the wheel off and check the bearing on that side.

 

yeah I feel it, not so much in the steering wheel, but the whole truck.when it clunks, the front feels like it kicks to the right a little

I'll jack it up tomorrow, and try to wiggle the wheel, with my hands at 3, and 9 o'clock

 

Tie Rod End ?

I thought it is called the Drag Link ?

 

I'm talking about the "ball joint", that connects my tie rod to the spindle. my Haynes manual called it a tie rod end.
I thought "drag links " had a slot in them, to be turned by a "drag link socket"
I'm really not sure, I think it needs fixin though

 

Duh Me

I found this thread though.


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...25252Bdraglink


It talks about all those pieces for the steering.

 

thanks

I think we were both right, and a tie rod is the same part as a drag link.

 

"U" joint? Is 4x2 four wheel drive? I get confused.

 

4x2 is 2 wheel drive.
Jack the front end up and check for wobble in and out, for and back, back and forth. Should have no play other than the steering. Both front wheels should move together but no independant play. If you get a bud to help, you can have him or her wobble the front wheels around while you look to inspect the front end. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A GOOD SET OF JACK STANDS TO SUPPORT THE FRONT END OFF OF THE GROUND while your under the front end of the truck. If you don't see anything unusual, check the cab mounts and suspension/spring mounts, and shock mounts. Have your bud move the steering wheel back and forth too. Check tie rod ends for any play other than the normal roll in the ends. Check the allignment adjustent in the drag link. Main thing is get that sucker up in the air to inspect. You might also get someone to drive her slowly while turning back and forth while you look under the front end eh?
Sometimes front end shops will check your front end out for free too.
Good Luck T

 

thanks for the response
the more I look at it , I'm glad its a ford, these twin I beams are pretty simple, not much to go wrong.I have to jack it up today and check it. if it is the end, I just unbolt it, separate it with a pickle fork, bolt the new one in and lock it with a cotter pin, correct?

 

Right, pickle fork will do the trick. Get a new rubber cap while your at it. Only a couple of dollars.

 

yeah NAPA wanted like $140 for the part
Auto Zone has it for "only" $80
protecting it with a $2 rubber boot sounds like a plan

 

Hey Monk, did you determine that it is the tie rod end? Well, I guess that depends what is is. (famous presidential slogan)..... he he. Let us know. I believe that you should be able to detect slop in the tie rod end when under the front end and pulling on the components or turning the steering wheel back and forth. You got my curiosity up.
T

 

haven't jacked her up yet, prolly this afternoon
didn't notice play in the wheel, but I think the other side is still OK, so with it on the ground, I don't think I'd really be able to feel the play.in my mind, I'm about 95% it is the end, just from how it felt driving
as always
thanks for the help
i'll keep you posted

 

Don't know if you're in the big city or not but if you have a good front end shop in town, they usually will put your truck up a lift and do a solid check on the front end for you at no cost. If the problem turns out to be more than your willing to get greasy for, you would have the option to payem to fix it. Sometimes it's worth it to let the shop do a thorough check. You can still opt to do the work yourself eh?