Front end poping, when backing up & turning.... Control arm bushings?

[j894]

I've noticed this over the past month or 2.
I've been hearing the front end pop while backing up & turning the wheel right.

In February I had new balljoints & a new idler arm put in. I check them the other day & they dont seem to have any play in them. The calipers & everything else seemed tight as well. I've been having poor "directional stability", & Memory steer mainly to the drivers side. When driving it, it seems like its all over the road, despite having it aligned a few times.

Does this sound like bad control arm bushings? From what I can find, thats what its leading up to? I think Im going to take it to a garage next week to be sure, but does anyone else have opinions on this matter?

Also, if it is indeed the control arm bushings, does anyone have a rough idea what it would cost to have them replaced? Labor wise I mean?

Are the ES polyurethane bushings a worthwild replacement if they are going to be replaced? I've heard poly bushings make for a crapy ride
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=ENS%2D3%2D3119R&view=1&N=700+150+

Thanks for any help

[Mikz86TA]

Check the Tie rod ends. Up and down play. And also grasp them and rotate them back and forth. If you feel any bumps/catches, they are in need of replacing. Be sure you are maintaining them. Any joint with a zerk greese fitting needs to be lubed up regularly. Includes, inner and outter tie rods, pitman(if it has zerk), idler arm, drag link(center link), lower and upper ball joints and any other ones. I do it on every other oil change. I use GM specific Valvoline (red) chassis greese. Some prefer the Ford specific moly lube. Use a greese gun , clean the fitting 1st of dirt, insert lube until a little old squeezes out of the boot or space, clean the fitting again and the over suirt. Done...now your oil is probably drained by now. Took 3 minutes and it falls under my old saying " Maintenence Is Cheaper Than Repair " The LCA bushings usually need to be pressed in/out. The ride is way more responsive/positive, may be less comfortable and depends on the rest of the suspension, they will squeak a little when its real cold, but IMO they are worth it. I prefer a positive ride.

[12sws27]

mine does the same thing but only when i take sharp left turn in parking spots. i jacked mine up and and supported it with jack stands under the frame. i had a friend move the tire left and right and seen play in my idler arm and center link so im replacing them . the center link still hasnt got here so i havnet changed them yet so i cant tell u if it fixed the problem. but if u do the same test u can see if its ur center link just remember side to side to check steering parts and check ur bearing by grabing the top and bottom of the tire and shake in and out there should be little or no play. im not an expert but i beleave im remembering right. hope it helps.

[nomaboy]

Check the Tie rod ends. Up and down play. And also grasp them and rotate them back and forth. If you feel any bumps/catches, they are in need of replacing. Be sure you are maintaining them. Any joint with a zerk greese fitting needs to be lubed up regularly. Includes, inner and outter tie rods, pitman(if it has zerk), idler arm, drag link(center link), lower and upper ball joints and any other ones. I do it on every other oil change. I use GM specific Valvoline (red) chassis greese. Some prefer the Ford specific moly lube. Use a greese gun , clean the fitting 1st of dirt, insert lube until a little old squeezes out of the boot or space, clean the fitting again and the over suirt. Done...now your oil is probably drained by now. Took 3 minutes and it falls under my old saying " Maintenence Is Cheaper Than Repair " The LCA bushings usually need to be pressed in/out. The ride is way more responsive/positive, may be less comfortable and depends on the rest of the suspension, they will squeak a little when its real cold, but IMO they are worth it. I prefer a positive ride.


X2

[j894]

I was just looking at some more diagnostic tables/charts in the service manual I have. Under the Leads/ pulls diagnostics, I just read this part that says

"Inspect steering gear valve for an unbalance
If this is the cause, steering effort will be very light in the direction of the lead, and effort will be very heavy in the opposite direction with the vehicle parked on a smooth level surface."

This sounds exactly like one of the steering issues I was/am having now. But I while driving down the road.... I haven't tried feeling for it while it was parked, & also have the popping noise.

The next set for this condition is to: "Replace the steering gear valve. Refer to Steering Gear valve replacement - Off vehicle in Power steering System." It then goes into detail about taking apart the steering box for this valve. Im going to assume the steering box is bad since my warranty will cover it. I just have to get a garage to make sense of it first, because it has to come from their mouth, not mine.

Could the memory steer possibly be caused by the alignment or toe not being setup right? in combination with one of the bushings being bad?

[T Man]

[QUOTE=j894;83540Could the memory steer possibly be caused by the alignment or toe not being setup right? in combination with one of the bushings being bad?[/QUOTE]


No

Toe is not a tirewearing or pulling angle. If your toe is out, your steering wheel will be crooked. On the same note, out of alignment causes the same pull not memory steer. Something is loose. Do the following for diagnostics

Steering box and rag joint
Vehicle on ground. not running but key in run position, get under vehicle and have someone wiggle the steering wheel back and forth. Dont go past 10 and 2. While doing this, inspect your idler and pittman for up and down play. Firmly grab the idler and the pittman arm and push up and down. Any vertical play means replacement. Our trucks are notorious for idlers and pittman arms going bad. Idler is easy. PIttman is a *****. While someone is rocking the wheel back and forth, remove the plastic boot cover where the steering shaft connects to the steering box and inspect the rag joint and the splined connection.

LCA, UCA and balljoints.
Jack the vehicle under the controll arm. The balljoints have to be unloaded to check, so jacking under the frame does you no good, the entire weight of the front must be on the wheel or a arm. Grab the bottom and the top of the wheel and push in and out checking for balljoint play. Take a pry bar, and place it paralell with the tire underneath it and pry up. Also to check axial play in the ball joint. Push in and out at the top of the tire with both hands to check for upper ball joint play and controll arm bushing failure. Dont be afraid to use the prybar to pry between the bushing and frame of the truck to check for a arm bushing play. This is the only way to check raidus arm bushings on Twin I beam fords, remember these components are subject to extreme loads. A 3' pry bar aint gonna hurt anything.

Tierod ends
With vehicle weight still on jack, grip the OPPOSITE side of the wheel than the tierod end is on (this means the rear of the wheel) and push in and out. You can often find idler and pittman arm problems this way as well.

Any knowledgable Alignment specialist will do the preceding before an alignment. This guarantees that the alignment wont come back (i.e. make the tech loose money) and from my standpoint on it, it generates suspension work for me (i get paid to fix broke parts, so hell yeah i look for them)

I hope this helps. PM me if you have any other questions, or want my number to walk you through this on the phone when you do it.

Tommy

[Everfalling]

also check your stab links...if one or the other is broken then it will cause a popping noise...could also be your CV axles up front also....they pop and crackle when you turn.....hehe...make a trip to OHio and I'll find and fix it for you for a small fee.....lmao

[j894]

Didnt get a chance to update this.
After looking at it again, I took it to a garage. They said the bushings we're fine, & the front end was tight. They couldn't find anything, other than it being out of alignment....Again.. I don't go off roading or & try not to hit any abnormal size potholes, somehow it keeps coming out of alignment. This is the 3rd time in 3 months.. 1 time each month since may its been way out.

also, I've also been hearing this random banging... think metal plate hitting metal sound, when my truck was moving slowly.... I had thought the trans mount had broke... today i went to sit in the drivers seat & go somewhere, when I sat down I heard the clank. Defiantly not the trans mount. Im guessing is related to the popping noise I hear when backing up & turning? Do the torsion bar mounts go bad often on these trucks?

*scratches head*

[1fastsedan]

Any update on this? My Blazer is doing the same thing and we've checked out the whole front end without finding much besides the drivers end-link hole is out of round. Thanks.

[j894]

my only update is that there's no update.

I put on new sway bar bushings & endlinks for the hell of it, cause mine have seen better days.

[G33k]

I'm also having a similar issue when I go over a bumps in the road. Kind of what would sound like a clunking noise from up front somewhere possibly in the middle.
I know that this is an old thread. Just thought that I would try to breath it back to life.

[bespurcell]

I would do what has already been said.

[the fabricator]

take it to a alignment shop ppl! that is what i did with mine. had same problems and everything. i had alot of small problems. i was missing a bushing in one control arm, and my ideling arm was worn out, holes were wobble out bigger than what they should have been, steering link had to be replaced, blah blah blah. i checked everything they did before and after when it was lifted up on the car lift. cost me $450 but it was well worth it. after seein how bad my front end suspension was im lucky i didnt have an accident

[ILOUTFITTER]

Check the brake caliper bushings too. My camino did this once and it ended up being that.

[brianj1976]

my truck has the Z suspension on it and only 39k miles and it does it every time I back out of my driveway...

Dads a certified mechanic and said to quit trying to find something wrong with a perfectly good truck... LOL

[j894]

This was only happening to my truck when backing up & turning, or making hard low speed turns.

it turned into a thuddy rattle a few months later.
It ended up being the upper control arm bushings

[1998mess10]

No

Toe is not a tirewearing or pulling angle. If your toe is out, your steering wheel will be crooked. On the same note, out of alignment causes the same pull not memory steer. Something is loose. Do the following for diagnostics

Steering box and rag joint
Vehicle on ground. not running but key in run position, get under vehicle and have someone wiggle the steering wheel back and forth. Dont go past 10 and 2. While doing this, inspect your idler and pittman for up and down play. Firmly grab the idler and the pittman arm and push up and down. Any vertical play means replacement. Our trucks are notorious for idlers and pittman arms going bad. Idler is easy. PIttman is a *****. While someone is rocking the wheel back and forth, remove the plastic boot cover where the steering shaft connects to the steering box and inspect the rag joint and the splined connection.

LCA, UCA and balljoints.
Jack the vehicle under the controll arm. The balljoints have to be unloaded to check, so jacking under the frame does you no good, the entire weight of the front must be on the wheel or a arm. Grab the bottom and the top of the wheel and push in and out checking for balljoint play. Take a pry bar, and place it paralell with the tire underneath it and pry up. Also to check axial play in the ball joint. Push in and out at the top of the tire with both hands to check for upper ball joint play and controll arm bushing failure. Dont be afraid to use the prybar to pry between the bushing and frame of the truck to check for a arm bushing play. This is the only way to check raidus arm bushings on Twin I beam fords, remember these components are subject to extreme loads. A 3' pry bar aint gonna hurt anything.

Tierod ends
With vehicle weight still on jack, grip the OPPOSITE side of the wheel than the tierod end is on (this means the rear of the wheel) and push in and out. You can often find idler and pittman arm problems this way as well.

Any knowledgable Alignment specialist will do the preceding before an alignment. This guarantees that the alignment wont come back (i.e. make the tech loose money) and from my standpoint on it, it generates suspension work for me (i get paid to fix broke parts, so hell yeah i look for them)

I hope this helps. PM me if you have any other questions, or want my number to walk you through this on the phone when you do it.

Tommy
Toe is the leading most cause of tire wear.

It can cause a pulling condition as well. if one tire is toed out and the other straight, (such as this \ | ) it will pull and feather edge the tire.

Is it 4x4? If so i would check the front cv shaft. I would also check motor mounts etc...

[brianj1976]

This was only happening to my truck when backing up & turning, or making hard low speed turns.





Me to. still do not know what it is :shake_125

[the fabricator]

check your lug nuts! maybe they are loose and allowing the rim to lid back and forth creating the pop you described!...it would only happen when you turn the wheel. maybe a bad wheel bearing? that would cause the same noise also.

[zq8sonomaguy]

check your lug nuts! maybe they are loose and allowing the rim to lid back and forth creating the pop you described!...it would only happen when you turn the wheel. maybe a bad wheel bearing? that would cause the same noise also.
X2-- had the same popping noise when backing up and slow left turns. I pulled off the rims retightened the calipers, and then retightened the rim. Popping went away.

[firefighter]

I had a similar problem and the problem ended up being the damn alignment shop. The pricks decided it would be easier to have me come back every 3 months than to actually tighten the nuts on the cross shaft for the Upper Control Arm sufficiently, the shims came out and it would have play and do pretty much everything that has been described. The nuts are LH thread btw. Go take a look at them maybe throw a pry bar in there with the front end off the ground if it is loose but the shims all seem to be there tighten the hell out of it. If they seem to be missing go to an alighment shop and get it aligned ge the extended deal b/c it's cheaper in the long run. then when you get home and tighten it your self just to make sure.

[87wildside]

That's because so many techs can't grasp the tightening procedure. Short shim stack first then the larger stack. I watched a guy do it on mine.

[firefighter]

I think some of them cry trying to work in the tight engine compartment but you can get at them from the bottom too. right?

[87wildside]

I go in from the top, never tried from the bottom. They have to tighten both anyway so why not just do it right.

[missin]

i have the popping issue in my sonoma dont have the slightest clue what it is and neither does my brother whos worked on cars and has owned an old s10 lol frame busted....
but yeah it pops when i do low speed turns no idea what it is looked the thing over myself and he did as well as the person who gave me it.
none of us could see what was wrong.
and the weird thing is it only does it when you least suspect it.

alignment is perfect 4 brand new tires h*** i can let go of the steering wheel at 65 on a highway and it just goes along doesnt twitch or anything even with the newly broken uhm..sway bar link lol and a near bad wheel bearing....
s-10's and sonomas are just weird trucks that like to mess with peoples minds i think.