What could it be?

[Hoopty]

97 Explorer Sport 4x4 100K - I just got back from the shop after having the ball joints checked out. Within the last two months, the front end became noisy with a hollow clunking sound over small bumps. The head shop tech says he heard the sound, but explained that the ball joints, bearing, torsion bars, etc. looked good. He suggested the shocks, but it has Bilsteins with only 20K miles on them. In addition, the ball joints, hubs, end links are only 10k miles old.

Anything I'm missing here? I can't believe it went from tight to loosey goosey so fast without some kind of component failure. The front end just feels sloppy.
I tested the ball joints myself with a jack under each A-arm. I get movement up and down, but not side to side in the lower joints. I swear this is where the noise is coming from. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ExplorerDMB]

Movement side to side indicates tire rod wear. Up and down is ball joint. Take a pry bar and pry up on the bottom on the tire and see if you feel movement. Any excess movement should be checked. If it isn't the ball joints - check wheel bearings

-Drew

 

[wade1485]

Ever fix this problem?

Did you ever resolve this issue? I'm having the same problem. I just changed my shocks and I still get a "hollow sound" in the front end of my EX when I hit bumps. I just had the ball joints replaced about 15k ago.

 

[celly]

Did you ever resolve this issue? I'm having the same problem. I just changed my shocks and I still get a "hollow sound" in the front end of my EX when I hit bumps. I just had the ball joints replaced about 15k ago.

I had a similar issue a few years ago and it turned out to be a loose battery. Mind you, I've got an Optima battery and it doesn't mount in the standard way. It's a long shot, but you never know what it might be. Just goes to show to look for anything loose up there, suspension and otherwise.

 

[team]

what about the control arm bushings?

 

[wade1485]

I replaced the control arm bushings less than 5k ago. Would bad wheel bearings make that type of hollow sound when hitting bumps? I dont get any vibrations when braking or when doing over 70 on the highway though.

 

[wade1485]

Problem solved!

I broke down and took my EX to a local shop to get this problem fixed. The shop replaced the sway bar bushings and my EX is back and in business! No more annoying sound from the front!

 

[Crooze]

I had the same type of sound from my 99 Sport. As I was jacking it up to take look I heard a snap.... Sway bar end link. Replaced it and now the sound is gone.