Front suspension pop

[kahjdh]

So after I have looked through the forum I found 2 possable problem areas,

1: The ball joints are bad;
I replaced all 4, didnt help

2: Intermediate shaft worn,
My truck is an 01 4x4 and i dont have a rack+pinion but the gear and relay rod set-up. Is the intermediate shaft problem only on the rack and pinion or all?

3: also how much does the nickel plated yoke run?

For some reason all of this started happening within the last month and is really irratating.

[bigbadram51]

Have you checked your wheel bearings/hub assembly

[kahjdh]

Lifted the truck anf there was not play up/down or side/side. When I had the knuckles off when I did the ball joints they looked alright.

[bigbadram51]

A couple years ago, I had an awful rubbing/grinding sound. Granted mine wasnt popping, so I did the normal check for bad wheel bearings, nothing, but when I spun it....ssscrape and some small little pops...replaced it, all kinds of quiet. The unit hubs are notorious for being weak in these trucks, thats why I thought it was the hubs. Have you checked, tie rod ends all the way up to the idler/pitman arm for play.

[kahjdh]

Bought new tie rod ends and im going to put those on next week, as for the bearing im still kind of holding off b/c of the $300 price tag for both sides.