Very loud 'clunk' when turning left - with video - 2005 FX4 F150
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I also took another vid out the window with me driving down to my parkade where it makes the sound every time as it is downhill left turns
You can hear the clunk / bang pretty well at around 7 seconds in. It gets louder than that sometimes too, like someone hitting the truck with a hammer!
You can hear the clunk / bang pretty well at around 7 seconds in. It gets louder than that sometimes too, like someone hitting the truck with a hammer!
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 11
Likes: 0
Hey guys,
I think I may have found the culprit. I was underneath inspecting the CV joints and suspension to see if there was any play and found that one side of the sway bar links is totally disconnected:
The truck is jacked up by the chassis in the video which allows the joint to totally disconnect as you can see, as the suspension is uncompressed. When the truck is back on the ground the joint can sit in the socket making it look like it is properly connected. So when I am turning and the suspension is uncompressing etc I think that the ball will lift out of the socket a bit and then I am hearing it clunk back in. I am hoping this is what is causing the clunk, it kinda makes sense.
When the second mechanic inspected the truck he did mention about worn sway bar bushings and showed me a bit of play but nothing like this. I am pretty sure he had it lifted by the control arm to test the ball joints too so that makes sense as the suspension is compressed like that.
There is a very easy way to check if this is causing the noise - disconnect the hanging piece totally, but want to check if this would be 'dangerous' to do for a very short drive back into my parkade where the clunk always happens? Or maybe it is best to disconnect both sides of the sway bar so that it is balanced out? Either way I will get this fixed, pretty sure I can do this myself easily enough.
I did also look at the shocks, inspected the coils and saw no cracks, pulled them around while jacked up and felt no play, top mounts seem solid to my untrained eye. Also tested CV joints for play as well as checked the CV joint wheel end bolts going through the hub as suggested above which seem tight. There was a bit of lateral play in both CV joints coming from the inside, but I see no movement on the wheel side. Here is a vid of that:
Does that amount of play seem normal enough?
Hope to be able to test without the broken sway bar joint pretty soon to see if the noise is gone so would be great to hear some opinions if that is 'safe' to do for a very short distance.
Cheers
I think I may have found the culprit. I was underneath inspecting the CV joints and suspension to see if there was any play and found that one side of the sway bar links is totally disconnected:
The truck is jacked up by the chassis in the video which allows the joint to totally disconnect as you can see, as the suspension is uncompressed. When the truck is back on the ground the joint can sit in the socket making it look like it is properly connected. So when I am turning and the suspension is uncompressing etc I think that the ball will lift out of the socket a bit and then I am hearing it clunk back in. I am hoping this is what is causing the clunk, it kinda makes sense.
When the second mechanic inspected the truck he did mention about worn sway bar bushings and showed me a bit of play but nothing like this. I am pretty sure he had it lifted by the control arm to test the ball joints too so that makes sense as the suspension is compressed like that.
There is a very easy way to check if this is causing the noise - disconnect the hanging piece totally, but want to check if this would be 'dangerous' to do for a very short drive back into my parkade where the clunk always happens? Or maybe it is best to disconnect both sides of the sway bar so that it is balanced out? Either way I will get this fixed, pretty sure I can do this myself easily enough.
I did also look at the shocks, inspected the coils and saw no cracks, pulled them around while jacked up and felt no play, top mounts seem solid to my untrained eye. Also tested CV joints for play as well as checked the CV joint wheel end bolts going through the hub as suggested above which seem tight. There was a bit of lateral play in both CV joints coming from the inside, but I see no movement on the wheel side. Here is a vid of that:
Does that amount of play seem normal enough?
Hope to be able to test without the broken sway bar joint pretty soon to see if the noise is gone so would be great to hear some opinions if that is 'safe' to do for a very short distance.
Cheers
