Blown 346 Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 (edited) I have been going over the truck since I bought it and realized the old didnt do anything maintenance wise other than change the oil. I have this suspension noise on the front passenger side that started about 2 weeks ago. I thought it was from the cold temps we had but it hasnt gone away. You can hear it when you go over certain bumps, it almost sounds like a hollow clunk, not metal to metal. I have checked the shocks, tie rods, ball joints, pitman, wheel bearing, end links and they are all tight. I did notice that not one grease fitting was greased, so I went ahead and did that. the fittings that I was able to get too took 10 to 12 pumps of grease to fill. The on fitting I cant get to is on the passenger side as the bottom of the motor is in the way. What else can I look for?? Im lost and the noise is driving me nuts. Edited March 1, 2013 by Blown 346 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdavid0412 Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 CV axles? Is your truck lowered? Crank the wheel one direction and make a few low speed circles, then do it the other way. If you hear the clunking sound or if either of the boots are torn, could be the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown 346 Posted March 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Truck is stock height. the suspension is silent while turning, I only hear the noise going over certain bumps in the road and only on the passenger side front. To tell you the truth I thought the noise was coming from the back of the truck until I had my buddy with me hold his head out the window. It would almost sound like the bed was making noise if that helps figure out how that noise is coming from the front. All boots are free of cracks splits, and look like new. I checked the brakes front and rear and came up empty, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelleyperformance Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 (edited) how many miles? how does the truck ride? im assuming its 100% stock suspension, including OE shocks? its hard for me to tell over the internet... your welcome to PM me or text me (calling is fine just text first, voicemail is chaos lol) and i can try and help you figure it out- i know how crazy these kinds of noises will drive me lol... but heres what you can do now- the way you described the sound of the noise sounds EXACTLY like an intermediate shaft issue... are you sure its not coming from the steering column? i know this sounds crazy but the i-shaft clunk has been complained to me by customers as coming from each and every direction you can imagine... its a tricky noise to determine sometimes. is it when you go over ANY bumps and every bump? the i-shaft will make noise every time when: you are turning (not full lock, about a half a turn back from full lock) and travel the front suspension over a bump, you hit a deep, jolting bump primarily on one or both sides of the front (ie pot hole), and will also make noise when the truck travels over small bumps at high rates of speeds (it will "clunk"). this problem was actually a bulletin on C/K fullsize trucks (shoulve been a full recall but GM is cheap) and almost 95% of the trucks up to 07 will need AT LEAST one i-shaft in its lifetime. if yours has never been changed, this is probably your noise. if this doesnt sound like the noise at all, we can move on to the next possibility Edited March 1, 2013 by kelleyperformance (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdavid0412 Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Upper balljounts are pretty common. Maybe find a bump in the road and run over it a couple times while somone either lisetens to it or takes a video of it. Upper balljounts are pretty common. Maybe find a bump in the road and run over it a couple times while somone either lisetens to it or takes a video of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown 346 Posted March 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Already replaced the Intermediate steering shaft about 3 months ago. The truck has 35K on it stock suspension, shocks. Shocks are dry and I cannot move the tire upward when the truck is lifted. Not every bump will create the noise, they dont have to be big, normally its the small imperfections in the road that cause it at any speed but more noticeable around 20 to 30 MPH, its when the tire and or suspension travels slower that you really hear it. The ball joints are tight, they do not move. Ill give myself a hernia before the move lol. Checked every center cap and they also do not move, along with re torquing each wheel lug nut. Checking all brake hardware, caliper, brackets, pads, shims, leaf springs, went over the entire suspension and everything looks good and in working order loaded and un loaded. Thanks for the help and suggestions so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelleyperformance Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 (edited) so if you lift suspension off the ground and unload it, you tried to move the wheel up, down, left, right, etc? if you had a ball joint issue youd hear/feel a click 90% of the time when you put some ass into the tire (hand on top and bottom of wheel, push/pull back and forth). if you have NO movement, and no float or play in steering when going over bumps, its most likely either a bad shock or the i-shaft again. the way you just described when the noise occurs fits perfect with i-shaft.... what did you replace it with? was it a current GM shaft, aftermarket shaft, etc? you can always pull the shocks off, and press the shock into the ground all the way then let it come back up. if its easy, sticky in some areas, or doesnt come up (or comes up with absolutely no force- shouldnt "shoot" up but should steadily come up and with decent mechanical resistance). Edited March 1, 2013 by kelleyperformance (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown 346 Posted March 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 so if you lift suspension off the ground and unload it, you tried to move the wheel up, down, left, right, etc? if you had a ball joint issue youd hear/feel a click 90% of the time when you put some ass into the tire (hand on top and bottom of wheel, push/pull back and forth). if you have NO movement, and no float or play in steering when going over bumps, its most likely either a bad shock or the i-shaft again. the way you just described when the noise occurs fits perfect with i-shaft.... what did you replace it with? was it a current GM shaft, aftermarket shaft, etc? you can always pull the shocks off, and press the shock into the ground all the way then let it come back up. if its easy, sticky in some areas, or doesnt come up (or comes up with absolutely no force- shouldnt "shoot" up but should steadily come up and with decent mechanical resistance). I moved the tire up, down left and right with no play. If the shock was bad wouldnt the tire move when I tried to lift it? Any shocks that I have come across that were bad, I was able to bring the tire up. The I shaft was replaced with a current GM Shaft from GM parts Direct. I also checked shock mounts and mounting location and all was good there as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelleyperformance Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 I moved the tire up, down left and right with no play. If the shock was bad wouldnt the tire move when I tried to lift it? Any shocks that I have come across that were bad, I was able to bring the tire up. The I shaft was replaced with a current GM Shaft from GM parts Direct. I also checked shock mounts and mounting location and all was good there as well. no it would not move, the suspension is still technically loaded by the spring even when the tire is off the ground. unless your iron man, no sir it would not be normal for it to move about the shaft- i have also seen replacements take a shit too many times... we use a Dorman shaft. they are redesigned specifically around what caused the GM shafts to fail... i wish i could just drive your truck and tell you what it is but that would be quite a drive for one of us lol. have you checked all the body mount bolts? the trans mount bolts, front diff mount bolts, etc? ive seen trans mount nuts come loose and the tranny would hop off the crossmember an 1/8" or so over some bumps and make a rattling noise... im kinda out of ideas here without being able to physically diagnose the truck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissfans03ss Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 so if you lift suspension off the ground and unload it, you tried to move the wheel up, down, left, right, etc? if you had a ball joint issue youd hear/feel a click 90% of the time when you put some ass into the tire (hand on top and bottom of wheel, push/pull back and forth). if you have NO movement, and no float or play in steering when going over bumps, its most likely either a bad shock or the i-shaft again. the way you just described when the noise occurs fits perfect with i-shaft.... what did you replace it with? was it a current GM shaft, aftermarket shaft, etc? you can always pull the shocks off, and press the shock into the ground all the way then let it come back up. if its easy, sticky in some areas, or doesnt come up (or comes up with absolutely no force- shouldnt "shoot" up but should steadily come up and with decent mechanical resistance). I moved the tire up, down left and right with no play. If the shock was bad wouldnt the tire move when I tried to lift it? Any shocks that I have come across that were bad, I was able to bring the tire up. The I shaft was replaced with a current GM Shaft from GM parts Direct. I also checked shock mounts and mounting location and all was good there as well. If your shock is bad it will have no affect if you raise/lower the tire manually only a bad balljoint will give you that up/down movement.I would add a little grease to your i-shaft.good luck. Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fireman31 Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Can you caprture a video of this???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blown 346 Posted March 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 I was doing some digging last night and I found the problem. I was frustrated and decided to clean the air filter on the truck. In the process of removing the Cold air to get the filter off, I noticed the rubber bushing that holds the actual 4 Inch pipe to the enclosure was broken. That allowed the intake tube to hit the enclosure surround which is metal. I made my own rubber bushing with a spark plug boot and tightened everything back up. Took the truck for a drive and aimed for every bump I could find, no more noise. Glad it was a free fix with things I had laying around. Thanks for all the quick help and ideas guys, I really appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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