CV joint diagnosis

[chirigringo]

96 D1
When accelerating from a stop I get a popping sound which I can also feel through the floor and pedals. It always happens on a hard right turn and sometimes on straight line accelerations from a stop. Also, I can hear a click or knock from the front left just before I come to a dead stop. Just replaced all my wheel bearings, too. Is there a method to diagnose a bad CV in the garage to make sure that is the problem?
-Michael

 

[timmy!!!!!!!]

Have you checked your U-joints?

 

[jeff_wright]

I'd say check u-joints as well. I didn't have a clicking sound but a good amount of vibration when accelerating. It turned out to be a seized u-joint.

 

[Mike_rupp]

Front end noises are hard to diagnose just by listening and then trying to pinpoint what is actually wrong. When you accelerate, the bushings in the panhard rod and radius arms are under a lot of strain to keep everything in place. Check the bushings to see how they feel. I'd tighten them up very tightly and then take it out for a drive to see if anything changes. Sometimes the tie rod ends can clunk when they are loose.

Unfortunately, you'll have to just start checking everything that moves on the front axle and try to rule them out one by one. Check the easy, external things first and go from there.

 

[muskyman]

Front end noises are hard to diagnose just by listening and then trying to pinpoint what is actually wrong. When you accelerate, the bushings in the panhard rod and radius arms are under a lot of strain to keep everything in place. Check the bushings to see how they feel. I'd tighten them up very tightly and then take it out for a drive to see if anything changes. Sometimes the tie rod ends can clunk when they are loose.

Unfortunately, you'll have to just start checking everything that moves on the front axle and try to rule them out one by one. Check the easy, external things first and go from there.

x2

I chased a weird click for a long time and found a brake pad that would click up and down in the caliper as the culpret.

the harder you drive them and more anal you are the more noises you will hear to track down.

 

[chirigringo]

I haven't pulled the driveshafts in a while but on the truck I don't notice any play in the u-joints. I grease them quite frequently. I should mention that while doing the wheel bearings I also removed the spindle to take a look at the CV. There wasn't much oil in there but the CV didn't have any obvious signs of damage.
Just in case it is a CV going bad, is there a risk of a catastrophic failure or will it just get progressively worse and make more noise? Can I keep taking it offroad?

 

[sven]

96 D1
When accelerating from a stop I get a popping sound which I can also feel through the floor and pedals. It always happens on a hard right turn and sometimes on straight line accelerations from a stop.

I would agree that it is your CV's. I had the same sound under the same conditions on my old 95 LWB. It did this for a year. About a week before I sold it, I decided to pull the pass side axle, and sure enough the outer cage was missing small chunks. I replaced it with a used one and no more noise or thump in the floor. Mine was soo bad, it even vibrated the truck under acceleration. That went away too.

 

[taoseno]

I would check ball joints and your drop arm! I had the same sound and now it is gone................

 

[rovertech]

96 D1
When accelerating from a stop I get a popping sound which I can also feel through the floor and pedals. It always happens on a hard right turn and sometimes on straight line accelerations from a stop. Also, I can hear a click or knock from the front left just before I come to a dead stop. Just replaced all my wheel bearings, too. Is there a method to diagnose a bad CV in the garage to make sure that is the problem?
-Michael

Worn panhard rod bushings can cause this symptom as well. There is some great advice already given here. Get some help and extra hands to start checking/listening and try to isolate the area where the noise is occurring.
It is impossible for anyone to say anything definitively without hearing it.

 

[chirigringo]

I have had vibration while accelerating for quite some time but always assumed it was due to my lift causing misalignments.
My panhard bushings are about two years old but I'll take a look at them to see if they have worn out prematurely.
All the radius arm nuts seem tight. As tight as I can get them anyway. Might be time to get all those bushings replaced anyway.
I guess I'll keep eliminating suspects one at a time till I find the cause.
As far as replacemnt CVs go, are the $80-$100 units any good or do I need to look for something better?

 

[Cleand]

Did you ever find out what the issue was? I am in the same boat with my Disco.

 

[chirigringo]

No, I still have the noises and knocks but they have not worsened. I've pulled both propshafts and the u-joints are smooth and quite. Had a shop give me an opinion on the radius arm bushings- they didn't need replacement. My Disco has so many other issues to address right now that I've just decided to live with the occasional noise until the cause makes itself more apparent. Good luck tracking down your noise and post up if you solve the problem.
-Michael

 

[Pad]

One method I've used to check CV's is full turn wheel,
light gas and light break at same time.
As the vehicle moves forward you will here the bearings
in cv click if they have play in them. Turn wheel full turn
other side and continue.
You may need a second ear outside truck to listen at the
wheels.
Best of luck,
Pad

 

[chirigringo]

Thanks for the tip Pad. I'll give it a try when the outside temp gets above 0 again.