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iputon326

jimmy front end problems

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alright so today we were drivin and all the sudden something under the passenger side started clicking.

you could feel it on your feet. if felt like the tire had a knot in it or something. so we kept driving and we stopped a cvs for about 10 minutes.

when we left cvs we turned right and then the right side started clanking and grinding. it was loud. so everytime we turned right it started doing this.

when the brakes were hit it stopped making the noise.

so we finally got home and let it sit for about an hour and then went to the gas station and now its doing it on both sides. i have no idea what it is.

im thinking maybe the cv joints or ball joints? i dont really know though. i dont think that would make both sides mess up in less then 2 hours.

i was on another forum and a guy said the same thing happened to him and he thought it was the cv joints but all he had to do was change the differential fluid.

your suppose to change it about every 30,000 miles. since ive had my jimmy weve put about 40,000 on it and i dont know how long itd been since itd been change before i got it. so does anybody have any ideas?

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Can you get a video of the sound from the inside and outside of the car?

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sounds more like a bearing problem...... i guess it could be the differential but anytime i've heard a differential causing noise like that just changing the fluid wasn't going to do anything to fix it.... both of my van's front wheel bearings went out at almost the exact same time and my Jimmy had one bad when I bought it (the dealer graciously replaced it for me)...... so that would be my guess.... jack it up and grab the front wheel at the top and bottom and try rocking it in and out, if it moves enough to notice it ur wheel bearing is shot.....

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Can you get a video of the sound from the inside and outside of the car?

i dont even want to drive it. its horrible.

im afraid if i drive it the problem will get worse

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sounds more like a bearing problem...... i guess it could be the differential but anytime i've heard a differential causing noise like that just changing the fluid wasn't going to do anything to fix it.... both of my van's front wheel bearings went out at almost the exact same time and my Jimmy had one bad when I bought it (the dealer graciously replaced it for me)...... so that would be my guess.... jack it up and grab the front wheel at the top and bottom and try rocking it in and out, if it moves enough to notice it ur wheel bearing is shot.....

yea tomorrow my buddies coming over with his jack and were gona check everything out.

hopefully its nothing to expensive because i dont have that much money.

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Hmm. Are the boots on the CV joints torn at all?

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i didnt really get to check today. i need to jack it up to get a better look.

i tried feeling if the boots ripped or if there was any damage but like i said it was hard to check it out without a jack.

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I say check the wheel bearing and the CV boot. i think Alton might be right about the wheel bearing.

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yea tomorrow my buddies coming over with his jack and were gona check everything out.

hopefully its nothing to expensive because i dont have that much money.

unfortunately the bearings are around $120 each at Advance, O'Reilly's, NAPA and AutoZone...... I priced 'em before the dealer fixed mine.... But yeah it sounds REAL bad when they go completely out....

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well thats not that expensive so thats good. this is about the time everything starts going bad in the front end.

i have a 130,000 miles on it.

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yea tomorrow my buddies coming over with his jack and were gona check everything out.

hopefully its nothing to expensive because i dont have that much money.

unfortunately the bearings are around $120 each at Advance, O'Reilly's, NAPA and AutoZone...... I priced 'em before the dealer fixed mine.... But yeah it sounds REAL bad when they go completely out....

can you explain what yours sounded like?

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like dragging a ship anchor around under the truck.....

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like dragging a ship anchor around under the truck.....

was the noise even louder when you turned?

also it only makes the noise when im driving.

if i sit in the driveway and turn the wheel its fine.

Edited by iputon326

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like dragging a ship anchor around under the truck.....

was the noise even louder when you turned?

also it only makes the noise when im driving.

if i sit in the driveway and turn the wheel its fine.

yeah it always got louder when i turned and yes shot wheel bearings will only make noise when driving.... your questions make me quite sure it's the wheel bearings.... another tell tale that the wheel bearings are shot is the truck doesn't feel as steady as it did before, the steering feels loose, like driving an OLD Jeep.... lol

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lol alright man thanks for your help.

im gona try getting this fixed tomorrow and ill let you guys know what it is for sure.

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Good luck with this and keep up updated. Hope all goes well or isnt too bad on your end.

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so what did you find out about your truck??

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well my buddy looked at it and he thought it was the ball joint.

we jacked the car up and grabbed the wheel and it had a lot of play in it.

we have a guy coming out to look at it tomorrow and fix it for us.

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right before it started screwin up real bad it was pullin to the right when i let go of the steering wheel.

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i'd be real surprised if it was a ball joint.... usually once they get worn enuf to cause something to make noise they've done separated and you're super stranded...... saw it happen up front and personal to a crown vic at a drive through, the lower ball joint gave and the wishbone (A arm) fell with the car's weight on it onto the inside of the wheel, wouldn't budge an inch..... then when the woman's man showed up he gunned it to get it out of the way and it was quite a show, left big curly shavings of aluminum from the wheel behind it, took everything the car had to move................. I'd think if it was a ball joint that you most likely couldn't have been driving it at all... I'm still convinced it's the wheel bearings....

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eh idk i guess ill find out tomorrow.

if you jack up the car and theres play in the tire then its the ball joint.

Edited by iputon326

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well my buddy looked at it and he thought it was the ball joint.

we jacked the car up and grabbed the wheel and it had a lot of play in it.

we have a guy coming out to look at it tomorrow and fix it for us.

your ol' pal mikey just redone the whole front end of his jimmy....

you might have him give it a look.

chop

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well my buddy looked at it and he thought it was the ball joint.

we jacked the car up and grabbed the wheel and it had a lot of play in it.

we have a guy coming out to look at it tomorrow and fix it for us.

your ol' pal mikey just redone the whole front end of his jimmy....

you might have him give it a look.

chop

he did it himself?

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eh idk i guess ill find out tomorrow.

if you jack up the car and theres play in the tire then its the ball joint.

Not necessarily.... When the wheel bearing finally went out on my Jimmy there was over 2" of play that I could move the wheel on.... the worst I've ever seen a wheel bearing before....

I know for a fact it was the wheel bearing as : 1. I had an alignment done at a local tire dealer right after I purchased it and they said the machine could see play in the wheel. 2. They said that everything else in the front end was tight. 3. The auto dealer I bought the truck from replaced the wheel bearing and everything has been peachy ever since. and 4. I've replaced more than a half-dozen wheel bearings in my short experience and the noise and associated problems from worn out wheel bearings are nearly all the same.....

That being said, how did you get the idea that "if you jack up the car and there's play in the tire then its the ball joint." anyways just out of idle curiosity??? for that matter a loose wheel could be something as silly as loose lug nuts, and believe me that happens more often than you'd think.... Sorry if I came across sounding like a bit of an ass but I'm looking forward to finding out what is wrong with it..... smile.gif

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eh idk i guess ill find out tomorrow.

if you jack up the car and theres play in the tire then its the ball joint.

Not necessarily.... When the wheel bearing finally went out on my Jimmy there was over 2" of play that I could move the wheel on.... the worst I've ever seen a wheel bearing before....

I know for a fact it was the wheel bearing as : 1. I had an alignment done at a local tire dealer right after I purchased it and they said the machine could see play in the wheel. 2. They said that everything else in the front end was tight. 3. The auto dealer I bought the truck from replaced the wheel bearing and everything has been peachy ever since. and 4. I've replaced more than a half-dozen wheel bearings in my short experience and the noise and associated problems from worn out wheel bearings are nearly all the same.....

That being said, how did you get the idea that "if you jack up the car and there's play in the tire then its the ball joint." anyways just out of idle curiosity??? for that matter a loose wheel could be something as silly as loose lug nuts, and believe me that happens more often than you'd think.... Sorry if I came across sounding like a bit of an ass but I'm looking forward to finding out what is wrong with it..... smile.gif

I'm with you, back and forth play in a wheel while lifted is usually wheel bearing. The way I know to test for ball joints is to lift the wheel off the ground only an inch or two, then stick a bar under the tire and leverage it up. If the ball joint is bad, the tire/rim assembly will lift a bit as you lift up on the bar. If the ball joint is good it won't lift at all.

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