so in addition to my death wobble (I will have to try to live with that for a few more weeks) the last few days I have noticed the truck is becoming more difficult to keep straight driving down the road, and even more recently I have developed a clunking sound (it can be felt too) coming from under my feet. I have noticed the clunking sound going over speed bumps but now I feel it going over manhole covers and what not while driving on the road. tomorrow I am going to check every bolt I can feel and yank on every moving part under the truck to see if I can find the source of the noise/problems. just curious if anyone has any suggestions of where to start.

 

Anything with bushings. I would look at the panhard rod and control arms first. Maybe rod ends too.

 

Right under your feet look for the big arm connection to the frame, you need new bushings.

 

changed the panhard rod bushings a few weeks ago, and when I had the truck into the mechanic a week later he said all the tie rod ends looked good.

have not looked at the sway bar yet, that is on my list. any way to check that for play?

 

Just get a buddy or two to come over, and have them rock the truck from side to side, or sort of bounce the front end up and down while you look underneath. If it's clunking from manhole covers, it'll clunk from your buddies, and you should be able to zero right in on the bad bushings. Ought to be able to spot the bad ones pretty easily once you know where the sound is coming from.
Also, if it's that wobbly and clunky, I would consider not driving it until you get it fixed.

 

I unfortunately have no choice at this moment, I have depleted all my funds and then some between the overheating issue and now this wobble. This is my families only vehicle.

 

The rubber bushings, if worn enough, will be sloppy. As in you can see gaps where they should fit tight.

 

just for info.someone else here had the floor "thump" and found a broken stabilizer bar link....his was drivers side.....

 

What is the link that allows you to straighten / adjust the steering wheel? Mine is soon to be replaced. The ball joints on it make a hell of a clunk. I have a replacement just need to put it on.

The problem will eventually identify itself if you just keep on driving it for a while. That may be a long while, or a very, very short while, but yeah it will eventually destroy itself to the point that it forces you to stop driving it and fix it. And that usually does not coincide with a good time budget wise unfortunately.

 

99% sure its the radius arm bushing.

Same exact problem. Look for loose bolts in radius arm, if there loose bushing is most likely bad