I have suddenly developed a popping noise in the front end when I hit bumps, dips or uneven roads. I am not completely sure what the problem is. I refuse to take it to a mechanic since I can do the majority of the work myself. I want to believe it may be my ball joints. But I'm not certain. I also have a severely worn tire in the inside of the right front. Another thing, I also have a vibration when I get up around 50 or so. Are all of these problems related? What could the problem be?

 

The clinking and tire wear lead me to believe it's ball joints, but it's hard to say without actually experiencing it. Jack up the front end and see if the tire has any play to it.

 

I had the same thing a few weeks ago. It was a broken sway-bar link for me. Your description sounds just like what happened to me. If its one of the front sway-bar links it's cheap fix!

 

I say ball joints and maybe a tie rod. Like naughton said, jack it up and use a bar to try and pry the wheel off the ground, if it moves that means your ball joints are bad. As for the vibrating and worn tire, it sounds like you need an alignment.

 

Ball joints\tie rod\wheel bearings....

Jack it up, wiggle the wheel, if it wiggles tip to bottom its most likely wheel bearings, left to right tie rod or wheel bearings. If it does it top to bottom and left to right probably wheel bearings.

 

I'm a ruhtard and cant remember the name of this....sway bar link I think? ....make sure the top of it didnt pop out....thatss what happened to me. only heard a *pop* when I hit a pothole or speedbump.

 

^PS not my truck, just an image off Google that I edited in paint