clunking and steering wheel lurch in hard left turns

[LMHmedchem]

Hello,

Today I suddenly had a repetitive clunking sound when making a hard left turn. There is a bit of a whining sound as well. I can feel the steering wheel lurch with each clunk. There are about 3 or so clunks when making a turn. This only happens with a hard turn which I have only done at slow speeds. There is a bit of sound with right hand turns as well but not nearly as bad.

I took a quick look underneath and I don't see anything obviously wrong. Nothing is visibly broken or detached.

This happened very quickly. I was driving around doing some errands and made a left turn onto a side street and thought I heard something and felt it in the wheel. When I turned into a parking lot, I was paying better attention and heard and felt it very noticeably.

Any suggestions on this?

LMHmedchem

 

[bizzs]

Check wheel bearings

 

[LMHmedchem]

I have replaced some of the wheel bearings, but I don't remember which ones. I seem to remember a growling and little clunking when going around corners before I did the replacement. That was a bit different as I remember. There were allot of clunks at a rapid rate and they were not so noticeable. This is 3 or 4 clunks with some time in between when turning. When I had the wheel bearing issue, that was 10+ clunks, an almost continuous clunking. The wheel bearing clunks were also softer and didn't affect the steering wheel as much.

It's hard to describe, I guess that difference is the number of clunks, the amount of time between each, and the volume of the sound.

Could this be a CV joint or tie rod end? It looks like both the CV boots are leaking.

LMHmedchem

 

[LMHmedchem]

If this is a CV joint, what is a good replacement option? At RockAuto, they range from $41 to $56 each not counting the MotoCraft part that includes the axle.

RockAuto
APWI FD8078 Front Right ($41)
SURTRACK FD8093 Does Not Include ABS Ring Front Right 4WD ($44)
CARDONE SELECT 662154 {#1L2Z3A428AA} CV Drive Axle Front Right ($55)
EMPIRE 802927 Front Right ($57)

There is only one part listed at AdvanceAuto and NAPA, both fro about $75.

CARQUEST CV Shafts New CV Axle Shaft Assembly Front Right 4WD ($75)

NAPA MaxDrive NMD 947033 ($74)

The passengers side boot is loose and there is grease everywhere around it. There doesn't seem to be a ring clamp on the boot and I thought there was supposed to be on on each end of the boot. It has a bit of up and down play, but I couldn't really tell with the tire on and the weight on the suspension. I couldn't really get any leverage on it to see if it was loose.

LMHmedchem

 

[Number4]

There's a TSB for the 4x kicking in because it detects a slip. Google or search the forums and you'll find it.

 

[LMHmedchem]

There's a TSB for the 4x kicking in because it detects a slip. Google or search the forums and you'll find it.

Thanks for the tip. I found several TSBs that seem close. There is really no information on these pages concerning what to do about the issue, just a link to some pay site for more information.

Is one of these what you were thinking of? None of these look exactly right.

NHTSA 10014100:
LIMITED SLIP AXLE CHATTER, SHUDDER, BINDING SENSATION, OR VIBRATION DURING LOW SPEED TURNING MANEUVERS.

NHTSA 10004037:
CHATTER, SHUDDER, A BINDING SENSATION, OR VIBRATION DURING LOW SPEED TURNS ON VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH THE 9.75 INCH OR 8.8 INCH LIMITED SLIP REAR AXLE.

NHTSA 10008352:
LOW SPEED OR STATIONARY NOISE/VIBRATION AT LOWER STEERING SHAFT AREA WHEN TURNING.

NHTSA 621099:
SOME VEHICLES MAY EXHIBIT A SCRUNCH NOISE FROM THE UPPER STEERING COLUMN WHEN MAKING NEAR FULL LOCK TURNS.

NHTSA 621091:
STEERING WHEEL SHUDDER DURING LOW-SPEED TURNING MANEUVERS.

I am taking my truck to my mechanic tomorrow for some other work and I would like to have as much information on this as possible before then.

Is this something I should take my truck to a dealer to get looked at?

I might add that I had my battery disconnected the other day to check the water level, clean the connectors, and refresh the dielectric grease. I know that powering down the computer can result in ABS issues. Do you think this is part of what has happened?

LMHmedchem

 

[Number4]

I as thinking of this one: http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/s420/2009-09-29_022259_05_Explorer_TSB.pdf

But the year doesn't seem to apply to you. Doable the 4x and see if it solves the issue. I believe you can just pull a fuse.

 

[LMHmedchem]

Well after all that, when driving to my mechanic I noticed that my 4x4 high light was on. I turned off the 4x4 and the problem went away.

I never noticed the 4x4 light because of all the other lights that are on. I currently have a yellow "service engine" light, a red "door ajar", and a red "check gauge" from my oil pressure gauge not registering. I just didn't notice the extra light.

As a test, I tried several slow speed turns both left and right to make sure that the 4x4 high wasn't coming on by itself and it seems fine.

This doesn't quite explain why the clunking sound was mainly when turning to the left. I still think there may be an issue with the front passengers CV. Certainly the boot is loose. It has no clamps and there is grease all over there. I know it can take a while for those to run dry but the joint there may be starting to loosen up. I asked my mechanic to look at it and let me know what he thinks.

LMHmedchem

 

[LMHmedchem]

Well my mechanic ran a number of tests and didn't find anything wrong. It would appear that the clunking was entirely due to my accidentally engaging the 4x4 high and not noticing. He looked at the CV joints and thinks they are fine. It drives very nicely now that I have both rear struts replaced.

It's pretty nice to have a mechanic who checks things out and says he can't find anything that needs to be fixed. I'm sure the dealer would have replaced everything but the license plate holder.

LMHmedchem

 

[2Trux]

I never noticed the 4x4 light because of all the other lights that are on. I currently have a yellow "service engine" light, a red "door ajar", and a red "check gauge" from my oil pressure gauge not registering. I just didn't notice the extra light.

It's pretty nice to have a mechanic who checks things out and says he can't find anything that needs to be fixed.

I find the second statement to be quite humorous in light of the previous statement.