Front end annoying clunking noise

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Norexp

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Well, finally tightened steering rack. Clunking noise is gone, and steering is tight as..........well, you know.

So, what did I do?

- Lossened bolt on oil drip tray. Only the easy acces one at top of cross member.
- Lossened steering rack nuts, and pushed bolts upwards.
- Lossened and removed lock nut at steering rack. Used a big pipe wrench.
- Wiggled steering rack a little bit, and tightened yoke bolt with a 19mm six-point socket.
- Put back locking nut.
- I tightened 1/4 turn, mounted everything back and did a test drive. Had good improvement, and tightened two moore times. Now steering is very good.

I drove the truck up on ramps to have head room, but can be done at ground also. About 15 minutes from getting tools, to everything cleaned and ready to test drive.

As always, everyone is responsible for own work. This worked very good for me, but might not for you.
 

idriveafastcar

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Well, finally tightened steering rack. Clunking noise is gone, and steering is tight as..........well, you know.

So, what did I do?

- Lossened bolt on oil drip tray. Only the easy acces one at top of cross member.
- Lossened steering rack nuts, and pushed bolts upwards.
- Lossened and removed lock nut at steering rack. Used a big pipe wrench.
- Wiggled steering rack a little bit, and tightened yoke bolt with a 19mm six-point socket.
- Put back locking nut.
- I tightened 1/4 turn, mounted everything back and did a test drive. Had good improvement, and tightened two moore times. Now steering is very good.

I drove the truck up on ramps to have head room, but can be done at ground also. About 15 minutes from getting tools, to everything cleaned and ready to test drive.

As always, everyone is responsible for own work. This worked very good for me, but might not for you.
before adjusting this did your tires wear uneven? i have all the same issues on my 2003 expy. but i have a chop on the inside of both my front tires. and the steering likes to pull one way or the other. all else looks good on front end. i also replaced the wheel bearings and control arms.
 

Norexp

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No uneven wear and no leaks and no pull. Just clunking and loose steering.
 

abyars

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Thanks for the instructions. We've been chasing this clunk for some time but haven't thought about the steering.
 

Briank

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Hey Guys,

I have a 2003 Expedition that is making clunking noise when going over a bumpy road, or going over bumps, I have replaced the upper control arms and the complete strut assembly, front brakes and rotors with hardware kit. my lower control arms and ball joint, rack and pinion bushings,sway bar and end link bushings, seem to be ok. Does anybody have any recommendations?
 

stamp11127

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Welcome to the site.

It is better to start a new thread than resurrecting a dead one.

Check all the suspension parts with a rubber mallet, inner and outer tie rod ends for wear.
 

Copper93

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Did you check the sway bar bolts? They break inside the sleeve and you can't tell they are broken by just looking at them. I had to replace them on my 97. I couldn't tell they were broken until I grabbed the sway bar and could pull the sway bar down.
 

Capt Jimzu

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Im surprised that no one appears to have THE fix for this problem. Bought my 2003 about a year ago with just over 100K on it. Looks great and has the annoying Clunk on driver’s side when hitting any minor bump or ripple in the roadway. I haven’t read of any catastrophic problem due to this annoyance. I’ve just been reluctantly tolerating it.
 

Expd830

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Did you look over the gear box to make sure it’s still good? It does make noise when it needs replacing
 
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