I have a 89 Bronco II 4x4 with 277,000 miles on it. Today it started making a fearce clicking/rubbing noise coming from the front end when turning. I parked it in my driveway and proceeded to look everything over. When I got back in and drove it again the sound had stopped, but I did notice it was pulling to the right a bit(it allways has but it seemed to be pulling a bit worse). I am now kinda afraid to drive it being that I don't want the front end to give out on me at high speeds(I drive an hour to work at highway speeds). I just started going to school for auto mechanics but I have not gotten into a suspension class yet(and of course that is what I need to know at the moment!). I was thinking maybe the tie rods or ball joints are shot? Any ideas, and if so how hard of a fix is it?

Thanks In Advance
Phil

 

Auto hubs or manual hubs? In addition to steering suspension possibilities, the auto hubs are known to do that kind of thing, especially when one of the two has problems.

 

as far as the pullin to one side. it could be anything from worn tie rod ends, ball joints, bad center drag link, or a sticking brake caliper, aslo brake pads when worn down to a point have steel pins that hit the roter and squeel and make bad noise to get ppl to change them lol. also if the wheel bearings are bad it can make bad sounds while driving or turning as the bearing is not doing its job no more and you have metal to metal contact. also even if you have a manual hubs make sure they are in the "free" position. i had one half in and half out and made some bad sounds and toasted the hub.

 

If it does it on full lock you probably have a CV bearing cage breaking up, I just had to do my aerostar AWD one, fine on the straight road and curves but at low speeds it clunked away, pulling into parking spaces and away from lighs going round corners made it worse. If this is all in needs then you may have to play a little, an 89 may well have 2 UJ's rather than CV's, excessive wear should have produced vibration when you hear the noise. The bearings if going will sound like muffled marbles being rolled around the bottom of a tin, the drive shaft will be more of a hammering sound.

 

Thanks for the help so far guys. As far as the brakes go they are new(pads, rotors, calipers) when I did them around 15000 miles ago I repacked the bearings. It is auto-locking hubs and I have not felt a vibration and I am sure its not the drive shaft(I had to replace that once before when it went bad).

I hope I can find the cure!!!!
Phil

 

Just a thought, it may be a seized up u-joint on the front axle, same thing happened to me on one of my BII's and my '93 Explorer. Driving straight was fine, heard some slight clicking, but when I hit the brakes or turned there was a persistant clicking and it pulled to the right. I pulled the axles, replaced the u-joints and all was fine. This happened in 2 wheel drive also, 4 wheel drive just made the problem worse. Throw your truck into 4x4 and see if the problem is worse...

Chris