Clunking sound and worn inside tire

[newbie1000]

I have a 2003 Expedition with a 5.4L and 4WD with 160,000 miles. When I am first driving the car there is a clunking sound which I can feel through the pedals coming from the left front tire. I inspected the tire and the inside of the tire is very worn. I suspect the two are related but I can not be certain. After I drive for awhile the noise goes away. Can anyone help me diagnose this issue? Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[Copper93]

Check your ball joints. They go bad regularly in these trucks.

 

[FordandPolaris]

Agreed. Jack that tire up and push on the tire in and out with your hands at 12 and 6. Any play back and forth and it's time for upper and lower ball joints.

One other thing I would check is the 3 bolts that hold the wheel hub on. I didn't tighten mine down enough once and as they vibrated loose, the whole wheel would move back and forth and wore a track on the inside of the tire where it was rubbing the upper ball joint.



Sent from the Pocket Computer

 

[Hamfisted]

Yes, the ball joints are good for about 100k miles. Inspect them, if the boots are cracked up (or completely missing...) it's time to change them. The inner tie rods usually fail around the same time. Any alignment shop should be able to spot this.


-Mike

 

[newbie1000]

You guys were right. I took it to a shop and they said the ball joint was the issue. They told me I needed to replace the lower control arm as well. Quoted me $338 for parts and labor. Does that sound reasonable? May be time for a new truck.

 

[Hamfisted]

Yeah that's about right price-wise...
It's a tough job if you haven't done it before and have all the tools.
The ball joint presses out of the lower control arm. What did they find wrong with the lower control arm ? There's some videos on YouTube you can watch that show you the whole job. Make sure they inspect the tie rod ends, or you'll be back in the shop again.


-Mike

 

[newbie1000]

They said they couldn't order the ball joint without the lower control arm. Didn't sound right to me.