[Docked Wages]

Are there typical places in the front suspension to check on these cars for Creaks and Groans in the front suspension? My wife loves her Ford truck and gives me grief every time she's in my car about the one noise that it makes when leaving the driveway so I need to deal with it. Any input is appreciated.

 

[MrSurly]

Upper control arm bushings.
They were the cause of what I described as a SCRONK noise over a slo-mo speed bump.
Rock Auto has the upper arms complete for $50 each. It’s a relatively EASY repair.

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[deshars313]

I changed my Upper and lower control arms and sway bar end links and I am still getting a clunk at low speeds. I got under there with an impact and tightened down some of the cradle bolts and some of them seemed actually a little loose so I was hoping that was my remedy, but unfortunately still present. Also changed the shock absorbers. Im left with tie rod ends, and sway bar bushings as my possible culprits now. Maybe someone else has more suggestions for things to check but Im at my wits end with this little clunk. I dont have it in me to take it to a stealership but man i am tempted

 

[deshars313]

Its kindve hard to do a motor mount test when you have a MT but that could also be a culprit...

 

[MrSurly]

If you were looking for a creak/groan, I had your answer, but a clunk could be damned near anything. Are the shocks leaking oil? A shock could be a clunk (leaking or not) but look at steering rack mounts, ball joints, lower CA bushings. Check the bolts holding the struts to the tower and the strut brace bolts and nuts. Also take a good look at all of the fasteners and clips that hold the radiator/condenser/intercooler/oil coolers etc.

 

[BV_Mully]

Check the top nut on the shock. That should be tightened with the car on the ground. Also, is your car lowered? There is a known squeak when using Eibach (and probably others) springs and leaving the dust cap on the shock.

 

[Docked Wages]

Ride height is stock. At least I know the ball joints and tie rods are tight so nothing is going to fall apart right away. Looks like I'll need to get it on a lift and tackle everything you guys mentioned above. Thanks for the insights.

 

[Docked Wages]

Took the car in for an alignment and had them check everything up front and out back. They replaced the sway bar links and the noise is gone.

 

[Lou]

Upper control arm bushings.
They were the cause of what I described as a SCRONK noise over a slo-mo speed bump.
Rock Auto has the upper arms complete for $50 each. It’s a relatively EASY repair.

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I know this is an old thread but was wondering about the “scronk” sound you were hearing. Was it only when cold out? I guess it’s a notorious sound these cars make and I’m trying to pinpoint my problem.

 

[MrSurly]

In my case, it was the upper control arm bushings, both sides. Replaced both upper control arms as described, fixed. 100%.
Remove the wheel, disconnect the upper ball joint and then you can easily move the arm up and down and look at the bushing. I could easily see the inner and outer parts of the bushing were separated.
https://vimeo.com/652028410/8bc9db3a27



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[SilverSurfer]

I had some clunks over rough roads, which was taken care of by replacing the anti-roll bar bushings There's still plenty of scronk left though, I have new front UCAs to put in that will hopefully take care of it.

 

[MrSurly]

My car had no clunks or untoward sounds exCEPT when going over a speed bump or through a driveway dip that caused full travel and it would make a most embarrassing racket (the famous scronk) that at times sounded like a damned donkey. Onlookers laughed. It was a sound Fred Sanford's truck might make.

 

[RobF300]

i have one that only appears around 45 degrees or colder

 

[Jim]

Make sure your lower control arm bolts are TIGHT as well. They will cause a groan when they are not TIGHT.

 

[Lou]

I had some clunks over rough roads, which was taken care of by replacing the anti-roll bar bushings There's still plenty of scronk left though, I have new front UCAs to put in that will hopefully take care of it.

i have one that only appears around 45 degrees or colder

I have this exact same problem. I’m leaning towards upper control arm bushings as the culprit. Upon visual inspection they looked fine but with 80,000 miles on the car I’m sure new bushings wouldn’t hurt.

 

[SilverSurfer]

Yeah mine is definitely louder the colder it gets.

 

[RobF300]

mine been doing it since 40k miles
i dont think people can hear it nearby but you can def hear it inside the car

 

[MrHappy]

Same here, just under 40k but has been doing it for a couple years

 

[MrSurly]

Upper control arm bushings. In my case the bushings LOOKED fine, but when moving the arm I could see that the rubber had de-bonded from the inner tube so that the rubber was sliding over the steel tube rather than the rubber deflecting as designed. Look very closely, I’ll bet that’s it.
https://vimeo.com/652028410/8bc9db3a27

 

[Lou]

Upper control arm bushings. In my case the bushings LOOKED fine, but when moving the arm I could see that the rubber had de-bonded from the inner tube so that the rubber was sliding over the steel tube rather than the rubber deflecting as designed. Look very closely, I’ll bet that’s it.

Was your noise cold weather related at all?