I have noticed for the past few weeks of backing out of my driveway or anywhere in general there is a clunk noise which sounds like is coming from the front end. It only occurs when the wheel is turned to the right. I have crawled under and greased the only fitting under there and that is the idler arm. Could it be possible that the idler arm is shot and needs to be replaced? Also how much does the arm cost? The truck is a 97 F150 4.6 4x4 w/186100 miles.

 

I would inspect the ball joints real good for play.

 

its the tie rod ends, bushings, or some steering part.

pretty sure its not the ball joints because they usaly dont make a clunk sound.
like they make a sound metal to metal rubbing sound...

 

I incpected the ball joints a while ago and they were solid. My dad is a mechanic and he checked them.

ShanesF150 I agree with you that it can't be ball joints because I have heard the noise they make. Is it possible the bushings for the idler arm are shot.

 

my truck has done the poping sound sence I have had it... 60k miles ago.. realy it dont bother me and nothing broke yet... BUT I am going to replace it all and I run 35in tires..

but my ball joints made sounds along time ago... I poked a hole n them and put
stuff in thare to shut them up but I ended up replaceing them.

I dont know.. im just going to get new parts.. I hate when a my truck drives
funny.. And I just got poly bushings for the sway bar's and it helped alot...

Not realy your problem I dont think but just saying.

 

I also have the same problem. Just started occouring within the past 700 miles or so. Ball joints have been replaced a couple years ago, and are in good condition...as well as the tie-rods.

Im stumped...

 

there are a dozen different parts that can wear out on the front end. the only way to figure out which part is the problme is to jack the front wheels 2 inches off the ground and set the A frames on two stationary jacks so the truck is setting more or less level and the axle is loaded correctly ( this will not work with a jack under the center of frame and both A frames hanging donw and bottomed out in low postioing.)---- whiles setting on the two jacks, stick a 2 x 4 about 4 ft long under one tire and lift it up and down to see how much slop is in the lower and upper ball joint. then grab th e front and back of the tire and turn it side to side and watch. have your buddy lay under the radiator area while you jerk one tire side to side and see if the steering arm, anchor, tie rods, etc are moving. look for extra slop or play while wiggling the wheel slowly. you might alos get in the cab and turn the steering wheel and see if there is slop in the steering box or arm.-------- dont guess, this is the only way to really figure out what is wrong.

 

Check the sway links. Mine had rusted in half and the bolt had dropped completely out allowing the sway bar to lift off of the mount when turning or going over rough road. When I would straighten up, the bar would slam back down on the mount pad making a clunk. Just my $.02. 99F150 4x4 Scab 5.4L

 

Thanks for the info steve(ill). I had the sway bar links replaced in Feb at about 182000. Tie rods have no slop but haven't checked the ball joints. It does look like there is some play in the idler arm where it connects to the fram mount.

 

How far do you have the steering turned to the right when it clunks?
If it's cranked the whole way to the right then it could be the steering stop making the noise. The steering stop is a where the steering knuckle hits the control arm when it's fully turned. To check/fix that just dab a bit of grease on the stop.

 

Racerguy it does it mostly when turning the wheels to the right. The noise doesn't happen when cranked all the way, but I'll give it a shot with the grease.