Front end rattle

jdr7785 · January 11, 2012

Oil/trans cooler will be in front of your radiator, look like a smaller radiator. Heat shields will be over the muffler or any other pipers that are close to cab panels.

Thank you, I will check it out tomorrow

00Silverado4x4 · January 11, 2012

No problem. Let us know what you find. Good luck.

CapitalTruck · January 11, 2012

Ok, here's what it is: Where the upper control arm bolts up to the frame. I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that the bolts on the front and rear of that control arm are loose. They're supposed to be torqued down to 140 lbs/ft. Some yo-yo who did your alignment didn't tighten them down right. Check the bolts on the lower control arm mounts too, they're supposed to be at 129lbs/ft.

jdr7785 · January 11, 2012

It wasn't the skid plate or the cooler. I bet it is the upper control arm thing cause I had an alignment done about two months ago

ChevyTech77 · January 11, 2012

You'd have more problems with a set of loose control arm bolts than just a rattle.

Take the shock off and drive without for a bit to see if that changes it. Otherwise, does steering or brake input it at all?

jdr7785 · January 11, 2012

What other problems would i have?

What do you mean by does the steering or brake input?

gmtech4 · January 12, 2012

what he means is ,if you had loose upper control arm bolts ,you would have steering/tire wear/pulling concerns

he wants to know if appling the brakes makes the rattle go away and does steering one way or the other change/affect the rattle/noise

you are trying to do this yourself and thats good ,but i think in the end maybe a visit to a garage maybe the best thing for you

jdr7785 · January 12, 2012

what he means is ,if you had loose upper control arm bolts ,you would have steering/tire wear/pulling concerns

he wants to know if appling the brakes makes the rattle go away and does steering one way or the other change/affect the rattle/noise

you are trying to do this yourself and thats good ,but i think in the end maybe a visit to a garage maybe the best thing for you

I agree, there is no way ill be able to do this myself. I dont notice any different tire wear or pulling, but my steering feels loose. And honestly, im not sure about applying the brakes, the only time i get the rattle i am going straight down a bumpy road. I will have to try seeing if there is a difference with the brakes tomorrow.

Spurshot · January 12, 2012

Bushings on the shocks, sway bar pivots and sway bar ends, and A arms are common culprits. They deteriorate and fall out, leaving you with metal contact.

Also, the top of the shock mount and coilover assembly should be checked for tightness. After that, I'd find a good frontend shop you can trust. There's just so many places in the front end that could cause a rattle. I've seen a loose steering box before. Then there's every moving component of the front end. After that, frame and body components.

kraicekjb · January 12, 2012

Check the bolts on the brake caliper bracket. My front ones were a little loose and it sounded like the whole front end was going to fall out. And I dont know why but the steering felt loose. I tightened it up with a big ratchet and torqued it down. Immediately the noise stopped and steering felt tight.

jdr7785 · January 12, 2012

I'm starting to feel like the easiest thing to do would be take it to a shop, but I do not want to spend a lot of money

CapitalTruck · January 16, 2012

Well, my experience was slightly loose upper control arm bolts. It made noices just as described by OP and had no other effects. Seems silly not to check these out for tightness. All you need is a decent sized wrench.

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!

scottmoyer · October 10, 2012

part number 15157907

Rebelwithoutacause · November 9, 2014

Hi all I know this is a old thread

But I had what I thought was a rattle in the front end turned out the bolts that hold the rear shocks

To the rear end were wore I found this by having

A friend jump on rear bumper while I was under neath hope this helps it's an easy fix take the old bolts out and replace them problem solved it almost sounded like it was in the front at times or the spare tire other times cheers