99 Ranger front-end clunk

[mooty]

Initially this would only arise when the truck was warmed up but is now ever present. It's a constant "clunking" sound that seems to occur regardless of driving conditions, speed or quality of road. It seems to be only present on the front driver side. There are no loose body panels, parts or accessories.

I heard that sway bar end links were notorious culprits when it came to clunking sounds in Ranger front ends but am not of fan of trying to fix problems by aimlessly repairing things.

Was curious if anyone had pointers on diagnosing this so I can fix it right the first and only time?

 

[rivetc78]

I just went through the same thing and it turned out to be that I had put the wrong caliper pins in when I did my last brake job. This resulted in the caliper being loose and clunking on bumps. I was surprised that a loose caliper could make such a loud noise! Try pressing lightly on the brake pedal while going over bumps that you know will generate the clunk. If the noise disappears, you could have a loose caliper.

 

[mooty]

I just went through the same thing and it turned out to be that I had put the wrong caliper pins in when I did my last brake job. This resulted in the caliper being loose and clunking on bumps. I was surprised that a loose caliper could make such a loud noise! Try pressing lightly on the brake pedal while going over bumps that you know will generate the clunk. If the noise disappears, you could have a loose caliper.

My front driver side caliper (where the noise originates) is a "new" rebuilt. The assembly came with pins and all which I retorqued just to be sure. In addition the noise was there with the old caliper and pins, which I cleaned and torqued thoroughly.

There is some low vibe brake rub noises but it might well be cheap brake pads or perhaps an underlying suspension problem causing the brakes/rotor to shift a bit?

Overall though, the clunking noise, I'm certain, is not related to the caliper.