97 AWD front end question.

[madjr98]

I have a 97 V8 AWD and my front drive shaft started clunking randomly. So I replaced the front drive shaft and now it is actually clunking more. Im not sure if my front end is out or if it is just a CV joint. The clunking now sounds different than the original clunking and it is coming from the front drivers side. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread into the stock 95-01 section.

 

[OneLever]

Unfortunately the entire front suspension seems to wear out together within a year or so. When does the new clunking occur? Is it related to vehicle speed, rpms, going over bumps?

 

[madjr98]

The clunking is anytime I give it gas. It gets worse when I make turns.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Is it rhythmic like as the driveshaft turns, or only on start-up from a stop, does it clunk once... Need more specific info. Hard to diagnose, it's always hard to explain noises, since you know what you're talking about and we have no clue what the sound is...

Is it a new driveshaft, old, from a junkyard, are the u-joints new, etc...

 

[madjr98]

The clunking is rythmic, with the driveshaft. It clunks continuously while I drive it. The drive shaft is a new one, but the noise is not coming from the shaft it is coming from in front of it. I heard that it may be the CV joints but I'm still not sure.

 

[tweety]

hope you hunt this down

I have a 97 sport 4.0 ohv and experiencing something similar right now. My clunk seemed to be coming from front passenger side. Rhythmic and increases with speed...anyway just replaced cv axle shaft on right side...didn't fix it...need more ideas...thinking of doing u-joint on front driveshaft next. will keep you posted.

 

[tweety]

continued

just pulled front driveshaft..u joint seemed fine....drove around the block with front driveshaft out and still clunking noise from front passenger side...could this just be an unbalanced wheel?

 

[DaExplorer]

Check the front wheel bearing/hub assembly. Jack up the front wheel and turn it and twist and pull on it and see if it is loose or makes noise. Just my 2 cents worth as to where to look next.

 

[tweety]

da...

sorry da for the delay in responding. been busy replacing front strut in the wife's minivan...but seems we were thinking the same thing. Few days ago found some play in the hub and ordered a new one...waiting for it to arrive...should have it in and hopefully be "clunk free" by the weekend.

 

[tweety]

hub was the problem....now, riding smooth and no clunking...(also seems to have fixed the ABS which was only working intermittently)

 

[OneLever]

Glad to see you fixed it! Thank you for updating us with the solution.

 

[DaExplorer]

Glad you got it fixed. It is nice to put it out there on the forum and based on others experiences get opinions as to what it could be. Thanks for letting us know what infact it was.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Thanks for the update!