Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

Been hearing a clunk sound on the passenger side of my 72 K1500. Jacked it up and found the ball joints were bad, just got done replacing them, went for a test drive and the clunk sound is still there! Had a friend with me and he can feel it on the floor board board on the passenger side. This happens mostly as I go around a corner. Checked all the tie rod ends, body mounts, recently installed new urethane bushings in the leaf springs, I can't find any source for this sound.
I did notice the front spring perch on drivers side moves a little when I turn the steering wheel, seems two of the rivets are worn, I can wiggle them with my fingers. I'm curious what I can do to fix that? Can I weld the rivets in? I doubt seriously it's the source of noise on the passenger side but I need to fix it anyway.
I am completely out of ideas as to the source of that damn clunk on the passenger side! Any ideas?

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

Aaron how about shock mounts, cab and radiator support mounts, bumper bolts to frame? It is normal for the leaf spring mounts to move a little bit when turning. Possible cracks in the frame through the steering sector bolt holes?

I checked pretty good, checked every nut and bolt, cab mounts are in good shape. Took a hammer under there and tapped on everything, even checked the u bolts on the axel. The core support, radiator and mounts are all new but the sound was there before they were replaced. Im thinking of mounting a camera under there and run it to my stereo display and see if I can see anything move as I drive. It actually make two distinct sounds about a second apart as I go around a corner, when I found the upper and lower ball joints were worn out I thought for sure it was the source of the sounds, unfortunately as I said it's still there after I replaced them.
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Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

If you have disc brakes check the grommets that go on the bolts that hold the calipers to the caliper frame. when they wear out they make a terrible noise like the front end is falling off.

Ironically I just replaced the front brakes with new calipers a couple days ago.
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Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

It only takes a minute amount of movement for heavy metal to make a strong noise transferred through the vehicle. Engine mounts, crossmembers are suspect.

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

Good point Joe. I have had calipers that didn't fit snug in the bracket and made a hard bump/clunk noise. The bracket may be worn instead of the caliper.

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

My vote goes to the right engine mount...........

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

upper shock mount bolt loose

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

first guess control arm bushings
second guess ball joints
third sway bar bushings - if it has one

you can weld the perch , crossmember or trany mont may be lose also

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

Thanks all, I'll crawl around under that sucker tomorrow with a few extra ideas. I did notice a little while ago my right exhaust manifold is only about 1/4" from the frame while the left is about 5/8" above the frame. Motor mounts are new so I'm going loosen them up and see how much I can twist the engine to even it out. I can't tell if it's hitting the frame but it's close enough to be suspect.
Thanks for the ideas, I'll double check it all tomorrow.

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

It's a 4wd

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

if the spring hangers are loose it could cause your noise, cut off the rivets, drive them out and install grade 8 bolts ...

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

If it still has the transfer case bracket that mounts to the frame the bushings could be worn out making the noise.

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

My vote is a cracked frame behind the steering box. Hope I'm wrong. Good luck.

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

I had the same problem. Mine turned out to the exhaust pipe hitting where it goes under the back of the cab.

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

You said that you replaced the spring bushings, did you also replace the shackle bushing in the frame?

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

You said that you replaced the spring bushings, did you also replace the shackle bushing in the frame?

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

I'm not saying this happened to me :cool: but I heard about a certain circumstance where every so often someone heard a metal on metal sound when ever bumps were hit. Said person casually looked all around the suspension...motor....motor mounts. Might have went on for a few days....Then one day the driver dropped his keys on the floor board and reached down to grab them and hit something.... It turned out there was a 4-way lugnut wrench under the seat that would act like a teeder-todder hitting the metal floor board. I know its a slim chance....but wouldn't hurt as its fast.

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

any update on this?

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

I may know this guy who had a similiar noise he tried to find for days on end. Sounded like it was coming out of the middle of the dash but could never find the problem. Then one day I was driving into the sun coming home from work (I mean...this guy I know was driving) and when pulling down the visor, realized it wasnt latched in the bracket and the bar at the end of the visor was rattling against the visor bracket the whole time. :banghead:

I've spent more than 6 hours under, inside and out of my truck and I still can't find the source of this noise. No cracked frame, nothing hitting anywhere. I thought it could be the passenger side exhaust manifold hitting the frame but was able to twist the engine and get plenty of clearance and I still have this noise! I've checked all the motor and trans mounts, they're all good, body mounts, bushings, every bolt inside and out, under and over, everything is tight. I'm starting to become very angry so I'm going to ignore it for a couple days! Maybe get a second set of eyes to look, someone else looking might see something I missed, have to be missing something!
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I replaced the bushings at the rear of the springs, upper and lower with urethane but haven't done the front, they still have the rubber bushings I replaced a couple years ago and are in good condition, I have urethane bushings for the front but the weather has prevented me from getting to them, the ones in the front are solid though. I feel like I'm going to find the source one day, probably feel like an idiot when I find it!
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Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

If you grab the front bumper on the pass side and push it up and down can you hear the noise?
Then bounce the suspension by pushing on the fender

Bumper is solid, checked the bolts, all tight. I can't get it to make any noise bouncing it, had a friend bounce it up and down while I crawled around all over, couldn't find anything. Only happens when I drive. I cringe every time I hear it!
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I'll definitely do that but those rivets are on the drivers side, the sound is definitely coming from the passenger side. You can actually feel it on the passenger side only. It's a mystery! It will probably turn out to be something obvious and I'll kick myself when I find it.
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Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

***Edit*** I just reread this post and noticed its a 4x4, so disregard my suggestion below.
How is your truck lowered? If is is lowered...
I had a set of cut front coils in an old 67 years ago. they were not cut in the right location to line up with the pocket in the lower control arm. So, every time I turned the wheel past a certain point, the coil would thunk into place on the control arm. It was very noticeable and irritating.

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

Check the bed bolts, I found a few making and extreme amount of ruckus. These frames do flex quite a bit.

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

When You turn in direction of the clunk.do You feel it at the steering wheel and does it clunk more than once? Tie rod end hitting rim? Happened to me with wider rims and rod end installed wrong! Hope You find the clunk-let us know. Good Luck

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

Try tightening the front of the leaf spring bolts

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

have a friend turn the wheel back and forth while you are underneath it and maybe you can tell what is making the noise, is it while turning? or when hitting a bump?

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

any chance it might be flywheel bolts?

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

Check the front axle fit at the outer axle seal, at the hub and also the axle u-joint itself. I know you're not running around in 4wd, but it's not uncommon for the front driveshaft to turn a bit and the axles turn as well. I had a bad axle fit at the seal that would bang here and there...locked the hub which centered the axle in the seal and it went away.

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

Just so you know mine was the exhaust pipe and didn't do it all the time. Just like you it only did it when driving. The exhaust had clearance sitting still but I guess the engine shifted enough while driving for it to hit where it went under the back side of the cab.

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

Been working on this clunk for days, still no luck! Replaced the ball joints, drag link, put on new front calipers, brake pads, wheel bearings, found my front drive shaft where it connects to transfer case was missing a bolt and the rest were loose, fixed that. Tightened up every single nut and bolt under over inside and out of the truck and still have this clunk! Had a friend walk beside the truck while I drove to look and listen for the source with no luck! Had him crawl under to look just in case I was missing something but he had no luck either. Checked for cracks in the frame, none to be found. Im fairly confident the sound is coming somewhere between the rear lip of the front fender to about the middle of the cab. Checked to see if the exhaust was hitting and it's not. It's driving me insane!
It seems to happen mostly when I'm turning which makes no sense since the sound is definitely coming from further back and no where near any steering components.
It's a bloody mystery from hell! I'm just hoping whatever it is doesn't suddenly cause some sort of catastrophic failure. At least I got a bunch of maintenance taken care of that I couldn't get to all winter.

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Mine makes the sound in and out of four wheel drive, just replaced the ball joints and checked the u joints in the axle at the time, they are in good shape. Thanks though!

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

Could there be some thing in the cowl vent pocket-lose antenna parts maybe a socket or wrench. Seems YOU checked everything else. Hope YOU find the GREMLIN.

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

Been through this with a later model GMC recently. Drove me nuts and turned out to be a wheel bearing on the drivers side. Although you felt it on the passenger side when it would clunk. Usually it is an audible clunk when you turn and transfer the weight from the opposite side. Check them both.

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

No antennae, I removed it and welded up the hole when I painted the truck. The sound is definitely coming from the floor area on passenger side, I can feel it there when it happens. Checked body mounts, all tight and in good shape. Thanks for the ideas though!

Re: Funky clunk sound driving me absolutely insane!
 

Thanks, I replaced the passenger side bearing when I did the ball joints last week and re packed the drivers side so I'm pretty sure there's no issue there. I'll keep searching!