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99 durango front end noise

5K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  Neil 
G
#1 ·
I recently bought a 99 durango 5.9 4x4 and noticed the front driver side making a clanking noise when I go over bumps in the road. When I apply the brakes over bumps it doesn't make noise. Could someone plz help and explain what this problem could be. Thanx :help:
 
#3 · (Edited)
I got my truck back from the dealer yesterday. I brought it in for "clunking noise" and they replaced both upper ball joints. No charge. The best part is that they drilled out the old ones and the new ones are bolted in, so if i ever have to change them again i can get the moog greaseable ones and not have to deal with cutting those rivets off.

EDIT: I'm pretty sure that the recall/warranty doesnt include 98 & 99 models. But i wouldnt doubt that it's the ball joints
 
#5 ·
do you have 4 wheel drive? because we had to take the durango in last month because a bearing seal was bacd and caused the bearing to run dry and in the process scarring up the spline shaft coming out of the diff. the crazy thing was it happened with days fron us hearing the noise because our mechanic said thet there was very little oil that had built up around the bad seal meaning that it happen quickly.
 
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#6 ·
yes my durango is a four wheel drive and did the noise stop when you applied the brake because the noise i have coming from the front end stops whe i apply the brakes over bumps in the road .
 
#7 · (Edited)
We pretty much only heard it when we had in in 4x and while accelerating or if going up hill (putting a greater load on the drivetrain)

Another thought is to check your brake pads for wear and to see if maybe you need new pads.... a shim could have slipped out of place?

like what was said ball joints could be a cause too. Jack up your front end and push/pull on the wheel assembly for any play in the wheel ( careful not to pull it off the jack :jester: that never happened to anything I owned) :rofl:

...oh and what about your CV joint? I haven't ever hear of many people having CV problems on any veichles that have less that 120,000 miles on them which puts all but a few hard driven durangos in that catagory

other than those suggestions take it to a mechanic.
 
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#8 ·
Did you get an answer yet?

I would bet on the ball joints.

You must know about the recall by now. Of course, it doesn't cover the 99. They probably think if it is a 99, it has too many miles on it and they will blame it on wear and tear instead of the true problem. I had mine changed under warranty after 36k miles about 3 years ago. My regular mechanic was shocked that the ball joints wer ruined so soon. Some people started talking about this a few years ago, but it took a few years for Dodge to make the recall.
 
#9 ·
The best way to check the front is to jack it up grab tire at bottom and top like someonelse suggested or put a bar or pipe under tirelift up as somene is watching ball joints to see if there is any movement slight movement is okanything over 1/8in should be changed grab wheel on try to wiggle sides if movement is there maybe tie-rod end problem to check half shaft grab try to move toward front and rear of truck no movement should be present movement from side to side is ok
just some ways to trouble shoot your front end
hope this helps Rick
 
#10 ·
I think it's your ball joints, but it could be a loose caliper, since the noise stops when the brakes are appiled. A bad ball joint should make the noise all the time.
 
#11 ·
I agree with the above, it sound like a missing caliper pin. The metal in the steering knuckle apparently is pretty soft and it is easy to misalign the pin in the rubber sleeve. My self and a number of others have done it. Pull the wheel and inspect the caliper. Check the threads. If they are stripped, Auto parts stores have oversize self tapping caliper pins. (I have two in one side) Or you can get heli coils.
 
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