I am the person with the 1999 Ford Ranger that had a clunk in hot weather only. It is now fixed, and I thank you all for all the great ideas you gave me. The problem was the inner tie rods in the rack and pinion steering. I used a Steelman Chassis Ears and found the source of the noise. The noise could be heard with the Chassis Ears, even in cool weather, but could not be heard by the naked ear until the rack heated up. I guess maybe the grease in the inner tie rods thinned after warming up, or the socket got tighter from the heat, or both maybe. Replacing the inner tie rods was mentioned as a fix by one or more of your mechanics, but I had hesitated to replace them because I was afraid I would damage the rack taking the old ones off. The job of replacing them went rather smooth, took me a few hours. This forum is great, and I would like to thank you on behalf of all the people who don't bother to do so after you try and help them.

 

Did it clunk if you turned past a certain point and clunk again when bringing the steering back past that same point? I'm having a "clunk" sound that I can't find but I know it's in the steering or front suspension, thinking this may be a possibility.

 

The clunk that I had was only when going over an uneven road. It would clunk when going over bumps and wavy roads, and also when the truck would lift after stopping.

 

that sounds like the same problem i am having. How can i check to make sure that is my prob?

 

I used a Steelman Chassis Ears. If you do not know what a Chassis Ears is, it is a unit that uses clips that you attach to diffferent parts of the suspension. You then put on head phones, and you can listen from the cab of the truck to the sounds coming from different parts of the suspension. When I attached a couple clips to steering rack, I could tell that was the source of the clunking. It seems like this may be a common problem with Rangers. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

thanks for the input bill