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73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Brakes, Frame, Steering & Suspension => Topic started by: bnoggle on April 30, 2017, 05:31:45 pm
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When going over bumps, or turning at a sharp radius, I occasionally hear a loud clunking sound out of the front end of my truck. Over the past few weeks, I have also noticed a small shimmy coming from the front end of the truck. Today I passed my dad going down a fairly flat straight road, and he told me that it looks like the truck is leaning more than normal towards the driver's side when driving. Does anyone have any guesses of what this could be? The wheel bearings were checked, and re packed last spring, and nothing is visiably wrong with the steering rack.
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You do not have a steering rack unless the front end is modified. You need to do a complete front end inspection.
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Sorry, I actually meant to say steering box not steering rack. As for a full front end inspection, I jacked it up but could not find any loose members in the suspension. Tie rods and sleeves appear to have been replaced, idler arm is tight, and all fittings are greased. The only other thing I can think of is that it is a problem with a ball joint.
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did he say the front or rear was leaning more? ive heard of leaf springs (in the rear) breaking and this would cause a leaning and clunking sound
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...You need to do a complete front end inspection.
...which includes inspecting the frame and crossmembers for cracks. When doing this, pay particular attention to the steering box-to-frame mounting - look closely for any rust tracks radiating outward from and around the steering box bolt holes on the inside face of the frame rail. Look for powdery rust accumulated between the crosmember-to-frame attachment points at the forward crossmember and transmission support crossmember. In addition to checking all of the steering joints and ball joints, inspect for offset of the inner shaft bushings relative to the inner shafts and make sure the shaft-to-frame bolts are not loose or missing alignment shims.