Man, I'm just a newbie trying to help here...And hopefully I wont get lost in the traslation...but:

-Might be your manual hubs, maybe they were built the wrong way, and when they (it) got hit, something got disengaged.(something means a teeth getting out of the groove).

_I'm saying this, because when I rebuilt mines I used to have a noise coming from the front of my truck...only one side, and that was the problem, I had just to take out the tap of the hub and realign the teeth in the right way...

Good luck...!

 

My guess would be the fan on the engine hitting the radiator.
I doubt the engine blew the motor, though.
If it was blown then you'd have it knocking all the time.

 

I'd be carefully examining the brakes on the side where the impact occured. Making sure the caliper is still firmly attached(mounting bolts tight)and not cracked or broken. And checking that the pads in it aren't damaged/cracked and that the pins holding them in place are still there.

 

Morena- thanks for the tip, I'll have look, but I think the knock is more from the engine bay.

Peow- That's definitely something I'll look at, like I said, noise seems to be from under the hood.

Mudhippy- I'll def. give the brakes a check, don't want to fool around with those. But why would it only happen in drive? I listened closely while riding the brakes backing up, no noise.

 

mudhippy, in your gnarly crash photo, looks like NW Oregon?

 

Good guess! It's near the top of the #36 trail(Roger's Road)in the Tillamook State Forest OHV Area.

 

i knew it looked close, i live 45 minutes from astoria, pretty similar lookin country!

 

oh boy i currently have the same problem with my steering wheel...it sits half a turn to the left and its very annoying haha...idk what it is but i know somethings wrong...im running out of ideas maybe its my center link...but the only thing that annoys me is how when i use my blinker it turns off with a very little turn

 

Just rent a steering wheel puller from your favorite auto parts store and straighten it. That's what I did, and it didn't affect the throw (left/right balance).

About my accident, I've been driving the truck since I got it aligned with no problems, it doesn't even feel any looser than it was before . The mystery knock comes and goes, but never when not in drive with the brake on. It is NOT the fan hitting the shroud. But no CEL, and I don't have time to worry about it with finals coming up. I just picked up a replacement fender and marker light today, though, and that will be getting painted as time allows.

 

by just straightening the steering wheel will that affect my blinker situation?
whenever i put my left signal on and turn the wheel slightly to the left and back to center my blinker goes off...

 

I'm not sure, since I didn't have that problem, but it's definitely worth a try. If not,my next step would be inspecting or replacing the stalk switch itself.