Popping noise.

[meby]

The truck makes a popping noise when the wheel is turned all the way to the left going forwards or backing up. I had it at a suspension shop a couple months ago and they couldn't find anything obvious. The tire isn't catching on anything that I can tell.

Ideas?

[gobigorgohome]

wheel bearings possibly???? what else do you notice when its poppin, anything? all the info helps us answer your question

[meby]

Well...it only makes the noise (popping, scraping) when the wheel is turned, so it seems like it would have to be tie rod ends or something. I guess I should check a third time to make absolutely sure the wheels are hitting anything, cause thats what it sounds like.

[gobigorgohome]

what is the noise similar to? that could help us figure it out. did you get new tires and then it started. i had this problem on my subaru when i got it, the sway bar was hitting the rim when i turned left and right. so i took it out lol

[oldestof11]

Mine does that but its the ball joints...

[TRENDZ]

Are you sure you aren't just hearing the steering stops? Lube the stop contact points.

[Richie O]

Are you sure you aren't just hearing the steering stops? Lube the stop contact points.

On a 2 wheel peeler that is usually the issue.

[Mark Nixon]

Mine does that but its the ball joints...

My first thought EXACTLY.
Last fall the driver's side ball joint on the carhauler was doing this and it drove me nuts, until I had someone work the steering wheel and it popped (more like a "crack" or "snap").
Turns out the lower arm was bent at the balljoint socket (part of an earlier problem I had with the front suspension), even though, when I R&R'ed the arm, the balljoint itself was physically tight.

It WOULD NOT make the noise on stands, or up in the air, it had to have a load when steering, which made it all the harder to track down.

Oddly worn balljoints will also do this, no matter how much grease you feed them, so will extremely dry ones.

"Creaking" when turned hard is pretty much normal on all spherical joints.

Mark.

[meby]

Are you sure you aren't just hearing the steering stops? Lube the stop contact points.

On a 2 wheel peeler that is usually the issue.

I'll check this.

I triple checked and the tire isn't hitting anything.

[PToombs]

Mine used to pop too, only when backing into the driveway turning left. I replaced both ball joints, all the A-arm bushings, and the strut bushings. A few weeks later I was backing into the driveway and ...POP. I don't have a clue wft it's coming from now. It only does it once in a while now, as opposed to all the time like before.
Now I just drive the freaking thing and call it good.

[meby]

Mine used to pop too, only when backing into the driveway turning left. I replaced both ball joints, all the A-arm bushings, and the strut bushings. A few weeks later I was backing into the driveway and ...POP. I don't have a clue wft it's coming from now. It only does it once in a while now, as opposed to all the time like before.
Now I just drive the freaking thing and call it good.

Yeh yeh. It is a fun truck to drive. l put a tach in it last night, so now its even more fun.

[oldestof11]

Pete, get the trucks front end up on some stands. Now get 2 volunteers (a kid and a wife should be good). Sit the kid on the drivers seat and have the wife spin the wheel where the sound is coming from. Now have the kid hit the brake. I bet ya $10 that its the caliper hitting the wheel OR a loose clip...

[PToombs]

Jon, nope, pretty sure it's not that. I know the caliper has a little slop in the bracket, but I'm not on the brake when it does it. It sounds more like something is shifting around under there.

[hp383]

My 4x4 does this too, its a popping snapping sort of sound. very metallic sounding, and crisp.

Mine does it only turning right. I have put the truck on jack stands, and tried shaking, lifting, etc. Bearings seem fine. I'm guessing the king pins/bearings are ok as well since i can get no slop.

I am now down to a couple theories, one is the steering box, the shaft that runs vertically though the box (up and down) can be seen moving (up/down) a bit. The second guess is a possible cab cowl crack that flexes just right in the turn and pops.

[meby]

I thought I would resurrect this thread as I think I finally fixed the problem. For about as long as I've owned the truck, its pulled one direction, but if you hit a bump it would dive in the other direction. Multiple alignments, changing ball joints, etc later didn't fix the problem. I finally figured out the lower control arm was wallowed out by the bushing (and then much, much, much later finally got around to replacing it ). I haven't gotten it realigned yet, but it does drive way nicer. New front shocks help to, of course, one of the old ones was so bad the piston would stay down if you pushed it down. As a side effect, I think it fixed most of the popping noise too. Now I just need to fix the back shocks, I think their worse then the fronts were.