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Jeff
Dodge Dakota
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3/27/2004
20:05:06
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 Subject: front left clunk/vibration
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driving around the neighborhood today, cruising the garage sales, all of a sudden while slowly turning right theres a pop from the front left. i could also feel it thru the floorboard. ok, whatever, keep driving, its now clunking there, and i can feel that too.
i looked under the truck and i dont see anything that appears to be out of place.
i have all new control arms, bushings, ball joints.
i wobbled the truck but no noise from suspension.
i popped the hood in the driveway, started the engine - i can feel a clunk when the engine turns over. i sat there watching the engine vibrate. i don't know if its shaking more than usual - never sat there and watched it before, but does appear to be idling hard, but the tach looks normal as far as idle rpm's.
however, as i watched the engine under the open hood, there was a feeling in the floorboard (no clunking at idle) that seemed to correspond to the shaking of the engine.
i will have to take it in to the stealership on monday, but i no longer trust them as the senior mechanic flat out lied to me last time regarding my suspension work/probs. so any help you can give me will be VERY much appreciated, so i'll know if they are f***king me over. (I don't stand for long drawn out diagnosis/repair diag/repair diag/repair neverending dramas.)
thanks as always,
jeff
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maybe
Dodge Dakota
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3/28/2004
00:47:30
|  RE: front left clunk/vibration
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Message:
it may be a motor mount
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Jeff
Dodge Dakota
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3/28/2004
01:41:28
| RE: front left clunk/vibration
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Message:
i was thinking that, but then i realized i don't really know what that means, or wht the time/cost would be to have it fixed.
heh.
ignorance is NOT bliss!
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not evenclose
Dodge Dakota
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3/28/2004
12:11:41
| RE: front left clunk/vibration
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Message:
it is the ball joints that popped when you turned to go around the corner, replace them and not by a dealer but an independent that will replace the joint for a lot less then the dealer wants for the whole assembly, befor the wheel(s) fall off.
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maybe
Dodge Dakota
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3/28/2004
14:32:48
| RE: front left clunk/vibration
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Message:
i have never heard noise from a ball joint when the truck was just idling, nore have i ever felt the floor board shake at idle..he just had a the ball joints replaced the go fast but not that fast..i would check those motor mounts still
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Jeff
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/28/2004
14:39:46
| RE: front left clunk/vibration
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Message:
not the ball joints people.
looked at the motor mounts, look ok (but what do i know?)
tried to pinpoint it by the vibration, but too hard to tell parked. drove it down the street, on the way back, pulling into the driveway there was a big POP. dont know what it was, but felt it and heard it. my dad was standing nearby and could definately hear it too.
i'm sure the dealer will have a creative solution that will lighten my wallet.
anyway, lighter wallet means more hp, right? haha.
jeff
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Greg
Dodge Dakota
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3/28/2004
17:38:15
| RE: front left clunk/vibration
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Message:
It's really easy to check the motor mounts and replace them as far as that goes on the magnums... To check to see if it's the motor mounts pop the hood so you can see the engine from inside the truck cab, then crank it up, put it in low gear "1st", see if the engine kicks over on its side any there... Then put it in reverse and see if it kicks over the other way in that gear... If the engine moves excessively then replace your mounts... Simply put in lamens terms a motor mount is the piece of metal with the rubber bushion that connects the engine to the frame of the truck and takes all the vibrations and flex up so anything else won't be torn out... Right where the wheels are in the engine compartment look straight towards the engine right under the exhaust manifold... That's where your motor mounts will be... On the magnums they're big round looking things almost like to big work out weights... Also look at your radiator hoses, fan shrould, and so forth that the fan could hit and tear into... If the motor mounts are really bad, the fan will eat into these things when you gas it to take off from stops...
You might want to also check wheel bearings... I've noticed on some that when you go around any kind of curve it'll pop from where your rotor grabs your pads from the twisting affects... Some will pop when going around a certain dirrectional curve "left OR right" then some will pop around all curves "left AND right" and turns of the wheel...
Are your wheels sitting differently from one another??? One pointed in more than the other??? Could be a bad tie rod... Have someone stand out in front of the truck while you cut the wheel back and forth to watch and see if one of the wheels are being a little bit more "lazzy" than the other... In other words one wheel will start to turn before the other one will...
If the top of the tire is pointed in or the tire looks like it's about to fall off it's either ball joint or you bearings... Jack the front off of the ground and see if you can pull the tops of the tires in and out and look to see where the play is... If it's just the tire it's the bearings, if it's just the whole front end in appearance it's the ball joints... Easy way to tell if bearings without doing this, pull off the center wheel cap, if you can see grease in around nut then bearings are bad...
Hope this will help more than confuse :))
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Jeff
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/29/2004
16:55:27
| RE: front left clunk/vibration
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Message:
ok, dealer dude just called me, says they heard the noise, and to fix it they lubed the steering stop and the tie rod. supposedly that will get rid of the noise.
they also found that my steering intermediate shaft has some play, and can be replaced under my extended warranty (except its on backorder for at least several weeks)
does this sound like a viable cause/solution? just lubing?
help me out here!
thanks,
jeff
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bc/canada
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
3/29/2004
23:50:25
| RE: front left clunk/vibration
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Message:
I need to jump into this topic as I have just noticed a pop/clunk sound from my front left tire area when I accelerate from a stop. 94 V6 2WD.
This is the only time it happens, such as when weight is released from the springs/shocks. Never during a turn???
The truck has 166,000 km. I replaced the 2 front springs when I bought it in 98 with 62,000kms. There was a simmilar noise then. When I changed them I noticed that the two springs were different. One was heavy duty, both had dodge tags on them???
What years did the ball joint problem start?? What dire indications exist before a tire falls off??
Thanks in advance.
bc/canada
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