Hard To Identify Front End Issue

motodude · October 31, 2011

2005 Sierra 2wd Crew cab. 5.3 motor, 75k miles.

I bought the truck with 20k miles on it in 2006. It has been mostly a trouble free truck, with only minor maintenance required. Around 10k miles ago, I was clear that the OEM shocks were shot, so those were replaced with Monroe Sensa-tracks (I think. Or something comparable). I replaced the pads and rotors around 5k miles ago, and at that time I had noticed some play in the driver's side wheel bearing, but I foolishly ignored it and figured the tiny amount of play I felt may be normal. Well, a few days ago after ever-worsening ride quality, I dug in there and found the wheel bearing was toast, as was the outer tie rod end. I also noticed that the driver's side outer tie rod end was not a stock piece, so for some reason the OEM piece was replaced before the truck even had 20k miles on it. So, I replaced both outer tie rod ends, and the driver's side hub. The sway bar links and ball joints on both sides seemed fine to me, but I'm not a tech or suspension expert so they may be bad. Point is, after replacing the hub and the outer tie rod ends, the truck now handles and tracks much better, but I still have this nagging feeling something in the front end is still not quite right. There is a very, very faint clunk when hitting bumps while turning. It also seems to handle square edged bumps in general poorly, the 'hit' feels jarring, almost like the shocks aren't soaking it up. In addition to all that, there is a very quiet noise coming from the driver's front wheel when hitting bumps at slow speeds. It almost sounds like two washers loosely hitting each other, or like you were shaking a couple dimes together in your hand like you would with a pair of dice.

I'm lost as to what I should go after now. Inner tie rod ends? Ball joints? Sway bar links? I checked the sway bar links and the ball joints when I did the hub and tie rod ends, and they seemed fine, but again - I may not know what feels wrong unless it was glaringly bad.

The truck seems to track fine, and the symptoms really only appear at speeds under 40 around town on square edged bumps.

I know I need to go have it aligned, I just don't want to take it to the alignment shop and have them tell me that something is bad up front, thereby wasting time sitting at the shop and driving it back home to fix whatever the problem is. Although, that would be one way of diagnosing the problem.

Any help greatly appreciated.

ruggedlife · November 5, 2011

could very possibly be the intermediate steering shaft, those things go out nonstop all the time and make a clunking ffeeling/sound felt through the steering wheel. i would get the alignment and ask the people what they think. its hard to diagnose something like that over the internet when theres many things it could be. the cvshaft could be blown on the side the wheel hub went out on as well if it was bad enough

scottmoyer · November 6, 2011

Your problem sounds very similar to mine. I've replaced both front shocks and both hub assemblies. My Intermediate steering shaft was replaced at 35k miles with the new design and I've had no issues with the steering wheel. The clunk I feel is in the floor and pedals, not the steering column so I keep ruling out that the shaft is bad. I've checked everything I could and I came up empty in this area so I took my truck to a shop. After having it on the rack for awhile, they said that all front end components were tight and no issues could be found. I'm thinking about taking it back and have the shop look at the engine and tranny mounts to see if they are still good. My front end feels like there is a slight bounce/clunk when going over speed bumps or hitting man hole covers. I've even checked bumper bolts and body mounts to make sure they are tight.

As for the washer clanking, check the shocks installation. I've seen them put together incorrectly. The sway bar endlink bushings are the same. The proper install should be nut, washer, bushing, truck body, bushing, washer, shock absorber. The same on the bottom of the shock. The sway bar endlinks will do the same if the bushings are gone and the washers are now touching.

kjonstl · November 7, 2011

Your problem sounds very similar to mine. I've replaced both front shocks and both hub assemblies. My Intermediate steering shaft was replaced at 35k miles with the new design and I've had no issues with the steering wheel. The clunk I feel is in the floor and pedals, not the steering column so I keep ruling out that the shaft is bad. I've checked everything I could and I came up empty in this area so I took my truck to a shop. After having it on the rack for awhile, they said that all front end components were tight and no issues could be found. I'm thinking about taking it back and have the shop look at the engine and tranny mounts to see if they are still good. My front end feels like there is a slight bounce/clunk when going over speed bumps or hitting man hole covers. I've even checked bumper bolts and body mounts to make sure they are tight.

As for the washer clanking, check the shocks installation. I've seen them put together incorrectly. The sway bar endlink bushings are the same. The proper install should be nut, washer, bushing, truck body, bushing, washer, shock absorber. The same on the bottom of the shock. The sway bar endlinks will do the same if the bushings are gone and the washers are now touching.

I had a clunk when turning , turn left clunk, turn back right, clunk. Traced it to the body mount under the drivers side. There is a GM bulletin out on it. They say buy a $4 spacer to add to the body mount. I just tightened the bolt and it solved my problem.

2006 4x4 burb 1500

scottmoyer · October 5, 2012

I have been fighting with the clunk in my front end for 30k miles and nobody can find anything loose or bad. I finally found the resolution this weekend. The brake pedal has some slop in it and bounces when I hit uneven roads or bumps. I did some research and it seems the brake pedal bushing has a tendency to be bad. I called Chevy and they said it's about a $.70 part. Guess what I'm fixing this weekend.

To see if this is the same for you, put your foot under the brake pedal when you hit the areas that cause the clunk and see if it goes away!