BAD clunk in front end.. need help asap

whats up all . I went wheeln' yesterday about 45 min. away. got back to town turned to go down my street heard a pretty good clunk in the front end. Sounded to me the driver front tire area.. i limped to my house. It clunked every 10 feet or so and makes kind of a grinding noise. ( when i made a tight turn in my driveway it goes so far then like stops then after a little more gass it goes again? I never did anything with the front end and have no knowledge of bearings/ hubs/ ujoints or anything like that. What can i check.. or what should i order? Its my DD any help would be GREAT because i will probably be getting it towed to a garage tomarrow.?

thanks again

keith

Take a look at the axle u-joint just inside of the disk brake rotor. If it's not broken, jack it up and spin the wheel.
I'm thinking u-joint or axle shaft.

DaffyXJ said:

Take a look at the axle u-joint just inside of the disk brake rotor. If it's not broken, jack it up and spin the wheel.
I'm thinking u-joint or axle shaft.

Click to expand...

I agree a clung every 10 feet or so puts it between the tire and differential.

thanks for that. i had the wheel off and looked at the u joint but it looked ok . I'm really not sure thought. I just didnt know if there was something i could try to eliminate some possibilites. my wheel bearing were pretty bad to does that have anything to do with anything? like i said im sorry for the dumb questions but im learning as I go.

jack up the front end and watch the u-joint as you spin the wheel by hand try this with the steering wheel turned in both directions. when to had the wheel off did you try spinning the axle by hand? you should see something bind up before the pop.

ps- while the bearing can pop once it wears out, i'm not sure if it would bind hard enough to stop the vehicle in a turn and then release once the wheels are streightened out. but, if it's in bad shape replace it now before it causes other problems.

also, theres a bar that keeps your axle centered on the vehicle. try tightening the crap out of the bolts on the bracket on the body end of that bar. if loose, it can click as it moves back and forth, and the axle will shift side to side ever so slightly as you drive.