clanking in front end?

[kozy]

I finally got my first truck...an '03 Hemi Sport 2WD with a 5.5" Fabtech lift. Needs some TLC, but overall it was a sweet deal.

I've noticed a clunking in the front end as I'm driving...so I decided to crawl underneath the truck one day and check things out. I don't know a lot about lifts...yet...but something doesn't seem right to me. I'm hoping someone here can shed some light on this for me.

Check out the attached picture of a lift kit I found online....check out the small silver metal pieces that are highlighted (pardon my lack of Paint skills). When I'm under the front of the truck, the shocks come down through the lower control arm and a little metal piece similar to these goes through the bolt hole in the bottom of the shock....that is what keeps the shock from going back upward through the control arm. I can stand on the ground and push up and down on the front bumper and hear the shock moving down and back up. The noise I'm hearing (I believe) is this metal piece clanking on the bottom of the control arm. I would have taken a picture, but it's dark and I'm inside for the night already.


Is this normal for it to be setup like this? I am pretty sure that the shock shouldn't be able to move up and down and should be solidly mounted at both ends of the shock.

 

[Hemiguy0302]

No attached picture brother. But yes the shocks should not be able to move up and down in their mounts. Also check your sway bar end links those have been known to get sloppy and clunk around.

 

[kozy]

****...I hate it when I forget to attach when i said I was going to. I do that all day long at work too.

Also, the metal rod from the sway bar end links down to the control arm (don't know what that's called) rubs up against my spring....I'll have to take pictures of all this stuff tomorrow and post them here.

 

[RamStrat]

PIctures would definitely help...

 

[kozy]

Ok, scratch my initial post. I did some more digging and learned that it's not the bottom mount that's moving. It's a clanking noise coming from the top half of the shock. I tried having my wife stand on the bumper and jump up and down to help me replicate the noise, but she doesn't weigh enough to make it happen

I am leaning towards needing new shocks....I think it might be trash.

Unrelated note....check the 2 attached pics out. Should that big metal piece that is welded to the lower control arm be rubbing against my spring? It makes a god-awful noise when they're rubbing together up and down. I don't know if I could even heat this piece up and try to bend it back to where it SHOULD be without it returning to this position again down the road.

 

[STOUTE]

You shouldn't have a prob with heating up the bracket and bending it out the way

 

[kozy]

UPDATE:


I figured out what the clanking noise was. The bolts on the top of the shock were SUPER loose. Tightened them down a few weeks ago and it all went away.

I noticed yesterday that the noise was back with a vengeance....ten times worse. It sounded like the front of the truck was going to fall apart. I stopped and looked at it....and I can grab the nuts and rod and move all of it up and down with my bare hand. Call me crazy, but a shock shouldn't do that unless it's busted all to hell.

That leads me to this question....I was told the truck already had a 5.5" Fabtech lift on it. It's a 2WD truck. How high can I lift it without having to sink major money in? I'm planning a 3" body lift eventually, but it won't get me as high as I want to be. Since i need 2 new shocks anyhow (the right rear is in dire need of replacement), Im thinking about doing a total replacement. I tried searching but couldn't find much about 2WD lifts here. Anyone know how high I can take her? I wouldn't mind something like a total of 9 inches of lift from suspension and another 3" from the body lift.

 

[adamwilkes14]

12 inches total seems like an awful lot without having to refab steering linkages and stuff like that

 

[kozy]

12 inches total seems like an awful lot without having to refab steering linkages and stuff like that

So what the previous owner claims is already installed is a 5.5" Fabtech lift. I don't know if Fabtech ever made such a lift be use all i see online is a 6" kit. I also found a 7" CST lift kit which I woudnt mind pursuing. Do you think a 7" suspension lift wouldn't require any extra mods?

I'm trying to convince the wife that it's better to buy a new kit now rather than just buy new shocks and have to trash them down the road if i want a new lift on the truck.

 

[03MopaRamman]

Talk to Jeff at Performancelifts.com. He is a vendor on here and knows all the kits and trucks inside out. He'll sort you out. You can start a thread on this in that Vendors section. Good Luck!

 

[kozy]

Clunk is gone...bought some new Bilsteins and put them in. 2 of the 4 shocks on the truck were junk. Rides much better now!

 

[RubberFrog]

Ok, scratch my initial post. I did some more digging and learned that it's not the bottom mount that's moving. It's a clanking noise coming from the top half of the shock. I tried having my wife stand on the bumper and jump up and down to help me replicate the noise, but she doesn't weigh enough to make it happen

I am leaning towards needing new shocks....I think it might be trash.

Unrelated note....check the 2 attached pics out. Should that big metal piece that is welded to the lower control arm be rubbing against my spring? It makes a god-awful noise when they're rubbing together up and down. I don't know if I could even heat this piece up and try to bend it back to where it SHOULD be without it returning to this position again down the road.

Why the sad face? That's generally considered a good thing!

I'm glad new shocks solved the problem.

 

[kozy]

Why the sad face? That's generally considered a good thing!

I'm glad new shocks solved the problem.

True....very true.
So after driving the truck for a bit with the new shocks installed, I still have the clunk. But at least I was able to take the shocks out of the equation. The noise sounds like it's coming from inside the truck on the drivers side. Call me crazy, but I swear I can feel it in the gas pedal....

Don't have a clue what it could be now other than maybe the u-joint in the steering linkage? I have a friend who's Jeep had the same problem a few years back.

 

[matt99]

well get down and more the steering linkage around and see if you have any slack. Shouldnt be able to move around that much

On another note, I had a horrible clunking in my front end for awhile after my body lift. I accidentally got off on a horribly muddy road (the accidental part was the condition of the road) and hit some bad bumps, almost got stuck, etc but after that the clunk was gone. I dont know if I lost something or what, but its gone. knock on wood.

 

[kozy]

it's been a while, but I'm finally ready (financially) to tackle this problem. Since the clunk/rattle only happens when I hit non-smooth parts of a road, and I can feel it in the gas pedal, I'm wondering if maybe it could be bad motor/trans mounts?

I checked the u-joint in the steering linkage and that's nice and tight. I'm going to try to get under it sometime this week and inspect the mounts to see if anything fishy is going on.

 

[txbass06]

If a trans mount is out, you'll usually hear a bang or clunk or something when shifting from park to reverse or drive. They usually don't make noise only on rough roads.

Suspension noises are one of the hardest things to diagnose via the web lol


Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk

 

[Sup3rR3dRoost3r]

hey bro i had a horrid clunking noise a few weeks after i got my CST lift. after a few trips to the lift shop and some trouble shooting i had to replace my stock UCAs with the CST option UCAs. clunking went away. they where hitting the top can. that was my issue. I love this lift kit. super good 2WD street lift. I have do not take it off road.

here is a pic of the new UCAs installed.


Link for the CST 7" Lift kit and UCA option here.
http://www.cstsuspension.com/products/sfID1/22/sfID2/8/sfID3/66/productID/37

Kit info:

DESIGNED TO FIT 35" TIRES W/ 8" WIDE WHEELS
ALL PARTS COVERED IN A HIGH QUALITY GLOSS BLACK POWDER COAT FINISH
PERFORMANCE LIFT COIL SPRINGS
WHEELS MUST NOT HAVE MORE THAN 5" BACKSPACE
2006-2008 MODELS REQUIRE THE CSS-D11-1 FRONT BRAKE LINE FOR USE OF CSS-D1-1 4" LIFT SPINDLE WHETHER INSTALLING THE 4" OR 7" LIFT KIT.
WE DO NOT MAKE A COIL FOR THE HEMI V8. YOU MUST USE PART # CSE-C16-4 URETHANE COIL SPRING SPACER ON TOP OF THE FACTORY COIL SPRING FOR THIS APPLICATION.
* ASK FOR COIL THAT FITS YOUR VEHICLE APPLICATION
CSS-D2-3 UPPER CONTROL ARMS FIT THE '02 - '05 MODELS TRUCKS ONLY

Each part number listed below sold separately

Individual kit components:
CSS-D1-1 - 4" LIFT SPINDLE UPRIGHT
CSC-D3-2 - LIFT COIL SPRING - V8 MODELS (NON HEMI)
CSB-C14-3 - 3" LIFT BLOCK KIT
CSU-D15-11R - U-BOLT KIT W/ NUTS & WASHERS

Optional kit components:
CSE-C16-4 - 3" LIFT COIL SPACER
CSS-D2-3 - UPPER CONTROL ARM w/ CST PRO-JOINT ('02-'05 ONLY)
CSS-D11-1 - STAINLESS STEEL BRAIDED FRONT BRAKE LINE ('06 TO CURRENT)
CSR-1200 - CST PERFORMANCE FRONT SHOCK
CSR-2500 - CST PERFORMANCE REAR SHOCK

 

[kozy]

they where hitting the top can.

What do you mean by this??? I also read something on another forum that this could be caused by the intermediate shaft in the engine compartment. I plan to reach in there and see if it has any slack in it tonight but I'm skeptical that's the culprit.