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Constant rattle noise in front end

18K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  SS4Matt 
#1 ·
I have a rattle noise coming from my front end that is driving me crazy. When I'm driving on any type of road, I have this constant rattle that I can hear and feel in my left heel through the floor board. Had a front end shop check the whole axle and and ball joints out....no problem found. Had a mechanic friend check the same, nothing found. Neither drove the truck. Sway bar link and bushings are brand new from Ford. Talked to the former owner, he said that he was told by a tire shop that a bushing on the leaf spring was broken and was causing the rattle. Anyone ever heard of this.
 
#2 ·
I had the same problem and mine turned out to be a loose shock.
 
#5 ·
Put the truck in 4WD and see if it still rattles... if not, check the front axle ujoint on the passanger side... they are generally the first to go out. If it still rattles then look for mount\bushing\shock issue. I had the same issue and it ended up being the right axle ujoint.. You can also climb under and grab the joint and give it a shake to test.
 
#7 ·
Not the body mount bolt or bushing, not the u-joint or the shock either. Can hear the noise and feel the vibration through the floorboard. I have checked everything for a being loose or broken. Could it be a busted/bad bushing on the leaf spring itself. Tried to check spring bushings but was unable to tell. VERY FRUSTRATING.
 
#8 ·
i had the same issue. i had a buddy of mine shake the truck real heavy while i laid under it and noticed the sawy bar had been banging off the bushings and causing the noise and the felling in the floor board. it maybe the bushings that conect it to the front leaf spring mounts.
 
#9 ·
Have you checked the hubs, possible loose dust seal? So two mechanics troubleshooting a rattle don't bother to take your truck for a test drive?? Hope you stay far away from those two lazy aśśes!!


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#10 ·
see if you can rock the truck side to side while looking at the shocks. Mine had worn bushings, you can see the shock not traveling with the movement of the truck Very hard to tell but it worked for me.
 
#11 ·
spring bushings, might as well do all of them if your doing them. been there done that. on my 97
 
#12 ·
thanks for the suggestions, I just changed my front leaf springs and thought about trying to shake the truck and look for the noise. My son was unable to shake it hard enough. will try and check the shock bushings. It feels like it could be a loose shock. will post the results. work is real busy and haven't had the time to check everything.

thanks guys.
 
#14 ·
I chased down a rattle for the first 4 years I owned my truck. When I bought it I literally replaced every single moving part and suspension piece. every u joint, every tie rod and ball joint, carrier bearing, wheel bearings, brakes, etc...

the few things that were always making noise even when replaced and "new"

1) sway bar end links. brand new ones even. the collar that the bolt went through didn't fit snugly over the bolt so while everything appeared tight and when shaking things around I couldn't see or hear anything, yet when I pulled the bolt out I realized it was rattling around inside the collar of the bushing.

2) my bilstein 5100 shocks were also narrower than the lower shock mount, so it again appeared tight but when I took it back apart I noticed there was room for it to bounce around. I slid a few washers on either side of the bushings and it stopped the noise.

3) my sway bar to axle bushings only seem to last 6 months before making noise again. I got sick of replacing them and just wrapped them really tight with electrical tape to fill in the clearance between the bushing and the hoop that holds them to the axle.

also since there is a body mount right under your feet, any noise, clunk or vibration going on throughout the truck will "feel" like its coming from right under your foot whether it is or is not........ something else that can easily be over looked is a sloppy/loose trailer receiver rattling
 
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