Front End "thunk" on light bumps

S

str alorman

New member
Hey All;
So my front end area has been making a metallic "thunking" noise (sounds metallic, not a rotational noise) on light bumps, but not huge ones, at low speeds.

I went under the car and found some axial play and spilled grease on the right CV axle. Ordered two reman Cardone replacements and put them in today.

Thunk is still there.

It seems to be quite symmetrical. Neither I nor another mechanically inclined passenger could say which side it was on.

Since I had to swing the rotors and all aside to get to the CVs I double checked everything, looked good, nothing loose.

I'm running king 2.5" lift coilovers w/ reservoirs on the front, which were rebuilt at the factory and installed a year ago.

Sway links were bought on here and are about a year old, added some oil just in case.

UCAs are Icon tubular, about a year old. Ball join looks fine.

Brakes are all in fine shape and the thunk doesn't happen on braking. Just light bumps at low speeds. A speed bump will make it happen once or twice.

Wheel bearings maybe? The truck has 190k on it and no service record for the bearings.

Motor mounts? (they seemed fine on a cursory inspection)

Something in the font diff?

Something I'm missing?

Thanks!
 
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Have you paid attention to it when only hitting those small bumps or manhole covers with one front wheel at a time? To me that kind of sounds like strut clunk. Check to see if the top bolt on the strut / coilover is loose, that will often cause struts to clunk. When I've had this in the past, I can usually feel a slight vibration in the steering wheel as well when this happens.
 
I had something just like this on an older car. If I could remember it was the shocks or struts. What I THINK happens is that going over bumps at slow speeds it's practically bottoming out and making contact causing the thunk. I'd look at them or have them inspected. I'm sure a shop offers suspension inspections for signs of wear.

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I would also check the plastic fender wells and the rubber inner fender wells to make sure they're not moving around. Look for anything loose under the hood and underneath.
 
You say you had to swing the rotors out of the way, so you had the truck jacked up, that would of been the time to check the wheel bearings by grabbing the tire at the top and bottom and trying to tilt the tire back and forth to check for play in the bearing and also spinning tire to listen for any noise in the bearing, if you find that the bearing has play it either needs to be tighten correctly or replaced if you found undue noise along with play.
 
I'm currently experiencing a clunk and it's coming from the steering rack itself. Mine is 320xxx miles old and the clunk can be recreated by turning the wheels left/right or when I go over uneven terrain. If I went over a speed bumps with both front wheels, no clunk. However, if I went over the speed bump with one side or the other, I can hear the clunk.

All new bushings, end links and BJs.
 
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I have a similar thunk/clunk. Going on three years strong, but can't track it down. I'm pretty sure the LCA bushings but since I can't confirm it, I'm not throwing money at it yet. I'll let it drive me nuts... Lol
 
jonesmw10 said:
I have a similar thunk/clunk. Going on three years strong, but can't track it down. I'm pretty sure the LCA bushings but since I can't confirm it, I'm not throwing money at it yet. I'll let it drive me nuts... Lol
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Exactly. More commonly the lca bushings are worn and will cause that metal to metal clunk. Mine does that and is on my list of fixes for the warmer weather.


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I have had 2 different speed bump clunks over the years.
First was front aftermarket bumper to close to fenders and would touch/clunk.
Second is rock sliders hitting the bottom of the body...still need to fix that.
 
alia176 said:
I'm currently experiencing a clunk and it's coming from the steering rack itself. Mine is 320xxx miles old and the clunk can be recreated by turning the wheels left/right or when I go over uneven terrain. If I went over a speed bumps with both front wheels, no clunk. However, if I went over the speed bump with one side or the other, I can hear the clunk.

All new bushings, end links and BJs.
Click to expand...

Same thing here. New steering rack was needed in my case.
 
I had a thunk from light bumps/uneven terrain a while back and it was my sway bar bushings had gone bad. Replaced the bushings and the clunk was gone.
 
So, thanks for the help! I've narrowed down some clarification.

I did NOT replace the sway bushings, and actually one is held in by one bolt as the other rusted and sheared. I could drop the whole bar and test drive, that would narrow that down.

It's not fender rub, know what that sounds like. Way heavier and more metallic than that.

Bumping hard on one wheel does cause the problem, not as frequently, but the sound still seems vaguely centered. Which is odd.

When taking off the wheels, nothing seems wobbly, is there a specific lateral runout I should be looking for in wheel bearings?

Further thoughts?
 
Just fixed mine yesterday! Mine was the passenger side inner tie rod. Jack one side (front)up at a time and try to move the raised wheel side to side. Its the rod end thats inside the boot.


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swheele said:
Just fixed mine yesterday! Mine was the passenger side inner tie rod. Jack one side (front)up at a time and try to move the raised wheel side to side. Its the rod end thats inside the boot.


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And you noticed side to side play when there was no weight on the wheel?

Thanks!
 
bassmacka said:
How did you fix it? Was the noise when going over a bump when going straight ? Pics of what to check and how to fix would be great.

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No fix yet, I was asking about the runout for the wheel bearing.
I'm going to check my sway bar bushings next. I also thought about putting a gopro down there and seeing what I can see while the truck is rolling.

I'll definitely post my finding!
 
str alorman said:
No fix yet, I was asking about the runout for the wheel bearing.
I'm going to check my sway bar bushings next. I also thought about putting a gopro down there and seeing what I can see while the truck is rolling.

I'll definitely post my finding!
Click to expand...
GoPro may be a good idea. I too have a thunk but only when I turn full tilt and or hit a bump while turning.

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That may well be something different. Mine tends to be wheels centered.
I did fine of my CV axles had play in it, so I replaced it anyway.
I'm really hoping it's no the steering rack, that would be a pain to change out
 
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