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Pop in my front end

Skandocious

Post Whores Make Me Sick
19,076
655
California
So this has been going on for a while and seems to be happening more and more every time I drive the truck.

I've been getting a POP in my front end, sounds like it's coming from the right side. It mostly happens if I crank the wheel hard to the right while driving, like making a turn onto a side street with no stop sign. It only happens when I turn right, not left. It also seems to happen if I'm stopping and slightly turning at the same time, such as coming up on a right hand turn with a stop sign and slowing down while slightly veering off to the right side of the street to make the turn.

The truck had a lift kit put on shortly before I bought it, somewhere around 35k miles ago. So all the components related to a lift kit are obviously new. My first thoughts were radius arm bushing (but that's new with the lift) or a shock bushing (also new with the lift).

Then someone showed me a TSB from Ford that described a creak like mine-- said it can be caused by a build up of tension in the trans crossmember. Fix is to loose the crossmember and jack it up and down, then bolt it back up. So I did that today-- still creaks.

Any ideas?
 
973
11
bad tie rod ends? those can pop..
 

95F350XL

Master Junk Tech
Ball Joints also. Ck them all.
 

john112deere

caffeine junkie
Staff member
10,807
405
central Vermont
Yeah...that's more or less what my truck was doing with a worn upper ball joint. First noticeable and most predictable at low speeds and full lock; e.g. when stopping to back into a parking space.

Buddy had a Caddy that did something similar, turned out to be a tie-rod.
 

Skandocious

Post Whores Make Me Sick
19,076
655
California
I know my tie rod ends need to be replaced but I know the sound well enough to know that I don't THINK those are causing it. And everyone knows I'm always right :rolleyes: :rofl: Those could be causing it but I'm leaning towards other ideas before I attack that project.

Ball joints seem pretty good, I tested them a while ago by jacking the wheels a bit off the ground and throwing a cheater bar under each tire and pulling up and town as hard as I could-- no movement. I know it's not an end-all test, but is there a better way to tell?

Wheel bearings were replaced with Timken's when I did my break job about a year ago-- both inners and outers.

I was kind of thinking about that maybe the pivot bushings were going bad so maybe I'll check those. Can they be seen from just looking at them or do I have to start takin' shit apart?

Same goes for the RA bushings... I can see a bit of rubber sticking out but isn't the actual bushing encased in those cups? Do I have to take the RA's apart to see the actual bushing inside?
 

john112deere

caffeine junkie
Staff member
10,807
405
central Vermont
I know my tie rod ends need to be replaced but I know the sound well enough to know that I don't THINK those are causing it.

Well...why don't you fix those and see if it goes away?'hiding_smilie'
 

Skandocious

Post Whores Make Me Sick
19,076
655
California
I don't know how so I'm afraid to do it. I'm a scaredy cat like that.

Yeah I could research but I DON'T WANNA AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!!
 

Skandocious

Post Whores Make Me Sick
19,076
655
California
New tie rod ends would also cost a good chunk of change and I'm not sure if I'm prepared to drop that much money at the drop of a hat. They work well enough that I can drive the truck from Davis to Newcastle or Stockton every weekend so it's not an urgent repair IMO.
 
Well...why don't you fix those and see if it goes away?'hiding_smilie'

Thank you Ian, I was just gonna post that. That's how you do it, eliminate what you know is bad first... You could however, get rid of that white piece of chit by selling it to me at a greatly reduced price...... delivered btw...smilieneenar
 

Skandocious

Post Whores Make Me Sick
19,076
655
California
Thank you Ian, I was just gonna post that. That's how you do it, eliminate what you know is bad first... You could however, get rid of that white piece of chit by selling it to me at a greatly reduced price...... delivered btw...smilieneenar
I'll trade you truck for truck :D

Or mustang for truck :D :D
 

radialarm

Clown of Death!
It seems to me I've heard something like that too, on the other site.

If I remember it was something like the rivits in the shock towers.

I'll do a search over there and report back.

(If you don't here from me in 24hrs. send reinforcements.)
 
973
11
tie rid ends arent too bad to do.. you SHOULD get an alignment afterwards, but if you make some index markings youll be good
 
3,121
67
Michigan
I just replaced one of my tie rod ends. 24 bucks with a lifetime from autozone. Alignment is the killer... And you need to get one afterwards.
 

Lost

PA Chapter leader
3,288
33
central PA
Radius arm bushings will cause pops . Also I have had ball jiont appear to be good but when I popped tie rod end u could hardly turn spindle they were so bad.

Send me a plane ticket and I'll redo whole front end for nothing :)
 

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