Are these sounds normal? (Front end vibration/clunk/steering looseness)

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970rap

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I have an 18 with 65k, stock besides R wheels (these are new).

Over the past 2 years I’ve been experiencing what I think is an excessive amount of vibration and steering wheel feedback, which increases with speed (especially noticeable at 50+mph) and/or road imperfections (cracks, potholes, manhole covers, etc), and generally seems to be getting worse. During this time I’ve also noticed a metallic clunk sound coming from the front driver’s wheel area when going over small sharp bumps (most noticeable when going slow in a neighborhood with the window down).

I rebuilt the shocks at 50k, had tie rods replaced under warranty almost 2 years ago, and had an alignment performed at that time and also a year ago. All of these seemed to help make the ride better, perhaps not unexpectedly, but never quite got it riding how I thought it used to and none of these things fixed the clunk sound.

I recently changed out my stock wheels for a set from an R and replaced my tires with stock size KO2s. My previous set of tires were beat (this was my second set), with a good amount of alternating lug wear on the insides and in a few spots on the outsides. I had hoped my deteriorating ride quality was due to tire wear but, while it is a little better now, it still feels squirrelly over even the smallest bumps (steering wheel shakes/turns).

I took it to the dealership last week and they said it again needed an alignment and they noticed some sort of loose bolt (they also recommended a tire rotation to help with uneven tire wear, but the tires are brand new so I’m not convinced they even drove or really looked at my truck), and everything else looks good.

I guess it rides slightly better, but overall the loose steering/vibration is still there. It feels borderline unsafe at highway speeds when the road isn’t totally perfect, or at the very least uncomfortable and kind of nerve racking to drive.

I am absolutely not mechanically inclined but the Internet suggests this could be a ball joint issue. I jacked up the front one side at a time to see if I could notice any play in the wheels and they seemed solid. However, in spinning them I noticed this sound which seemed louder on one side. Is this normal/expected? I assume it is but want to make sure.


In case it’s helpful, here’s a brief clip of the clunk in action.


thoughts? At this point it’s been to the dealer twice for this so unless I can uncover something myself there’s no point in going back.
 
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downforce137

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the axle noises are normal.. they will disengage from the hub while driving.

we can not tell anything from a 2.4 second video, with wind noise from your phone out the window.. sorry.

most likely are sway bar links. very easy to check.. roll under there, have someone rock the truck side to side by pushing up on the top of the door jamb.. grab on the sway bar end links and you can feel clunking, or slop.. do the upper control arm next and finally the lower ball joint.. more than likely its the sway bar end links..
 
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970rap

970rap

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The sound happens once right in the middle of the short video and I clearly hear it, not sure what would be better. Regardless, yes, my end links were replaced at maybe 25k. The dealership claims the current end links are fine. Don’t they just cause sound, not steering vibration? At this point I’ve written the clunk off as never to be fixed, at least not intentionally. I am more concerned with the steering vibration/looseness, although I wonder if it might be connected to the clunk sound.

Might there be anything in the steering I can easily check on myself?
 

downforce137

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Yeah. You can hold the tie rods, steering rack, knuckles or most of the suspension and have a friend turn the steering wheel back and forth or rock the truck side to side..
 

Badgertits

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XRF suspension. $500 lifetime front end kit. Shocks by hammer Rebuild shocks. Deaver springs +3HD. Trakkmotive AAR axles. Timken front bearings.

= better ride than when brand new & the ride will last longer too
 

nikhsub1

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Could very well be wheel bearings... I had one (driver side) go **** up at 32k miles... I blamed it on tires, had the tires replaced under warranty only to discover it wasn't the tires at all but the wheel bearing. :facepalm: My end links didn't last longer than 25k miles either. You can disconnect them temporarily to see if the noise gets any better - if it does, they are part of the problem.
 


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