Front end thunk
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Elder User
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 637
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From: Media, PA
Front end thunk
Coming home from work today, I noticed a very intermittent "thunk" I can feel in the floorboard and hear from the front of my Expedition. It's very prominent under my feet. It tends to happen when going over bumps and the suspension is compressing or rebounding, but it doesn't do it over every bump - it's very intermittent. I'm thinking sway bar bushings, as everything else is tight. There is no movement in the front end components, so I'm doubting the ball joints are going. It didn't do this on my way into work this morning. Any other suggestions for me to look at? I had the bushings replaced early in the truck's life when a similar problem came about, so that's why I'm leaning towards the bushings. Odometer reads 102,000 miles, and aside from brakes and the swaybar bushings, she's all original. Thanks ahead of time for any replies.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Feb 2006
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Are you doing any braking when any of these noises happens? I just had a friend with an Exploder have a similar sounding problem and it ended up being the caliper attaching bracket. There was one bolt missing and the other one was loose where it attaches to the steering knuckle.
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2004
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i actually just made a post very similar to this... im having a rattling/thunking type of noise over bumps... sounds like something is loose in front suspension... its not my sway bar or end links, those are fine, its not my shocks, those are relatively new, and fine... im at 105k, very similar miles... and mine has been happeneding consistantly for at least 10k miles now... maybe we got the same thing going on here and its driving me nuts! Mine is not related to braking, i have new rotors and brakes... everything is tight and right there...
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Elder User
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Media, PA
Well, I think I found the source of the noise. I crawled underneath my Expedition today at lunchtime and looked around. Not sure what the part is called, but there is a vertical bar with rubber bushings top and bottom which attaches the swaybar to the lower control arm. Perhaps the "end link" MOOK929RR mentioned? On the passenger side, the upper bolt/nut is completely gone from this link, including the rubber bushings! It looks like it snapped off. The lower bushings & bolt/nut is still attached. So, there is now about 1/2 inch gap between the swaybar and the top section of this vertical link, as there is no bushing or nut holding the 2 pieces together. I couldn't find anything else under there which could be causing this thunk. The driver's side is still fine and attached. With movement in the suspension & such, I'm pretty sure the thunk I'm hearing is the swaybay twisting and hitting this link bar, or vise-versa (the link traveling upwards and smacking into the swaybar. I've noticed no adverse changes in the way the Expedition drives. Am I safe to drive it until I can replace the part this weekend or should I park it? Majority of my traveling is highway, 40 miles roundtrip to & from work.
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2004
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you are totally fine driving without end links... ive had mine snap a few times, and i drove about 2k miles before i had time to replace them once... dont buy the ford stock replacements, they will just snap again... look on summit racing or jegs and buy the MOOG sway bar end links...they are cheaper and easy to put on, and wont snap on you... getting your old sway bar end links off may be a pain though... ive had to use a power cut off tool to get them out...they are usually all rusted.
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Elder User
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Media, PA
I got a replacement link this morning through my company and installed it during my lunch break. I did get the MOOG part and it went in beautifully. Thunk is gone and the Expy actually seems to handle a bit better now. Could just be in my head, but I can feel a difference. Only took me about 10 minutes total start to finish. Thanks to all for your replies! 
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