Loud knocking/banging coming from front end

[whoathere]

Hey guys, been a long time since I've been around. Just today, my Mounty started this loud knock from the front end. I had just gotten off the highway, and came to a stop light. When I turned off that road, probably a half mile down the road, I could tell something was different with how the car felt. ALmost felt like a really crappy surface, so I didnt pay much attention to it. Came up to another light and stopped, and then I could tell something was definitely wrong, it made a slight knocking noise as i stopped. When I started going again it got worse. I drove it about another block and it had gotten out of control. I drove another 1/4 mile to a friend of my fathers to put it in their driveway, and on the way the knock was just ridiculous. You can hear it from other cars, it is related to the speed. THe fast you go, the faster the knock. WHen you slow down, it gets much louder. I really have no idea what it is at this point. The only thing that I noticed was the the axle on the left side had a slight bit of play in it. The passenger side has no play at all. I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but I just need some suggestions at this point.

2001 mountaineer, 5.0 AWD, 117k miles.

Any ideas would be great.

 

[kyleyz762]

cv? front diff?

 

[whoathere]

i think it has to be something along those lines, I just don't know how to check and see what it could be. It sounds like coming from the left side, but it might just be the from the front diff. I'll have to jack it up and see if there is any play in the wheel or anything, but I just didn't know if this was common or not. I'll take a video tomorrow for you guys because it's like loud. I had it towed home and when they pulled it up on the flat bed, it didn't make any noise. SO it doesn't make it at a slow roll, so I'm just lost. I need her back by Monday!

 

[rollinstone]

Wheel bearing?