Front end noise (and other questions) 2WD

[lindsay_elaine]

I realize it's kind of pointless to ask what a noise is over the internet without you guys actually being able to hear it, but I don't know where to start and haven't found anything through searching the forums. My 2WD '03 has a mystery noise in the front end and it's driving me nuts. It groans going over bumps, and just driving along there's a constant clunking coming from somewhere up front. It doesn't seem to be related to the steering in any way, but sometimes it seems like I can feel it in the wheel. Every little bump in the road causes the clunk to happen and it sounds like something is loose. Yesterday, we replaced the front shocks and had the truck up on a lift. There didn't seem to be anything obviously wrong up front, but we didn't have a ton of time to really look (we were putting on a new exhaust and it was getting late) Does anybody have any idea where we should start? It's going back up on the lift in the next week or so probably and I'd kind of like to have some idea what to look at, if at all possible. The clunking isn't SUPER obvious, but it's much more noticeable now that my exhaust isn't leaking.

Next question - are the front shocks on a 2WD supposed to be barely long enough to go through the coil springs?? My uncle thinks the truck sits higher in the front than it should, but it was a company work truck and I can't imagine them putting a leveling kit in it. Just seems weird

 

[fordboi415]

check wheel bearings, ball joints and bushings

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

some times, the brake pads make noise when the are worn out, the pad tends to get loose on the caliper

 

[fordboi415]

some times, the brake pads make noise when the are worn out, the pad tends to get loose on the caliper

if your having this problem then something either needs to replaced or adjusted, the pads should never move around freely in between your rotor and caliper, they have little metal tabs on the back allowing them to be snapped inside the caliper holding them in place not to mention there should be very little distance from pad surface to rotor surface maybe a couple hundreds of an inch max

 

[dangerranger2008]

check body mounts in front

 

[lindsay_elaine]

Brakes are new as of a few months ago... haven't had it back to the garage to check everything else out. I'll update when I know something - thanks for the suggestions!

 

[jax4bangin]

my truck came from the dealer with a defective inner tie rod joint. the stupid clunk was driving me nutts and the service guys were tellin me i was crazy.. but then i talked to one of the mechanics about it. he had me hold the steering wheel while he pushed the front bumper up and down and thats wen i could really feel the clunk.. got er fixed under warranty. its been much more solid ever since but im pretty picky and still feel some slop somewhere up front

 

[lindsay_elaine]

my truck came from the dealer with a defective inner tie rod joint. the stupid clunk was driving me nutts and the service guys were tellin me i was crazy.. but then i talked to one of the mechanics about it. he had me hold the steering wheel while he pushed the front bumper up and down and thats wen i could really feel the clunk.. got er fixed under warranty. its been much more solid ever since but im pretty picky and still feel some slop somewhere up front

Was it a really "subtle" clunk? Had my uncle drive it last night and he couldn't hear/feel anything unusual and it didn't make the separate groaning noise over any bumps. We're thinking his extra weight in the cab made it less bouncy since it started the groan again when I drove it home. I think he thinks I'm crazy over the clunking though, it's barely there but enough to drive me bonkers!!!

 

[Tony_L]

Funny my truck does almost the same thing but only when it's hot out. Usually I have to drive it a bit before it happens. This has been going on for 3 years now. What's really weird is it's the small waves in the road which seem to cause the clunking and not the actual bumps. I brought it to a shop a few times and naturally they told me they could not hear anything or find anything loose. Good luck with yours.

 

[straycat]

I had the left caliber bolt come loose on my 99 Ranger about three years ago and the noise was driving me crazy. Just could not see anything that could make that noise. The second day I heard it I was about 6 miles from the house and all of a sudden...the caliper came off and landed inside the wheel and scratched up my beauty A/R polished wheel. I pulled into our Goodyear shop and asked them to see what had happened. I had to get two new bolts from them and they fixed it for free. They get all of our business from now on.

Straycat

 

[cc98ranger]

Clunking Noise

Funny my truck does almost the same thing but only when it's hot out. Usually I have to drive it a bit before it happens. This has been going on for 3 years now. What's really weird is it's the small waves in the road which seem to cause the clunking and not the actual bumps. I brought it to a shop a few times and naturally they told me they could not hear anything or find anything loose. Good luck with yours.

I was going through past threads looking at what people have found when it comes to their noisy front ends. My 98 2 wheel drive Ranger has the same symptoms and I was curious if you ever found the problem that was making the noise you have described since my truck has done this since new and I have replaced every piece on the front end with the exception of the steering rack itself. What you described is exactly what I have going on and I have yet to find it. It definately is more audible when it warms up and the truck has been driven some. Mine even moans when it is hot outside and it is not the pump and I have changed out the fluid a number of times and nothing has changed, so what have poeple found to correct the problem. I hate having a noise I cannot fix ro locate. My truck body mounts are tight with no deterioation in the bushings, brakes are new front and back, u-joints good, front end is all new, still have the same noise. I am at a loss as to what to look at next. Any new ideas? Thanks for the help.

 

[bracketbomber]

Hello All. The noise in the front of our 05 edge came out of nowhere and sounded like I ran something over and was making a loud thumping sound in time with a wheel rotation. As fast as it came, it went. It began doing it again but intensified when I would turn to the left only, and then again, it was gone. It hasn't done it since and what it could have been is driving me nuts, anyone???????????

 

[zekew64]

Hello All. The noise in the front of our 05 edge came out of nowhere and sounded like I ran something over and was making a loud thumping sound in time with a wheel rotation. As fast as it came, it went. It began doing it again but intensified when I would turn to the left only, and then again, it was gone. It hasn't done it since and what it could have been is driving me nuts, anyone???????????

What's the speed you're going when you notice it? If it's when you go slow (less than 25 mph), the likely cause is a broken belt in your tire.

If it's faster than that, you probably have either an unbalanced wheel, or the wheel is dented or buckled. If the wheel is unbalanced, get it balanced. If the problem persists (or the tech attempting to balance the wheel says otherwise), you need to replace the wheel.

What I'd do is first, with the left side jacked up and on jackstands, rotate the problem wheel by hand and watch it. If it noticeably moves, then it's the wheel. The other thing you can do is rub the tire with your hand, and if it's not perfectly smooth (flat sections or dips), then you have a broken belt in the tire. The fix is to replace the tire.

The other thing is you could possibly have an out-of-round tire; the basic principle is, you have more tread on one side of the tire than the other. This results in a tire that feels or sounds like it's "thumping." The fix for that is to replace the tire.