97 Explorer Shocks?

[Robobru]

Am beginning to hear a thumping sound on the front end (I think) when the vehicle hits a pot hole or bumps in the road. Would this be the shocks or ball joints? I know that on my 91 it was the Radial arm bushings, but this vehicle appears to have a different suspension make-up.
Is there a way to narrow it down or inspect the faulty part(s)?

[cmac74]

had a similar sound. ball joints needed grease. if you have a needle injector for a grease gun you can stick it into the boot of the ball joints inject the grease and then seal back up the hole you just made. i didn't have the needle injector so i just made a slit in the boot. sprayed Fluid Film. sealed the hole back up and after about 30km's when the Fluid Film worked itself in the noise was gone. no problems since.
First you'll want to jack up the tire hold the top and bottom and see if there's play. The ball joints may need to be replaced not just greased.

[97explorersport]

Originally Posted by Robobru

Am beginning to hear a thumping sound on the front end (I think) when the vehicle hits a pot hole or bumps in the road. Would this be the shocks or ball joints? I know that on my 91 it was the Radial arm bushings, but this vehicle appears to have a different suspension make-up.
Is there a way to narrow it down or inspect the faulty part(s)?

I had a simular problem, and replace the ball joints and both tie rod ends and shocks. Noise was still there . I finally used some spray grease and coated the torsion bar blocks at the rear and whalla!!!!!! the noise went away. Look at the torsion bars if they are rusted as mine were try the spray. Good Luck FYI mine is a 97 also

[BlitzKeg]

Originally Posted by cmac74

sprayed Fluid Film. sealed the hole back up and after about 30km's when the Fluid Film worked itself in the noise was gone. no problems since.

how did you seal the hole back up???, er better yet what did you use?

[cmac74]

Goop. there's probably better sealants to use but this was the only one i had at the time. i check it periodically and it seems fine.

[Robobru]

I have the spray now, so should I just drill a small hole in the boot then spray it in? Can I use something like Seal All to patch it up?

[cmac74]

sure. just make sure that its safe to use on rubber