So I noticed some odd sounds last time I was out wheeling (5/11), but I was unable to isolate what it was or where it was coming from exactly. It was the first time out since doing the head gasket so I was much more focused on temps and no leaks. Anyway, after a quick drive on the highway today it was apparent something wasn't right. I had a rattle at speed and the truck felt like it was wandering. It was breezy out, but this felt like more wander than just that. I got to work and expected to find loose knuckle nuts and found this instead.
Never good when a muddy truck has a bright clean spot. I thought I heard some rubbing when parking it in the driveway, but it normally doesn't rub there. Knuckle nuts were good and so were control arm bushings. I grabbed the sway bar and it moved ... a lot. Checked bushings and found the issue. The pass side mount to the axle has snapped off. I was clean at work and truck is covered in mud, so didn't check if the bolt is sheared off in the axle or not yet.
Did some research and this seems to be an odd spot for this to fail. Some people said they run without the front sway and that would be a last option, but here in PA it's 10 miles of highway minimum for me to go anywhere quickly and 90 mins highway to get to the wheeling spot with winding roads and elevation changes everywhere. The truck is a '97 so it should have the updated mount hardware. Is this a replaceable part or does it need to be welded back onto the axle? Have others that have had the same failure seen it as a repeating issue?
I'm just now getting more comfortable with my truck in terms of wheeling it, so the use is only going to get harder if anything. Just want to fix it once and done if possible.
Never good when a muddy truck has a bright clean spot. I thought I heard some rubbing when parking it in the driveway, but it normally doesn't rub there. Knuckle nuts were good and so were control arm bushings. I grabbed the sway bar and it moved ... a lot. Checked bushings and found the issue. The pass side mount to the axle has snapped off. I was clean at work and truck is covered in mud, so didn't check if the bolt is sheared off in the axle or not yet.
Did some research and this seems to be an odd spot for this to fail. Some people said they run without the front sway and that would be a last option, but here in PA it's 10 miles of highway minimum for me to go anywhere quickly and 90 mins highway to get to the wheeling spot with winding roads and elevation changes everywhere. The truck is a '97 so it should have the updated mount hardware. Is this a replaceable part or does it need to be welded back onto the axle? Have others that have had the same failure seen it as a repeating issue?
I'm just now getting more comfortable with my truck in terms of wheeling it, so the use is only going to get harder if anything. Just want to fix it once and done if possible.