Okay here it goes

'97 F-150, 4x4, 4.6(w), 126,000 miles.

I recently, suddenly developed a clunk in my front passenger side when going over bumps or driving on uneven surfaces (dirt /gravel driveways).

I put on new shocks (4) about 6 weeks ago - and yes, they are tight. I have checked them all multiple times. New lower ball joints today - I was looking for the clunk & found a bad lower ball joint on the passenger side. I hoped this would fix it.

It doesn't matter if I am turning or going straight - when I hit a bump I get a clunk. If I ride the brakes over a bump it still clunks. All if the steering linkages are tight. I do not feel this in the wheel or the brake pedal, but more in the floor of the truck. I don't seems to feel it as bad at highway speeds, but at 55 and under it is there - driving me nuts!

Any ideas?

 

I had the same problem on my 97 F150, but it was on the driver's side. After looking into it further, I found out that it was the Swaybar link that holds the swaybar to the A-arm. The bushing fell out and the assembly was loose. It cost me $15 for a complete new assembly and once I put it in the noise went away. Hope this helps you out!!

 

Nope, that's not it, but thanks for the reply. I have replace both sway bar links more than once over the last 5 years.

Upon another inspection today (because this is driving me nuts), I notices that while the truck is off the ground (jacked up), the wheel seems to have no play in it at all, but while the truck is on the ground, there seems to be some movement while pulling outward on the wheel (guessing about maybe .015 - .020). So, it seems like maybe the wheel bearing could be going bad after all.

 

Did you check your idler arm? That's in the general are of concern. I had to replace the one on my 02 4x4 with 45K miles.

Be sure to let the rest of us know what you finallly came up with.

Sidewinder

 

Question for Medic:
Did you ever find out what was causing the clunk? I am taking in my truck to the dealership next week for the exact same problem you are describing.

 

FYI...
Got my SuperCrew back the other day and the clunking noise turned out to be a bad passenger front shock. All bolts on the shock were tight, but there was that clunk I could actually feel from the floorboard. I replaced it with my old shock and no my clunk. I have RS9000x and will be getting another from a warranty claim.

 

Could this be possibly a CV / U joint in the front end? My 99 Expedition has this same clunk noise - mainly as the suspension is floating over the countours in the road. Sometimes happens during normal driving as well... any help on this??

 

Okay, I had to dig this back up.

The clunking ended up being a lower ball joint. I have had new lower ball joints four time since this was posted. Each time the dealer replaced them for free because I was only getting about 3000 miles out of them before they went bad. I finally got fed up with the inconvenience of going to the dealership every 2-3 months and put on aftermarket ball joints. These ones seem to have held up much better - and I can grease them .

Quality is Job 1 - phooey!