Allpar Forums banner
Cancel

noise from front left wheel area--cv i think...and some gripes...

2106 Views 3 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  NeilG, 
N
2003 Durango 4wd, 4.7, 155,000 miles.

there is a noise in the front left....its worst when backing up slowly, with the wheel cut hard left. Its like a low frequency creak....not a grind...

Ive read alot about the rears going bad, etc....but Im pretty sure Ive isolated it to the front left suspension. The thing is, there is a certain "spot" in the rotation of the steering wheel where it happens, and then its gone. If you happen to be right in that "spot" while backing, the noise is constant, if you cut the wheel one way or the other, it stops.

Even standing still, I got it to do it a bit, even in park....turning the wheel back and forth all the way...it was not as loud, but at that same spot approaching far left, it made the noise. After several trips back and forth with the wheel in park, it stopped making the noise, but of course it returned when backing out.

I crawled under and placed my hand on the joint of the CV, and it moves a bit up and down, not horrible, but more than the right side...the right side flexes a bit, but the left has some movement.

It makes me a little mad. I bought this from Pennsylvania...I am in Maryland. In PA, they inspect vehicles every year...this one was "inspected" last month. The dealer where I bought it is an inspection station. Seems like a conflict of interest to me. There are several small issues that I noticed when I got home that I think should have failed the PA inspection. (My Brother is a professional mechanic in PA, and he is also a state inspector there)

Damn thing is, now I have to get it through Marylands inspection. They only inspect vehicles when they are transferred, but boy do they inspect them. Damn shops are vultures and use it to drum up work. Last one I had done---he cherry picked some lucrative items, and MISSED some crucial things like rusted out brake lines, etc. (didnt matter I did the work myself which just pissed him off- and he gave me a hard time about a belt not being tight enough on the reinspection day...I jacked the thing up in his lot and tightened it on the spot.

I did manage to find a shop who's proclamation is that all he does is inspections, he does NO work, so he assures a fair, unbiased inspection. Thats where Im gonna take it, but I am cringing to see what really needs to be done. That PA window sticker on mine is BS.

I have no recourse. it was bought as is, no warranty, but if I get a long shitlist from the MD inspector I am gonna write a long letter to whatever PA authority governs the vehicle inspection process.

Still, its a nice truck...didnt pay that much and I do all my own work so at the end of the day I think it will work out.
Save Share
Reply Quote
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
N

· New
Joined
·
104 Posts
Discussion Starter · #2 ·
Hah!.....I will answer my own neurotic and wordy post.
I was working on it today and I was spinning it around in a parking lot trying to make the noise happen.
I got to a point where it did reliably and then I stopped and got out of the car.

The front edge of the left front tire was touching the edge of the fender! The damn tire was rubbing! Fender is not visibly bent or moved, but who knows.

The thing is, this is the newest, nicest vehicle Ive purchased in a LONG time. My little nissan minivan was a free hand me down from my sister's friend. My big van cost $500. I was SO nervous about laying out the money (we paid cash) for this one and I was REALLY upset about all the things I thought were wrong with it. Man I was smiling when I saw the tire touching the fender!!!!!!!!!
 
2

· Registered
Joined
·
4 Posts
#3 ·
Heh. I was going to suggest the tires. We had an 01, and 06 and now a 13. The front end is probably mis-adjusted or it has oversized tires on it. You can easily pick the front up a bit by cranking on the torsion bars if it's sitting a bit nose-low.
 
N

· New
Joined
·
104 Posts
Discussion Starter · #4 ·
2Evil4U said:
Heh. I was going to suggest the tires. We had an 01, and 06 and now a 13. The front end is probably mis-adjusted or it has oversized tires on it. You can easily pick the front up a bit by cranking on the torsion bars if it's sitting a bit nose-low.
Click to expand...
Looking under there, I noticed the bumper mount nearest the tire is cracked, so its just out of place a bit...the bumper I mean...its not much, a quarter inch if that...
 
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Allpar Forums
A forum community dedicated to Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, AMC owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Mopar / Stellantis News Repairs, Maintenance, Help Rumors and General Chrysler Discussion Auto News & Rumors Minivans · Pacifica
Top