wicked_sludge

[jax4bangin]

hey man got a question for ya. k my trucks front suspension is totally stock (2007, 4cyl, coil sprung) and since day one when ever the suspension is fully extended, say over a speed bump or a drop in the road, there is a clunk that i can hear and feel. other than situations like that the truck feels solid.
i have checked all the upper and lower arm bolts, ball joints, and wheel bearings. everything seems perfect.
any idearrs what it could be? thanks!

 

[fordboi415]

Its the spindle hitting the coil bucket, at full extend it slams into thew side of the bucket causing that loud noise your hearing

 

[jax4bangin]

yea after reading ur thread about ur truck i thought that was it forsure but i took a good look at everything down there and nothing is coming in contact with anything.. i think maybe its the sound of the upper ball joint slamming to its limit.. it feels pretty bad, i cant believe a truck with all factory components would feel this way

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

i was going to suggest checking your balljoints.

on the SLA trucks, there is a binding action when the arms are in full droop, so bad balljoints wont show up. you need to jack the truck up by the lower A-arm, then use a prybar placed under the tire to pry up and down. its easiest if you have someone else to either work the pry bar or watch for movement in the balljoints. there should be NO up and down movement.

 

[jax4bangin]

ok i will give that a try.. if there is movement is that cause of faulty parts or warn parts? and also wat does "SLA" mean? lol

 

[ckblum]

SLA = Short, Long Arm. As in the suspension design includes one set of arms slightly short than the other, usually the top (I think at least, please correct if I'm wrong/missing something).

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

ckblum got it right.

movement in the balljoints indicates worn joints. unless they've been replaced within the last 50,000 miles or so...then they shouldnt already be worn and could be considered defective.

 

[jax4bangin]

hey i checked the ball joints like u said and they feel solid.. really it doesnt feel like anything is loose wen u drive it, it mostly jus feels like there is nothing stopping the suspension from slamming to its limit wen it fully extends

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

are your bump stops missing? what is the condition of the front shocks? (do the bounce test)

 

[jax4bangin]

dude is my truck supposed to have upper bump stops? if so, it doesnt. i replaced the shocks at bout 20,000 and there is almost 40,000 on her now but the shocks feel good.. the truck has jus always been really really stiff.. i cant figure out y a little light truck wud come so stiff makes me think i got the wrong springs lol

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

its been a loooong time since ive been under a coil sprung SLA truck...but i would assume bump stops would be in order.

if there arent any, the suspension has to be bottoming out somewhere. you should figure out where.

 

[jax4bangin]

o, well it has bump stops for the suspension bottoming out (not that i ever have its so F-ing stiff!!!!) but i have heard of ppl putting bump stops for the upper arm to hit when suspension is fully extended.. as of now i think the only thing limiting the travel is the weak looking upper ball joints..
back when the truck was pretty new i had a problem with a faulty inner tie rod joint, it made the front end feel sloppy wen ever hitting bumps.. u think maybe my problem is in the steering?
gosh i wish they jus kept making I beams, they were way solid

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

bad tie rod ends can cause noise. any slop in the front end could be causing the noise.