Nissan Titan Clank Noise Front End

T

TWG1572

Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
579
Location
Madison, Wisconsin
I have a clanking sound coming from the drivers side front end of my ‘17 Nissan Titan. It typically happens when I‘m turning, and 95% of the time it only clanks once. The truck has 80k miles. I’ve attached a video of me backing out of the garage with it happening.

This started after my lower control arm was replaced. A reputable local shop worked on it. I was getting noise and odd steering wheel feel when driving off road in farm fields. So nothing too extreme but still rough. They diagnosed it as a bad ball joint and replaced the lower control arm. That has seemed to address the initial issues I took it in for, but this noise appeared after that.

I brought it back, and they can’t find anything wrong. Everything is tight up front. They said they did evaluate the wheel bearings. They were wondering if it might be brake pads clanking but didn’t pull them apart.

I thought I’d post this in case anyone has any ideas. The noise almost sounds like some of the videos I’ve watched that had bad sway bar bushings, but that’s a guess at best. If you have any thoughts or suggestions on what I should check, Id appreciate it!

YouTube Link
 
Does the sound when you’re backing up coincide with a dip, as you transition from the garage floor to the driveway? Could possibly be a worn body mount bushing.
 
I am confused how the shop couldnt reproduce what you easily reproduced on youtube. You say the issue started after their work?

Anyway, this is impossible to diagnose properly, get it on jack stands, use a pry bar and start prying. You can post more photos here but again this will be a wild speculative witchhunt over an internet forum.
 
I'm intrigued as well and OP did a fantastic job capturing on video but I agree it's simply not enough data to draw any conclusions from afar.

Please follow up!!
 
That does not sound at all like a anti sway bar bushing to me.

Locking hub? Anything we say is a guess but something in the drive line is my guess...
 
Thanks everyone for your thoughts! I know it was not much to go on, and I certainly wasn't expecting a thorough diagnosis from the short video. I was hoping for some ideas on things to consider/directions to head and I think you guys have provided that.

It is a 4x4, no locking hubs. Or at least what I think of when I think locking hubs - and that is 80's era trucks where I had to get out and spin the lock on the wheel. I can see where something in the driveline making that noise would be a good path to investigate.

And correct, it was not making this noise when I took it in the first time. Which is why I took it back to the shop a 2nd time. I figured it could be coincidence, or something with the R&R on the lower control arm.

And here's a new twist --- since they looked at it the 2nd time, it's not made the noise again. I've been driving it for about a week and have a couple hundred miles on it. Which leads to a few options - either it fixed itself / the noise becoming much more intermittent, or they found something and fixed it and just didn't tell me. That last option doesn't make a ton of sense, but maybe?

I have an appointment at the Nissan dealer to do a transmission fluid change next week. It is not a DIY procedure from what I can tell. They typically do a pretty thorough all-around inspection, so maybe something will come of that.
 
Ever since I've had the Camaro (1989) it's always had a jingling noise from the front end when going over bumps - stabilizer bar end links.

Even though I have a new poly bushing kit (factory? is poly), I never bothered an attempt to fix it.
 
They used a few of these for oilfield trucks but generally went back to Toyota- the front ends don't hold out as well. Might be broken shock mounts.
 
Update...4 months later. Boy does time fly! And in good news, the issue appears to have been resolved. Although not without some persistence.

Back in July, I'd mentioned the truck was going into Nissan in a couple weeks. They evaluated it, replaced the sway bar links, the truck drove much better but the clanking remained. At this point, the truck had been to 2 different places a total of 3 times for the noise and no one seemed to be any closer to the cause. I kind of just pushed it to the back burner and kept driving it.

Fast forward to a HS football game this fall, and I was telling a friend about the saga of the clank noise. He has a friend who owns a small 1 person repair shop about 30 minutes away. He connected me with his friend, I took the truck in and crossed my fingers. Got a call that afternoon from the guy- "Yup, I know what it is.. The lower control arm the first shop installed is out of spec. Probably a bad part"

So I made an appointment with the first shop that installed the part, they replaced it under warranty and the truck is quiet. Finally!
 
TWG1572 said:
Update...4 months later. Boy does time fly! And in good news, the issue appears to have been resolved. Although not without some persistence.

Back in July, I'd mentioned the truck was going into Nissan in a couple weeks. They evaluated it, replaced the sway bar links, the truck drove much better but the clanking remained. At this point, the truck had been to 2 different places a total of 3 times for the noise and no one seemed to be any closer to the cause. I kind of just pushed it to the back burner and kept driving it.

Fast forward to a HS football game this fall, and I was telling a friend about the saga of the clank noise. He has a friend who owns a small 1 person repair shop about 30 minutes away. He connected me with his friend, I took the truck in and crossed my fingers. Got a call that afternoon from the guy- "Yup, I know what it is.. The lower control arm the first shop installed is out of spec. Probably a bad part"

So I made an appointment with the first shop that installed the part, they replaced it under warranty and the truck is quiet. Finally!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the follow up with the fix! Anytime work is performed and then new issues arise, always be suspect of that work/parts, even if they were all new, OEM parts. Had I seen this when you originally posted it, I may well have made that suggestion, but I wasn't registered then, I don't believe. Lol

Glad you figured it out! Also good on them for replacing it under warranty and not trying to weasel out of it. Sounds like a decent shop to deal with.
 
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