ekspc

I got 1 guy that says it is the Lower Control Arm bushing and 1 guy that says it is the upper and lower ball joint.
What it is doing.
as you take off it makes a clunk sound and then as you hit the brakes it settles and clunks again. it is almost like it has to be reset as the truck takes off and slows down.
SO I dont want to be wasting time and energy fixing the wrong thing.
can you help me decide which of these guys is right?
One is a mechanic and the other a old race car driver. Go figure I come to guys for the real info!!!
Thanks

TNRabbit

Hard to tell just from description. SAFELY jack it up by the frame & do some heavy tugging on the front wheels in all directions to see if there's any obvious play.

ekspc

will the play determine it is the ball joint? how can I test the LCA bushing?

scope103

Of course, if you're desperate, you could just follow the procedure in the Factory Service Manual.

http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...28balljoin.pdf

ekspc

good call on the FSM but that is what the mechanic did to check the LBJ. is there a way to check the upper without removing it?

wii_tarded

Just for kicks and giggles, look at your shock mount points. The top shock bushing could have deteriorated and is allowing the top of the shock to slide back and forth as it's loaded and unloaded.

ekspc

ohhhh good idea / thanks / I am going to pull the wheel off - the front shocks look newer than the rear but that doesnt mean much - see you guys are genius / gonna go huntin in the mts soon and dont want to jack anything up on the rough roads

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

i have the exact same issue going on with my truck on the front driver's side. i jacked my truck up and tried moving things around but couldn't locate the sound by myself. i'm guessing that mine is caused by worn out or dry ball joints. mine aren't ripped, but there's evidence of leaked-out grease from the past 19yrs/200k - so they might as well get some attention. i'm just going to replace the upper and lower BJs on both sides for peace of mind - ordered up some Beckley Arney joints because everyone says it's a reboxed "555" brand, and they were much cheaper on Amazon than at Oreilley's.

i repacked my wheel bearings to eliminate that from possibility, but not exactly sure how to check bushing of the A-arms for play, so cannot say how to check that. for my BJs what i did was jack up truck and used a huge pry bar to move the tire around in different directions. it worked OK, but i couldn't put nearly as much force as vehicle weight when stopping.

sc87yota

Not sure what you mean by reset, but, my front sway bar link came loose and was doing same thing. I tightened link nut and noise was gone. good luck

ekspc

sheesh if it is that easy I might be a touch upset / spent a couple hours yesterday tearing into my front end. I am looking at replacing the upper and lower and also the shocks up front while I am at it. Thanks for the tip - I will check it. I did look at the top shock bushing which seemed fine but will be replaced. If I didnt love my truck.......

ekspc

update / I removed the UBJ and it was very loose the lower one was a lot more stiff as I tried to move it. so I am replacing both - the shock was shot so I will replace both sides. would a ball joint destroy a shock? what other item might deteriorate a shock quicker on one side than the other. thanks you guys are awesome - oh yeah one of the lower bolts holding the ball joint on is stripped (of the 4 it is the outer toward brake and up front) and hints on removing that would be helpful as well

ekspc

well you can use a 1/2 socket beat on to a 14mm bolt and remove it that way ;-) upper and lowers are on and the shocks are installed. thanks for all the hints and tricks / I have learned a new lesson or two which is a nice part of doing your own work. Yota On

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

I'm assuming the noise went away? I'm waiting for my BJs to arrive so hopefully mine will be fixed also.

Did you round off the bolt head? What were you using? I tend to go for a 6-point socket vs a 12-pt or box wrench to prevent this.
Whenever I strip/round off the outside of a nut or bolt head - I bust out the vice grips or pipe wrench to get some grab on it. If that doesn't work you need to go more aggressive and either do what you did, grind/cut off the bolt, cut a groove for screwdriver, cut flat sides for wrench, drill hole for easy out, or weld extension bolt onto it - whichever gets the job done.

Yay for knowledge and doing things yourself

S.Skinner

iTrader: (1)

sounds similar to my symtoms.... only mine is braking and left turns. I was almost certain the clicking was comming from the front, but when you sit in the rear it sounds like it comes from the rear....so unsure

ekspc

well the BIG clunk is gone but I still have a little one that I need to find / I figure I need to let everything settle for a day and tighten everything up. my neighbor took a 1/2 socket beat it on the stripped head and it came out ( he looked at me and said " you loosened it up for me ) with a smile - I am also thinking it might be a torsion bar. who knows / I will keep diggin till it is gone.