Rk Clunking In The Front End

I've done a search and have read that all heims make noise but this is so bad i can feal it in the floor board, even going down my gravel drive theres a constant clunk in the front It's a 6.5" RK kit just installed it today and i just can't believe this is norman,please tell me this isnt normal.

Sounds like a loose bolt. When you tightened everything was it on the ground? I left all of mine loose then drove it about 10 feet, rocked it then tightened it up.

-b

The First Time I Drove It It Sounded Like The Front End Was About To Fall Out So I Only Drove It About A Hundred Yards. I Brougth It Back Tightend Every Bolt On The Control Arms Now Its Not As Bad But Still To Bad To Be Normal.i Hope

Check all the jam nuts. They are noisy though.

LETNER said:

I've done a search and have read that all heims make noise but this is so bad i can feal it in the floor board, even going down my gravel drive theres a constant clunk in the front It's a 6.5" RK kit just installed it today and i just can't believe this is norman,please tell me this isnt normal.

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I installed mine over the past two weekends, same front kit as yours. I haven't driven it far or fast at all but, the front seems quiet to me. Could it possible be the sway bar diconnects? I don't have mine on yet but I think they are going to make some noise.

Check tracbar too.

LETNER said:

The First Time I Drove It It Sounded Like The Front End Was About To Fall Out So I Only Drove It About A Hundred Yards. I Brougth It Back Tightend Every Bolt On The Control Arms Now Its Not As Bad But Still To Bad To Be Normal.i Hope

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Holy capitalize every single word for no reason Batman!

I hear some noise compaired to stock but what Im hearing is normal for long arm kits.



I think you have a loose bolt or something your over looking

Try climbing underneath, grab a hold of a control arm and pull/push to see if there is play in the joint. Do this to all of the control arms and track bar. Even if the bolts are tight there can be play between the joint and bracket. sometimes adding a washer to shim a loose fit is required. Also using bolts with a diameter to small will allow the joint to move enough to clunk even when torqued down.

There are a few things to check

First did you grease the joints. Without greasing the joints your going to hear a lot of noise. Also if you grab the lca can you grab it very loosly and move the arm back and forth. Meaning that the joints are very loose and able to move without much effort. If you said yes to all of that then your on the right track. If you said no then do this.

Take the arms back out and disassemble the joints completely. Pack the joints with lots of grease and then assemble the joints again. Those two plates on the sides of the joints you want to tighten them all the way at first so you seat everything properly but then back them out enough so that you can grab the ball in the middle and move it around with you fingers with ease. Just make sure its not so loose that it can come apart. You will get a lot of noise if those balls in the middle of the joints can't move.

Now check your jam nuts. The way we like to do them at the shop is we put the arm in a vise and grab the big (i believe its 1-1/8 can't quite remember off the top of my head) and tighten the jam nuts while they are in the vise. Doing this provides two things. One you can make sure that both your joints are inline with each other and you can also make sure that your arms are at the EXACT same length. Also with the arm in the vise you can put your other hand on the joint and tighten that jam nut very very tight.

Then put the arms back into the truck and make sure that those bolts are pretty tight. don't want those moving around on you.

then also check your track bar, drag link, and tie rod as well. Those could of come undone. By doing all of this you shouldn't have really ANY noise coming from the front of your truck. After doing all of this with my long arms you have no joint movement at all, all you hear now is the hummmm of my tires.

If you need anymore help, drop me a pm and ill be more than happy to give you more assistance.

Matt

Matt's advice is very good from the expericence I have had with the RK stuff. When/if you take the joints apart be sure to lock tight the retainers that secure the ball inside the case. (Hopefully you have the joints with the thread in retainers, because the older ones just flat out suck.) my $.02 -steve