!!!!!Front end noise PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!

[tvtaurus]

So a couple months back, i was getting ready for winter and bought a 2002 Taurus so I could put Charline, my mustang away for the winter. I'm very happy with the car my family has several Tauruses and they are great cars. The problem that I am having is some sort of clunking coming from my front end. When I first bought the car it made a slight clunking sound only when taking turns hard. So i crawled under the car to investigate. My sway bar end links looked trashed so i replaced them. Since replacing them the sound got much worse. At first I thought that maybe I just didn't have them tight enough, but I tightened them and its still not any better. All of my suspension components appear to be in good condition. When I jack up a wheel there isn't any play Left & Right of Up & Down. My struts and cv joints look fine as well. Nothing appears to be loose; However when i push down on the front end of the car I hear a slight squeaking sound, but it doesn't necessarily sound like the struts. Any ideas?

[glock20man]

Originally Posted by tvtaurus

So a couple months back, i was getting ready for winter and bought a 2002 Taurus so I could put Charline, my mustang away for the winter. I'm very happy with the car my family has several Tauruses and they are great cars. The problem that I am having is some sort of clunking coming from my front end. When I first bought the car it made a slight clunking sound only when taking turns hard. So i crawled under the car to investigate. My sway bar end links looked trashed so i replaced them. Since replacing them the sound got much worse. At first I thought that maybe I just didn't have them tight enough, but I tightened them and its still not any better. All of my suspension components appear to be in good condition. When I jack up a wheel there isn't any play Left & Right of Up & Down. My struts and cv joints look fine as well. Nothing appears to be loose; However when i push down on the front end of the car I hear a slight squeaking sound, but it doesn't necessarily sound like the struts. Any ideas?

Ball joints.

[the_intimidator_02]

Have you checked the sway bar bushings when you checked out the sway bar links? Loose bushings will allow the bar to move enough to cause a clunk type noise.

[tvtaurus]

Ball joint and sway bar bushings look fine, nothing is loose that i can see

[sousa632]

Ball joint noise.......... my old Tbird(not parents tbird) made this noise. Grease the fitting and all is well

Bad ball joint noise? - YouTube

Bad ball joint noise? - YouTube

Sway bar squeaking sounds very similar to that but less metallic. If I were you, get under the car and see if you have grease zerks on the balljoints. If you do(aftermarket as OEM are seales, non greasable) grease them up and see if the squeaking goes away. If not, throw some white lithium grease in the sway bar bushings, if they are in good condition of course, and see if the noise goes away. I had a 98 Altima that was notorius for the rear sway bar bushings to squeak like crazy in the winter.


Also, LOOKS fine and TESTED fine a 2 different things. Especially when it comes to suspension parts that have ball and socket joints in them. They can look fine externally, but if the joint internally is rusted(dry) or is worn, then it's a whole different story.

[radioflyer]

Originally Posted by tvtaurus

Ball joint and sway bar bushings look fine, nothing is loose that i can see

How did you check your ball joint?

[tvtaurus]

I jacked up one wheel at a time and checked for play in the 12 & 6 o'clock, and 9 & 3 o'clock positions. There was no play in either. I will check for vertical and horizontal play tomorrow. And the noise that i am hearing when I am driving is a loud metallic popping sound, it sounds terrible.

[radioflyer]

When you jacked up the vehicle to check one of the ball joints, where exactly did you position the jack?

[tvtaurus]

after the front end was jacked up i put a jack under the rotor and jacked it up and there was no play in the ball joint. Could my new front sway bar end links be bad or loose they don't move by hand. How tight are those bolts supposed to be? The noise sounds like something is going to fall off. Its just a terribly loud popping sound heard when taking turns mostly, but also heard when breaking or driving over bumpy roads and speed bumps. Please help.

[Bob R]

Originally Posted by tvtaurus

after the front end was jacked up i put a jack under the rotor and jacked it up and there was no play in the ball joint. Could my new front sway bar end links be bad or loose they don't move by hand. How tight are those bolts supposed to be? The noise sounds like something is going to fall off. Its just a terribly loud popping sound heard when taking turns mostly, but also heard when breaking or driving over bumpy roads and speed bumps. Please help.

My wife's Explorer had a popping noise like that and it turned out being the inner tie rod, but I could see the slop in it when I jacked it up and push/pulled at 9 and 3 o'clock.

It was OK until you made a turn and it would pop really loud.