got a noise in front end, any ideas?

Ok, this just started yesterday, or I just noticed it. When I turn all the way to the left and have some speed (ie; 10mph) it makes a clunking noise in what sounds to be the right tire area, and I feel it bumping in the steering wheel. It don't sound too good but I don't know what it is. Any ideas?

I'd stop driving it right now. It might be a bad ball joint ready to fall apart. If that happens, you might damage the fender or worse, get into an accident.

It could be a few other things, but I wouldn't drive it until you find out what it is. I wouldn't climb under the car unless it's properly supported with jackstands either. Please be careful with this problem.

Moving to suspension forum.

The description sounds like a bad lower ball joint.

thanks will check it out wednesday

Could also potentially be the wheel bearings. Me and the highway got in a little fight. I was going about 70 or so and had my car a little too low. Recent heat caused a buckle, and well, I hit it hard at the k-member.

But since then, mine chirp and I get a distinctive cluck - especially going forward after going reverse, etc...

So, something to think about if you hear a chirp when hitting little bumps. The chirp is loud and reflects off of surroundings very well.

A bad ball joint usually creaks and then becomes quiet right before complete failure.

ok I took it off today and it is the control arm bushings, I think thats the name of the part, they are worn completely off and when turned the arm slides freely on the shaft thanks though

ok replaced them and now the noise is worsening mostly when I turn hard left and somewhat right, my FD mechanic thinks its the bearings. It clicks loudy almost like the tire was rubbing against something but I went underneath and zip-tied anything that was plastic and hanging so its not that. Anyone agree that it is the bearings and know where I can get a good price and brand? Thanks

Jack the front end up and spin the wheels. They should feel smooth. Put your hands at 12:00 and 6:00 on the tire, and try to rock the wheel, in and out, at the top and bottom.

If the bearings are bad enough to cause clicking, you should feel some play or looseness.

ok yea I remember when my brother was doing that to another car at his shop, I got what you mean, I will check

I remember when I first purchased my '97 there was a clicking sound emanating from one of the front wheels, similar to what a playing card hitting bicycle spokes sounds like. Part of my strategy to eliminate front end vibrations was replacing the wheels bearings, and with the old bearings went that noise - it has not happened since then. Next time you drive, feel your wheels once you park the car. If one or both of the front wheels is significantly hotter than either one of the rear wheels, you should look into the wheel bearings and also check for sticking calipers.

Please check this soon as front end failures are extremely dangerous.

-Domenic

yea im gonna do the bearing soon, thanks

ok so decided to work on this noisy embarrassing problem. I switched out the hubs because none of the mechanics thought it was the bearing, the noise switched so now we knew it was the hub. Got a hub for $75 and put it in and now the noise it gone. The bearing didn't hum like a bearing going bad. It clicked on turns and it grinded like bad brakes. Hopefully others will learn from my mistakes thanks for all the help here

edit - btw the wheel did not rock like they do with a bad bearing

Glad to hear that you got it fugured out. Thanks for updating the thread so we all can learn from it. I know that I did. I wouldn't say that you made any mistakes though, sometimes these things can be hard to diagnose.

I thought for sure that you would feel or hear the problem when you spun the wheel. I know now from my own experience today also, that that's not always the case.

I had what I thought to be a bad bearing also. Mine wasn't clicking but it was growling. I jacked up the car and spun and tried to rock both front wheels and they felt fine. Tight and smooth. I thought that if I could spin them faster, I might hear the problem then.

I wrapped some duct tape on a big socket (yes, I'm a big "Red Green Show" fan ) I put the socket on an impact wrench, and made sure that it was on there tight (I didn't want it flying off). I put the front end on jackstands, spun the tire to get it started, and held the socket to the tire and pulled the trigger on the impact wrench (see photo, I used both hands though).

I got the tire spinning real fast, and sure enough, I could hear the bad bearing (I compared the sound to the sound the other wheel made when spinning).

You guys can go ahead and laugh (I had a big grin on my face too) but it worked great!

nice, glad you didn't get hit in the face

Yes, I was very careful about that. I've seen sockets fly off of impact wrenches before. I made sure that it was very tight and kept it in contact with the tire all the time.

Jesse has a nice pic of his messed up eye when a socket flew off and hit him in the face !! Glad you got yours fixed though

ok you are never gonna F@#king believe this but the SAME goddamn hub is making the noise again, WTF? WTF is going on? Is it me, am I destined to be miserable and have car repairs FOREVER? I put it on right and it stopped making the noise after I replaced it, why would it start again? Its the same one I changed but on a different side, I swapped them before I replaced it, remember to find out if it was the problem.

Sorry, I'm a little confused. Is this a new hub that's making noise or is it an old hub?

the new one, could it be loose? I mean I used an impact gun to tighten it, 2 days ago and it was fine til today

My first hub failed at 125k miles... the very same hub failed again at 135. So parts are sometimes not as good as OEMs.