I hear a clunk/knock in the front end whenever I hit large bumps in the road. I have all new front end components after a recent lift install so I know nothing is worn. I had the exact same sound in my previous F-150 same year 2003. Could the clunk be coming from the bump stop? It’s a very annoying sound.

Any help is appreciated. I think I might need to get a go-pro and mount it somewhere underneath to record what’s causing it

 

Broken engine mount? Flashlight in the glove box? Is it 4WD? 5.4?

https://www.f150forum.com/profile.php?do=editsignature

 

Up and down bumps might more likely be either a bad ball joint or loose shock mount. If the happen in the midst of turning it's more likely be tie rods or similar. Rarely, control arm bushings can sometimes be the culprit.

Btw, new parts aren't necessarily good parts. Shock body on my qa1 coilovers for my s10 broke during the alignment, tearing up tie rod dust boots and cracking nearly every brand new bushing in a brand new suspension/steering system.

Reason? The technician left one of the control arm mount bolts loose after he shimmed it for the alignment. I know this because I found the nut still wedged between the control arm and the broken abs sensor plug, and his shim was wedged right next to it. Proving that in court however is going to be more trouble than it's worth.

 

Check the caliper anchor bracket as well, the big bolts. They can eventually vibrate,loosen and fall out if they weren't reinstalled correctly (w/locktite) at some point. They or it will clunk periodically over rough terrain once that occurs.

 

Check your u joints. Mine was making thud noises and I looked at the u joints and they was ready to go.

 

One thing I forgot to mention is sway bar bushings...was looking at the company gofer truck (2005 Ford ranger) and it had a similar clunk. Turned out that the upper sway bar end link bushing on one side was cracked, and the other side was completely missing. Was caused by the fact that my super brilliant boss (in case he's reading) decided to put explorer sport trac rims on the ranger. You can see the clearance issues, and the rubbing that caused the bushings to blow out (3rd pic). If you just did a lift, check for clearance issues and stressed parts.

 

Clunking sounds are common to failed/failing shocks.