clunk when turning left

[burkey05]

so ive been getting a noise/clunk whenever turning left thats been getting progressively worse. seems to be coming from the drivers side(rhs over here), somewhere just under the drivers foot. thought it might be the cab mount, checked it and seems ok, thought to might be the ball joints, or control arm bushes etc. but although they're def not new, they seem to be ok(at least not the cause of the clunk).

checked the engine mounts

the Rhs (drivers side) rubber is cracked in the top left hand corner and has sagged

the Lhs side seems alot better by comparison. hard to tell from the pics but the Rhs metal mount from the motor is about 1/4-1/2 inch closer to the frame than the Lhs

im thinking that this is prob the cause of the noises ive been getting, what does everyone think?

[benoit454]

it's possible but usually motor mounts move or make noise when you get on the gas or off and sometime not until you get on it hard or you change gears.

most of the time when you turn and it makes noise it's only doing it when turning it's usually something on the opposite side.

If you turn left and it does it, it's usually on the right and vice versa, reason being the weight shifting. cv joints do that, and I just recently saw a guy have it happen due to bad spider gears in the rear.

[BigBlocksRule]

Find a piece of soft wood that you can jam between the engine and frame near the mount. That'll keep it from moving - now, make a few left turns and see if the noise is still there...

[burkey05]

thx for the reply's

cv joints do that

mines a 2wd

motor mounts move or make noise when you get on the gas or off

i have noticed a couple of times when breaking hard that it made a similar type noise, but mainly when im turning and always left i get the noise/clunk.
but i do notice that i get a bit of a vibration/shudder when going thru a round-about turning right to straighten up(not sure if that makes sense to anyone)

Find a piece of soft wood that you can jam between the engine and frame near the mount. That'll keep it from moving - now, make a few left turns and see if the noise is still there...

ill def give that a go

[sntrym95]

Could be a stabilizer bar mount, ball joint, or control arm bushing. Or something else. But those are the three I've experienced.

[benoit454]

just because it's a 2wd without cv joints, the rear axle could do the same, but I'd start up front for sure.

[LynnJr]

If you have a friend handy have them put the tranny in 1st gear while holding the brake then letting off and putting it in reverse while holding the brake.If the mounts are bad one side will usually twist up higher than the other side.If either motor mount is broken its a good idea to replace the tranny mount as well as they will tear from the twisting.

Next check for myself would be everything in the steering.If you have some good jack-stands have a friend run the steering both directions while watching it.If anything is other than smooth it is bad.If something moves up and down rather than side to side it is bad.

I had a shuddering problem once that was absolutely driving me nuts.All the usual suspects like universal joints were replaced and it still shuddered.I put it in 2nd gear and drove the snot out of it and the clutch fan broke off and went through my radiator.The shuddering stopped immediately.
Lynn

[burkey05]

i checked out the ball joints again by putting the truck on stands and jacking up the control arm, everything seemed ok. moved the steering while up on jacks and felt around a bit by hand, everthing seemed ok. i tried going thru the gears etc as suggested, and the engine moved a little, but not much.

the shock bushings seemed a bit warn, so i replaced them, seemed to make a bit of a difference, the clunk while turning hadnt gone completley, but wasnt as bad.

so i changed the motor mounts, they needed replacing even if it wasnt the cause of the clunk. the mounts were pretty warn and cracked(i forgot to take some photos), but not as bad as i thought they might be, they were really saggy though, deflated almost. the good news is, driving for 2 days and no more clunk. fingers crossed

thx for all the suggestions

[nova400]

i had a clunk in my 1990 truck when making certain turns like going up a driveway where it sort of twists the truck and it turned out the rear cab mounts were rusted through. Just thought maybe it would help out

[krawler00]

I just rebuilt the front end of my 88 sub. What started it all was replacing the pitman arm. It clunked when turning. Take the wheel and turn it sitting still and see if it clunks at all. Or get someone to sit and turn the wheel while you watch the arm. Mine was very bad and had a ton of play. So after that, I went ahead and replaced everything. Bushings to bumpstops...

[burkey05]

nova400, the cab mounts look pretty good on mine and the problem has stopped now ive replaced the engine mounts.

krawler00, i tested all of the steering etc trying to find the source of the noise, and although alot of the components looked a bit old, everthing tested ok.
i will have to replace them all eventually

thx for your input