Vincent Vega
Full Access Members
My 04 4x4 with 150k miles has a front-end clunk that I originally thought was jacked lower ball joints. I replaced them recently. They were completely trashed. But the clunk is still there. Not noticeable onroad. very noticable offroad, which is what I use my Exp for mostly.
After checking and double checking, the only thing I found in the front end is a little play in the upper ball joint on the passenger side. And the only way I was able to detect it is squeezing it with channel locks. Maybe 1/32 inch of play, not alot. Doesnt seem to match the magnitude of the clunk I am having, but maybe it doesn't take much?
Bearings, tie rods, shocks, coils, coil mounts all appear good. I retorqued all front end connections to Ford specs.
I found no play in the sway bar links but it seems hard to get a good read on those - the sway bar has tension regardless of whether its flat on the ground (loaded) or jacked up by the frame (unloaded).
I normally am a Motorcraft guy, But I am considering buying Duralast (Autozone) Upper control arms for the lifetime warranty. I might beat up alot of UCAs offroading so the warranty might work out in this case. If they start to go **** up, they will start clunking long before leaving me somewhere (not like a coils or ignition parts).
Has anyone tried Duralast upper control arms, and/or have similar clunk issues? I can't say I am 100% sure the uppers are bad and don't like just firing a parts cannon to see what the fix is.
Thanks guys.
@Hamfisted @OverlandExpy
After checking and double checking, the only thing I found in the front end is a little play in the upper ball joint on the passenger side. And the only way I was able to detect it is squeezing it with channel locks. Maybe 1/32 inch of play, not alot. Doesnt seem to match the magnitude of the clunk I am having, but maybe it doesn't take much?
Bearings, tie rods, shocks, coils, coil mounts all appear good. I retorqued all front end connections to Ford specs.
I found no play in the sway bar links but it seems hard to get a good read on those - the sway bar has tension regardless of whether its flat on the ground (loaded) or jacked up by the frame (unloaded).
I normally am a Motorcraft guy, But I am considering buying Duralast (Autozone) Upper control arms for the lifetime warranty. I might beat up alot of UCAs offroading so the warranty might work out in this case. If they start to go **** up, they will start clunking long before leaving me somewhere (not like a coils or ignition parts).
Has anyone tried Duralast upper control arms, and/or have similar clunk issues? I can't say I am 100% sure the uppers are bad and don't like just firing a parts cannon to see what the fix is.
Thanks guys.
@Hamfisted @OverlandExpy