K1500 Front End Noise

[gwjturner]

I have a 1993 K1500 with the 305. For some time, me and three separate shops, the dealer included, have been trying to narrow down a "popping" noise on my front end. It happens on the left side when the wheel is turned to the right and I begin to back up. The truck has 142,600 miles on it and it is in near perfect condition. In the course of trying to fix this issue the following items have been changed out: Upper & Lower ball joints, Link pin bushings,Sway bar bushings, outer tie rod and the torsion bar crossmember mounts. the CV joint was replaced 2 1/2 years ago because the boot split. I'm at my wits end. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[broughy84]

i had the same prob on my 1988 c1500,except mine was on the opposite side. It was the upper control arm bushings. I suggest you take a look at them and the lower control arm bushings too, if you haven't already.

[SpitAndDirt]

This may help....I don't know if your "popping" is only from turning the wheel to full right lock or not, but you may try putting some grease on the spindle stops. These are the small areas that contact the spindle with the Lower A arm and prevent the wheels from turning any further than designed. Sometime these areas will grab each other after many miles. The popping you may be hearing is the releasing of the two parts from one another. Two last items, one don't ride the steering on full lock, it prematurely wears out the power steering pump, and second, make sure that the truck is aligned by a very qualified shop with an up to date alignment rack. I have a 96 Z71 that needed alignment badly. You can only set a rough adjustment yourself but it takes a properly calibrated laser alignment setup to do it correctly.

[SpitAndDirt]

One thing I forgot, I have had people forget to grease all the suspension zerts, including all ball joints, all tie rods, pitman and idler arms, etc.... Make sure everythings lubricated.

[gwjturner]

Originally Posted by broughy84

i had the same prob on my 1988 c1500,except mine was on the opposite side. It was the upper control arm bushings. I suggest you take a look at them and the lower control arm bushings too, if you haven't already.

I also thought the problem might be with the control arm bushings. They "appear" to be okay ( no tearing, or obvious cracks) but under a load I guess they could be a problem. Thanks.

[gwjturner]

Originally Posted by SpitAndDirt

This may help....I don't know if your "popping" is only from turning the wheel to full right lock or not, but you may try putting some grease on the spindle stops. These are the small areas that contact the spindle with the Lower A arm and prevent the wheels from turning any further than designed. Sometime these areas will grab each other after many miles. The popping you may be hearing is the releasing of the two parts from one another. Two last items, one don't ride the steering on full lock, it prematurely wears out the power steering pump, and second, make sure that the truck is aligned by a very qualified shop with an up to date alignment rack. I have a 96 Z71 that needed alignment badly. You can only set a rough adjustment yourself but it takes a properly calibrated laser alignment setup to do it correctly.

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Actually, the popping noise will not happen until the wheel is about half way to lock. Is it possible that the CV joint (spindle) might be moving in and out of the bearing? The nut seems to be tightend down. Also, I don't remember seeing a zerk fitting on the pitman arm but I'm going to check that out immediately. I appreciate the ideas!!!

gwjturner

[SpitAndDirt]

Yes, it is possible. Our CV spindle nuts are supposed to be torqued to at least 150 ft/lb if not more. Don't quote me on that, because I don't have a shop manual right in front of me at the moment. But I do know that they are supposed to be very tight. I have air tools and torque wrenches that I use to make sure mine is tight. And there is one other idea, the possiblity that the CV is of poor remanufacturing quality. Most axles I buy come with a limited lifetime warrenty. It would make sense that the outer joint may be bad, and that the only time you hear it is when backing up and turning. Don't count out having a bad axle either. -Chris

[gwjturner]

Originally Posted by SpitAndDirt

Yes, it is possible. Our CV spindle nuts are supposed to be torqued to at least 150 ft/lb if not more. Don't quote me on that, because I don't have a shop manual right in front of me at the moment. But I do know that they are supposed to be very tight. I have air tools and torque wrenches that I use to make sure mine is tight. And there is one other idea, the possiblity that the CV is of poor remanufacturing quality. Most axles I buy come with a limited lifetime warrenty. It would make sense that the outer joint may be bad, and that the only time you hear it is when backing up and turning. Don't count out having a bad axle either. -Chris

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Thanks, I think I'm going to look at that next. By the way, I did find the zerk for the pitman arm. It's kind of hidden. Greased the pitman and the Idler arm. No change.