clicking noise in the front end.

[reinhard1]

i have a dodge [2001] 1500 4 wheel drive. i have a clicking noise comming from the front end. i have been told that it could be my u joints or a warped brake drum. i am not a mechanic, so i had a friend of mine take of the short axel that operates the 4 wheel drive and those u joints were fine. thanks. good luck.

[Deep]

Sound to me it could be the wheel joints, the ones out by the steering knuckle.

[reinhard1]

thank you. i should also mention that when i make a turn there is no noise, only when i go strait. good luck. would this affect my 4 wheel drive operation?

[IL Res]

Sounds like a bad front hub bearing assembly. My '04 Dodge made that sound right before the hub bearing let go w/ only 75k on it. Jack it up and spin the wheels. If it feels rough or is noisy, it's shot. They're not like the old hubs. You have to buy the whole hub assembly, the bearings are sealed inside it.

[Jeremy airjer W]

U-joints or wheel bearings are good calls

with the front end jacked up you should be able to hold the tire at 12 and 6 and push/pull. If you feel any slop I would suspect a bad wheel bearing.

If you turn the wheel to the full right and spin the right tire you will be able to see the front axle u-joint rotate. It should rotate smoothly. If its sloppy or binds up it is bad. do the same for the other side.

[Macgyver55]

Very common for the front axle u-joints to be bad on the Dodges. So common that its what I thought of before reading the whole post. As Deep said, its usually the ones out by the steering knuckle.

[reinhard1]

thank you very much to all. good luck.

[muddpuppy]

If you have aftermarket chrome rims they could be pealing and the flakes hit the brake caliper... Just a easy fix thought I had that issue once..

[311Hemi]

My guess is wheel bearing....brother just did one on the front end of his 03 Dodge last night. He described a similar sound.

[reinhard1]

hso is great with great people contributing. i like paying in cash and not using a credit card. so i have been saving for car/truck repairs and one is comming up. this clicking noise has been around for 3 months and everything else is great. i will check out what have been suggested and go from there. i have a friend who can help me with most things but if its beyond his control it has to go to a shop. so i realy appreciate all the ideas and will check them all out before i take it to a shop. you have a great avatar-love dogs. good luck.

[bucketmouth64]

I have an explorer awd and had a clicking noise that ended up being in the transfer case. Can't remember the part that was replaced, but I remember the bill was $1500. When they put it up on the hoist the wheels were not turning in unison.