Front End Clunk.......like everyone else

[tsilney]

I am new to this but I was hopeing someone could help. I have checked through tons of posts on the famous front end clunk. I have a 2001 Eddie Bauer 5.0 awd with 89k. And every time I acclerate, brake, or hit a bump I get a clunk/creeking right under the drivers floor panel. I have checked and/or replaced the following.

Both Upper and Lower ball joints
Sway Bar links
Sway bar bushings.
Removed front drive shaft and test drove (Still clunks in front)
Greased slip yoke on rear drive shaft, no change
Checked Brake calipars they are fine
Torsion bars/pads fine. No kevlar on mine since its a 2001.
Tie rod ends....no play I am going to replace inners just for the sake of it since I got them for 14 bucks..

I have had my wife drive over bumps while I listen. Cant pinpoint it. The one thing I did notice was that when the rear tires hit a bump, the clunk still comes from up front. Does anyone know what that means?
I have read tons of posts and this site is AWESOME with tons of information. Any help would be great.

Thanks

 

[Turdle]

How does the transmission mount look? Is it level,side to side, or kind of sloped?

 

[tsilney]

How does the transmission mount look? Is it level,side to side, or kind of sloped?

Wow, I just checked it. It looks striaght but there is a bolt missing from where the mount goes into transmission. Thanks for the advice. I will by a new bolt in the morning and hope that this is what it is.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Check your t case mounting bolts, while you are under there. Mine worked loose, and was making an audible clunking.

 

[tsilney]

Check your t case mounting bolts, while you are under there. Mine worked loose, and was making an audible clunking.

Ok, put new trans mount bolt in and checked the transfercase bolts. Bolts were all tight. Could not get up to the top ones without removing the floor from inside but they look tight. It helped the clunk a little bit but it is still present. I am still stuck. Thank you for the suggestions. Any others?

Thanks,
Tim

 

[Rottie]

I wonder if the trans mount could have been damaged by only having one bolt in it for a while. You said that the new bolt made it better, so it sounds like you're in the right area. How hard/expensive would it be for you to replace the mount?

 

[tsilney]

I wonder if the trans mount could have been damaged by only having one bolt in it for a while. You said that the new bolt made it better, so it sounds like you're in the right area. How hard/expensive would it be for you to replace the mount?

Great news. I did end up replacing the mount and it now there is no more noise. Thank you for everyones advice.

 

[bluestream1]

I have the same clunk, is there any way to check the tranny mount without actually replacing it?

 

[tsilney]

I have the same clunk, is there any way to check the tranny mount without actually replacing it?

Not really a good way to look at it. It is above the cross member. It did not really take to much to get off. Remove the two nuts that hold the mount to the cross member. Support your trans/transfercase with a jack. Then remove 3 bolts from each side of the cross member. Knock out cross member. You then have access to the trans mount. Remove the two bolts holding it on (if they are both there ) I wish I would have done it sooner. Got the part from autozone for like 24 bucks. Good luck.

 

[Extreme Use]

Explorer Font End Clunk

Hello,

If you are hearing a series of what I call clicks when you are turning a tight corner then it may be a CV joint but this is very unlikely as CV joints don't normally wear out this soon. I have a 98 Explorer with 72K and the CV joints are still good. You need to check the normal wearing parts first like upper and lower ball joints on both sides, Upper and lower control arm bushings on both sides and especially the sway bar link rod bushings which wear out quite often. My 98 explorer developed a tremendously loud clunk in the front end when turning and accelerating. It also had a strange vibration under the drivers floor on acceleration. After replaceing everything mentioned above the noise still persisted. Turns out that the stabalizing bracket that the front differential bolts to that is welded to the left side of the frame, just under the drivers feet broke free from the frame. This allowed the entire front differential to move throwing the front drive shaft completely out of alignment, thus the vibration and also allow the bracket that had broken loose to slam into the frame every time I accelerated. Very difficult to detect this because the bracket that had broken loose would pop itself back into position. Even when I grabbed onto the front drive shaft and tried to move it up and down I didn't see this until I used a large pry bar and wedged it between the mount and the frame. Only then was I able to seperate the bracket from the frame. The temporary fix was to remove the front drive shaft, thus eliminating the torque from the front differential. The permenant fix was to take it to a shop that has a MIG welder and have them re-attached the bracket to the frame. This required the removal of the the exhause cross over pipe and bending the fuel and brake lines out of the way for the welding to be done. Now there is no clunking noise or vibration from the front end. This is obviously a weakness in design and or consruction from the factory. Hope this helps.

Also if you're tired of burning through sets of front tieres becuase of inside tread wear it's because Ford never equiped their SUV's or trucks for camber adjustment. You have to purchase 2 aftermarket kits, one for each side that replaces the upper control arm bushing bolts with eliptical washers that allow for adjusting the upper control arm in or out. Every time I see a Ford Explorer it has terrible insde tread wear. I went through several sets of tires before someone told me about this. Each time I bought new tires I had the front end aligned in an attempt to correct the inside tread wear and in the 10 years since I owned my Explorer from new, none of the shops that I paid to aligne the front end ever told me that they could no adjust the camber. They just took my money and sent me down the road. Once I had the adjustment kits installed and the front end aligned by a reputable shop I've never had any uneven tread wear again. It's a crime that Ford never equiped their vehicles to have the camber adjusted

 

[strizzlow20]

Same Issue

I just replaced everything on my vehicle as well. I did the upper controls arms, lower ball joints, outer tie rods, sway bar bushings, and sway bar links. I just put new tires on, got an alignment, all new shocks and all should be well, right??? Not exactly. When I turn the steering wheel to the right and say I go over a speed bump I hear a faint clunk. Nothing on the passanger side and it is coming from the drivers side. All of my replacements parts are Moog and are greasable by the way. I am going to look into this "TRANS MOUNT" issue but wouldn't this be noticeable at faster speeds as well??? If I swerve back and forth and drive over smaller potholes I don't hear anything, just when at a very low speed such as pulling out of a driveway. Im not gonna lie, Im really disappointed because my alignment has my vehicle pulling to the left and this clunks was gone until the alignment. Any thoughts would be sweet!

 

[Mebob2001]

i swear if the tranny mount is loose on my truck and ive bin chasing this noise for 2 months, im going to be ####ing pissssseeeeddddddddddd, but o well least the noise is gone

 

[masospaghetti]

Are the front diff mounts OK? Maybe excessive backlash in the front diff gears? How are the control arm bushings?

 

[Mebob2001]

Are the front diff mounts OK? Maybe excessive backlash in the front diff gears? How are the control arm bushings?

backlash is fine, im leaning towards the rack, due to the fact it will NOT make any noise when pulling down on the frame of the truck in quick jerking motions it only seems when the r/f tire is shoved up it finds the slack in teh rack or inner tire rod ends, but when i check the front end zero play in the inner or outter tire rod's, balls joints all nice and tight, control arm bushing are weathor cracked but still tight.
i did put a tranny mount on it and ibeleave its better, havnt bin driving enuff yet but i know i did hear the noise again