Okay Mrs Charlie V helped me out. I turned the wheel to demonstrate the knock and, on cue, it knocked. So I put the misses in the driver seat and asked her to turn the wheel with her tiny arms and no engine assistance. That was a no go. So we started the engine and she turned and turned, but the knock never repeated. I turned it off and sound the wheel back and forth. No knock. I finally gave up and she went inside. I then backed down the driveway and as soon as I turned, it knocked. It is a loud knock. So now I'm looking at the sway bars... Not sure what to look for. It looks right at all mount points. Any suggestions?

 

When you say you have all new ball joints are you talking about the actual ball joints in the steering knuckle, or the tie rod ends? I have a similar knock sound that I'm pretty sure are bad ***** joints in the knuckle. I have Moog upper and lower replacements in the garage waiting for me to stop being lazy and install to see if if fixes the problem. I suppose someday I'll get around to doing that job but I'm not looking forward to it one bit.

 

All of the ball joints are new this year... main (moog), drag link, Panhard, steering. All new and all tight and greased. In fact I just swept about a ton on leaves and acorns and had to move the rover. No thunk until I turned back in the driveway. I'm still trying to figure it out. Ugh

 

Does it only happen when turning 1 direction?

Can you lift the front end off the ground and turn the steering wheel lock to lock and recreate the noise?

 

From memory it only happens when I turn left. I lifted the front off the ground by the radius arms and then by the axle (both times with two jacks) and couldn't get it to knock. Then drove to the store and it knocked.

 

From memory it only happens when I turn left. I lifted the front off the ground by the radius arms and then by the axle (both times with two jacks) and couldn't get it to knock. Then drove to the store and it knocked. I also noticed that my steering wheel is off slightly to the right, meaning the wheel seems turned right a little when I am going straight. Maybe five degrees. I have a TF HD steering rod and I really don't like the way it adjusts because it seems like it would be too easy to get loose, so I am not sure that is related. The truck tracks straight and doesn't wobble driving.

Does any of that spark an idea?

Separate subject I heard a rattling in the back and cracked under the truck, where the exhaust pipe comes down over the back of the axle, it was touching a bolt. So I basically grabbed the tail pipe and pulled back. It moved maybe a quarter of an inch. The next day it was touching the bolt again. I don't know why my truck is messing with me. The exhaust is stock. It makes me think that the radius arm bushings are messed up but it tracks straight and I don't see the axles moving at all. And the bushings look fine when I am looking at them. This is really vexing.