2005 Ford F150 - Very loud 'clunk' when turning left - with

[danstar10]

Hey guys,
I have a very strange noise that I am trying to figure out. I got a 2005 F150 FX4, 5.4 litre engine with about 250,000kms on it - when I am turning left and start to straighten out the wheels (so start turning back right) I get a sometimes VERY loud clunk / pop / bang noise coming from somewhere. Pretty sure it is the front end steering / suspension area and would assume so as it is steering related but can't be certain. It is a lot louder / happens more often when I am facing downhill and turning left, so the front end is loaded with weight.

I have had it checked by 2 mechanics, first guy told me the lower ball joints and right outer tie rod need replacing, which I know they do, but he said he is not sure that that would cause the noise as he has not heard that sound coming from ball joints before (I took him for a ride to show him the noise)

Second mechanic said same, lower ball joints, right outer tie rod, but also found that the sway bar is lose which he showed me, and also there is quite a bit of play between the front 4wd axles and hubs, so you can kinda pull the axles in and out a bit more than expected, but was not sure if that is related. He also said he still is not sure where the noise would be coming from based on that list, advised me to fix the ball joints and tie rod more for safety (which I need to do) but he was not particularly confident that that would get rid of the clunk, but it may.

The truck is pretty old and high mileage so just want to keep her running at the moment and don't want to sink $1000s into her especially if the disconcerting noise may not get fixed!

I mounted a gopro and light to take at look a the lower ball joints and outer tie rods on each side and you can see an edit of that here. You can hear the clunk 3 times with the camera mounted on the driver side then 3 times on the right of the truck. All the clunks happen when I have turned left and sometimes straightening out to the right or have already straightened out. Sometimes there can be a delay after getting the wheel straight and then the noise happening after I go over a small bump or something:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=St9ggy1kNrk


I was expecting / hoping to see some movement in the lower ball joints when you hear the clunks but I don't see anything, same with tie rods. The noise is really pretty loud sometimes and you can feel it through the steering wheel so it feels like something that is taking load and releasing, which makes me think it is unlikely the sway bar or tie rods, most likely the lower ball joints, but both mechanics said they'd not heard ball joints make that noise before, and my gopro vid shows no movement so I am far from confident in that. So I'm a little lost about where the noise could be coming from. Anyone have any ideas??

Here it is recorded from 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!


www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxZg7DMqV7M


Also the same noise, at least I think it is the same, happens when I slowly mount a curb with the front right wheel and then drive off it. The clunk happens as I slowly drive off the curb and back onto the road. Doesn't do it on the driver side.

Thanks for any advice in advance!

[Rhubarb]

Maybe a broken coil spring and/or top mount.

[chippie]

Wouldnt take much to determine where the noise is coming from/worn ball joints if you are handy with spanners….

Otherwise take it to a mechanic who knows what he’s on about rather than someone making wild guesses…

[danstar10]

Jan 3, 2023 9:34:43 GMT 1 Rhubarb said:

Maybe a broken coil spring and/or top mount.

Rhubarb - the mechanics both said they took a look but didn't see anything obvious on the shocks. I'm guessing for a broken coil I'd be literally looking for a crack in the coil of the shock? And if it was a broken top mount, how would I confirm that? 

chippie - lower ball joints are worn, the second mechanic showed me there is some vertical movement in them when he used a clamp on them with the wheel off. But How could I conform the noise is coming from the ball joints like you mentioned? 

Also the truck has 250,000km on it not 150,000 so corrected that in the original post.

cheers

[OldGit]

Well the first thing I'd be doing is getting the work done that you say you know needs doing, maybe something else will show up during that remedial work - or maybe it will cure the issue. One thing is for sure, it won't be a waste of money if it's work that needs doing anyway...

[chippie]

I don’t know how the vehicle safety is checked across the pond, but if it were mine, I’d be doing the repairs as suggested/recommended in case the ball joints give up alltogether….and before the vehicle was deemed unsafe by the authorities…

[Rhubarb]

Jan 3, 2023 18:18:48 GMT 1 danstar10 said:

Jan 3, 2023 9:34:43 GMT 1 Rhubarb said:

Maybe a broken coil spring and/or top mount.

Rhubarb - the mechanics both said they took a look but didn't see anything obvious on the shocks. I'm guessing for a broken coil I'd be literally looking for a crack in the coil of the shock? And if it was a broken top mount, how would I confirm that? 

chippie - lower ball joints are worn, the second mechanic showed me there is some vertical movement in them when he used a clamp on them with the wheel off. But How could I conform the noise is coming from the ball joints like you mentioned? 

Also the truck has 250,000km on it not 150,000 so corrected that in the original post.

cheers

As others have mentioned, you really need to get the balljoints replaced. Your truck weighs 2 odd tonne unladen? Doesn't bare thinking about.

Coil, yes for fractures or a chunk missing.

Top mount, vehicle jacked up, grab the shock absorber and check for side to side play, and look at the top mount for movement/perished bushes/bearings.
With road wheels in the air, moving the wheel lock to lock you'll feel any roughness in the strut top.

[danstar10]

Yeah I plan to get the balljoints done, the reason I am holding off is that if the problem causing the clunking sound turns out to be very expensive / uneconomical to fix then I may just sell the truck as is for parts and look for something else, so ideally I would find the source of the noise before deciding where to put my money.



chippie - I am from the UK originally too and have been living from Canada for the past 8 years. They do not have any checks / MOT kinda thing at all here which is crazy, so buying a used car is like the wild west as they can be unmaintained for years.



Rhubarb - ok thanks I will take a look at the shocks again. Can I jack the vehicle up in the usual place under the chassis or would it need to be on the lower control arm to feel any side to side play on the shock?

Cheers

[Rhubarb]

Jan 4, 2023 3:27:00 GMT 1 danstar10 said:

Yeah I plan to get the balljoints done, the reason I am holding off is that if the problem causing the clunking sound turns out to be very expensive / uneconomical to fix then I may just sell the truck as is for parts and look for something else, so ideally I would find the source of the noise before deciding where to put my money.



chippie - I am from the UK originally too and have been living from Canada for the past 8 years. They do not have any checks / MOT kinda thing at all here which is crazy, so buying a used car is like the wild west as they can be unmaintained for years.



Rhubarb - ok thanks I will take a look at the shocks again. Can I jack the vehicle up in the usual place under the chassis or would it need to be on the lower control arm to feel any side to side play on the shock?

Cheers

Jack/support it on the chassis

[danstar10]

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:

www.youtube.com/shorts/AGrfob0uTSI

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 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:

www.youtube.com/shorts/hyJgGGFHNes

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

[huffo]

Glad you found it.

I’m not a professional mechanic, just some amateur on an internet forum, but I can’t see why it would be dangerous to remove just the broken bit for a short test drive.

After all, you’ve been driving it around with that bit broken, so it won’t have been contributing much to the handling/performance of the vehicle, so can’t see that it would do any harm if it was missing.

I broke a rear anti-roll bar drop link off-roading a Land Rover Discovery 300Tdi many years ago, and I simply removed the whole roll bar on the lane and then drive home. It was noticeable how much more the vehicle rolled when suddenly changing lanes on the motorway, but i didn’t consider it was unsafe - after all some models didn’t have anti-roll bars.