Odd Thumping coming from the left front *solved

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Glassjaw
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Odd Thumping coming from the left front *solved

Post by Glassjaw »

Hello all. I just bought a 2002 Chevy Crew cab last week, and i absolutly love it. its got pretty much everything offered as options, 65k miles. the previous owner was from new york, had it rustproofed very well, the truck is damn near immaculate. My boss who happens to be my fiancces cousin, found it and drove it for me and then i bought it sight unseen. It needed a ball joint on the passenger side. off to the shop it went. Brand new ball joint, done by his mechanic who he says is a reputable guy. so is his alignment shop he sends everything too.

Heres what ive noticed..... i noticed the thumping the day after i got it. When you hit the brakes it will do it but if you turn the wheel and hit the brakes kinda hard itll do it worse. It kinda sounds like a bad ball joint but driving down the road it wont do it at all. The mechanic checked everything over, and sent it back to the aligment shop, they went over everything and made sure it was all tight.

Could it be the stabilizer bushings? stabilizer end link? maybe a loose caliper? I know a little about trucks but im no "mechanic" by any means. any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
2002 Chevy Crew Cab LS
1993 S10 Standard cab, Short bed (summer fun) 5.7 TBI 4.10 rear 700r4 Stage II 2 inch spindles 2 inch springs 4 inch blocks
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Re: Odd Thumping coming from the left front

Post by HenryJ »

Lube the torsion bar sockets. Check the torsion bar mount dogbones. Look for a loose a-arm bolt. Make sure the shock is tight. Check for a broken motor mount.
Mine had the EGR tube bumping the pinch weld at the firewall. That was a tough one to find.
That will give you a few things to check. :)

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Re: Odd Thumping coming from the left front

Post by Glassjaw »

i will check tomorrow after work. ive been working alot lately and jmust havent really had time to check. thankfully i drive about 8 miles to work. but every time i hear that noise it makes me cringe. i went and bought a grease gun and some grease along with the 90 degree fittings before the auto parts store closed. thankfully i read some of the other post to know what i was getting into. Thanks for the help. ill post back if the grease takes care of it.
2002 Chevy Crew Cab LS
1993 S10 Standard cab, Short bed (summer fun) 5.7 TBI 4.10 rear 700r4 Stage II 2 inch spindles 2 inch springs 4 inch blocks
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Re: Odd Thumping coming from the left front

Post by HenryJ »

You will need some spray grease for the torsion bar sockets. GM SuperLube is good stuff. Many places use aerosol white grease. Any good lubricant that does not evaporate or cut will work.

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"Speed is just a matter of Money - How fast do YOU want to go?"-Mechanic from Mad Max-
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Glassjaw
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Re: Odd Thumping coming from the left front

Post by Glassjaw »

One of the Stabilizer bar end links was broken, i replaced both of them and the thumping stopped. Im not exactly sure how the mechanic and the alignment shop missed that. i replaced them with MOOG end links. front end seems alittle tighter than it was before. Thanks for the info on the torsion bars also! I will make sure everything stays properly greased so the truck last a long time. I absolutly love this truck!!
2002 Chevy Crew Cab LS
1993 S10 Standard cab, Short bed (summer fun) 5.7 TBI 4.10 rear 700r4 Stage II 2 inch spindles 2 inch springs 4 inch blocks
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Re: Odd Thumping coming from the left front

Post by F9K9 »

Glassjaw, why don't you take the time to fill out your profile? You might have someone nearby that can lend a hand or, you can help him/her?
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Re: Odd Thumping coming from the left front

Post by saab9k »

Glassjaw wrote:One of the Stabilizer bar end links was broken, i replaced both of them and the thumping stopped. Im not exactly sure how the mechanic and the alignment shop missed that. i replaced them with MOOG end links. front end seems alittle tighter than it was before. Thanks for the info on the torsion bars also! I will make sure everything stays properly greased so the truck last a long time. I absolutly love this truck!!
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Re: Odd Thumping coming from the left front *solved

Post by Glassjaw »

so the thumping is back, i had a friend look under the truck at the a arm while i pumped the brakes in drive and the control arm he said moves a little. im assuming the bushing is bad since the bolts were tight. is this normal? how hard are the bushings to replace? this is the first time ive ever had to replace the a arm bushings in anything. advance auto has them for 10 bucks but ill probly stick with moog ones for 22 each just to be safe. has anyone else had this problem?
2002 Chevy Crew Cab LS
1993 S10 Standard cab, Short bed (summer fun) 5.7 TBI 4.10 rear 700r4 Stage II 2 inch spindles 2 inch springs 4 inch blocks
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Re: Odd Thumping coming from the left front *solved

Post by F9K9 »

Many have had to replace the bushings. It's not hard but, that is dependent on your mechanical ability. Moog was once the standard that others tried to achieve. They have gone downhill in the last few years and do not live up to that reputation now. It's basically a crap shoot on the differences in brands, at the moment.
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Re: Odd Thumping coming from the left front *solved

Post by Glassjaw »

I figured moog would be better since ive heard good things about them. Personally Ive used Energy suspensions bushings on my honda. But that was years ago. i havent had to replace any bushings on my Saturn tho.

Has anyone said of any problems after the bushings have been replaced? Seeing that this was a common problem with alot of these trucks you would figure gm would want to take care of it via recall or fixed them before they rolled out of the plant.
2002 Chevy Crew Cab LS
1993 S10 Standard cab, Short bed (summer fun) 5.7 TBI 4.10 rear 700r4 Stage II 2 inch spindles 2 inch springs 4 inch blocks
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Re: Odd Thumping coming from the left front *solved

Post by JaVeRo »

I have had good service from the Energy Suspension bushings on the lower control arm. The uppers do not (or did not) come with sleeves so I had to reuse the old sleeves and that didn't work out so well. The sleeve would slip about an eighth inch on the bushing. I now have the moog thermoplastic on the upper control arms and the Energy Suspension on the lower. It's the best I have come up with.

James
2001 S10 Crew (wife's mail truck)
2002 S10 Crew, 2003 S10 Blazer
2006 K2500 5 speed
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Re: Odd Thumping coming from the left front *solved

Post by Glassjaw »

have you had any problem since installing the new bushings?
2002 Chevy Crew Cab LS
1993 S10 Standard cab, Short bed (summer fun) 5.7 TBI 4.10 rear 700r4 Stage II 2 inch spindles 2 inch springs 4 inch blocks
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Re: Odd Thumping coming from the left front *solved

Post by JaVeRo »

Glassjaw wrote:have you had any problem since installing the new bushings?
None that relate to the bushings :wink:

The truck has 180k miles on it running a mail route. It's about to fall apart.

But the A-arm bushings are still good.

James
2001 S10 Crew (wife's mail truck)
2002 S10 Crew, 2003 S10 Blazer
2006 K2500 5 speed
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Re: Odd Thumping coming from the left front *solved

Post by Glassjaw »

OK. I feel like an idiot. Me and my boss were taking it to the shop on monday and not running it all weekend when he said "let me see if i can see anything in there, probly not becuase you know more about cars than i do but what the hell." so we sat in the parking lot at the warehouse getting ready to leave and he says the lower control arm isnt moving at all. but he can see the wheel jerking a bit when i hit the brakes. "Can you see the upper control arm if i turn the wheel all the way to lock?" he said he could see the back of the upper control arm. So i did the same thing. he grabbed ahold of the nut holding it in and IT TWISTED OFF IN HIS HAND. the nut was only finger tight!!!! ive since tightened the crap out of it and havent heard the thump, or felt any kind of wheel play at all. I dunno how it happened but im glad we found it. i almost put brand new bushing on the lower control arms on both sides. Saved me about 500 bucks total for the parts and labor. Let alone a few days without a vehicle until we get the fiancée a new car. UNfortunatly her flavor of the month is a ford focus :(
2002 Chevy Crew Cab LS
1993 S10 Standard cab, Short bed (summer fun) 5.7 TBI 4.10 rear 700r4 Stage II 2 inch spindles 2 inch springs 4 inch blocks
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Re: Odd Thumping coming from the left front *solved

Post by roadrunner »

Sometimes that extra set of eyes is truly invaluable.
2001 CC LS, pewter, stock, 4.3,Wait4meperformance, CFM throttle blade, Helix throttle body spacer, 4spd auto, 3button electric 4x4 shift, heavy duty factory suspension, Bilsteins, 1" rear wheel spacers, skid plates.