Another Car Question

[bassman186]

On my 1994 s10, Over the past few months I have noticed a popping noise when I take a corner or go over a bump in the road. I only notice it when I take Left turns. Is it the diferential? Or the Ball Joints? Or something else? Any and All help would be great

~Matt Jung

[Macgyver55]

I'm thinking its possibly worn (or broken) torsion bar mounts. Its fairly common on the S10 trucks. Does it feel like the clunk is kinda right under your seat when it happens?

[Dan Thiem]

I'll second that Mac, torsion bar insulators or mounts. GM # 15958511 they sell for about 21 bucks each. A little secret is to grind off a little bit of the stud to make it shorter, makes it easier to get in. Of coarse you'll have to run a new nut down on it to clean up the threads.

[bassman186]

It doesn't feel like its directly below the seats but more toward the front wheels. I'll check into the Torsion bars.

~Matt Jung

[Fisher Dave]

The s10 models are notorious for ball joints.. take a look at them too.

A broken sway bar link will make a heck of a lot of popping noise.. especially while cornering and hitting bumps... I dont know why, but I think every vehicle I have owned has broken one lately.. and yes, they make some scary noises.

Cant outrule cv joints either.. under close inspection, whatever your problem is should be pretty obvious.. sometimes the ball joints wont be that obvious, but never overlook them.. Keep an eye out for uneven tread wear.

The mid 90's S10.. does that one have struts in the front? If so, they can be crude noise makers also.

[Dan Thiem]

Ah yes Dave, those ball joints are a very common problem. Oh the noise they make taking those things out. Man that's loud.

I think you can tell if they have ever been replaced by seeing if they are riveted or bolted. They come from the factory with rivets.

[BIG DS]

Very possibly the ball joints. The way to check them is jack up the vehicle so the tire is a couple of inches off the ground and then pry up on the bottom of the tire with a big pry bar. You will need someone to watch the ball joint. If it moves it is bad. You can not just wiggle the tire as the torsion bar will keep pressure on the joint. The CV shaft should only make noise when there is power to the front end. Sway bar links can make the same type of noise if they are broken and rubbing on the lower control arm. Ball joints are the most common followed by the torsion bars breaking. If the torsion bar is broken, it should lean a bit to that side.

[bassman186]

I'm still trying to figure out this problem, but I did find another problem. One of my U joints is busted. How much would this cost to get fixed if I took it somewhere?

Also we checked the Ball Joints its not them.

~Matt Jung

[Jeremy airjer W]

Hey Big, make sure you notate that the vehicle needs to be jacked up with the jack uder the control arm. This will take the load off the ball joint. You then can place a prybar under the wheel and pull up. A worn balljoint will not show up if you jack the vehicle up by the frame!

[Fisher Dave]

Replacing a U joint isnt all that difficult.. pull the shaft off.. if the old U joint is held in by retaining clips(inner or outer on caps) pull the clips.. if there are no clips it is the origional.. they will be cased in plastic and you will have to put a torch to it and bake the plastic out.

Make sure you put some marks so the drive shaft is aligned the same after you replace the ujoint.

The best way I know of is to put the drive shaft on a sturdy surface, get 2 hammers.. one ball peen, and the other doesnt matter as long as it has a some weight. Put the peen hammer against the end cap of the u joint and tap it out.. when its far enough to get the caps off.. pull them off... repeat until the entire U joint is out.

Reverse the process to put them back in.. be very careful tapping them in and be sure not to lose any of the needle bearings in the caps.. you are best to tap them in with the ujoint in place so they cant come out.. and try to center them the best as possible.. be sure to get all clips on and grease them.

If this is a CV type U joint they are a bit more of a pain.. there is a funky ball and cup type joint that likes to fight you the whole way.

With the drive shaft out, it usually takes about 10-15 minutes to change a U-joint.. a few minutes longer if you need to cook out the old plastic.

I hope I did an ok job of explaining.

[bassman186]

Yeah these are CV type U joints. Anyone got any help for replacing these?

~Matt Jung

[Fisher Dave]

Is this on the front drive shaft, or the front drive axle? (assuming you have front differential).

I stated how to replace the ones on the drive shaft above.. its just a little more labor intense. If this is a cv(knuckle) joint where the front drive shaft connects to your hub.. get a manual. If it is a cv joint on front drive axles(similar to what is on front wheel drive cars), its easiest to replace the entire drive axle.

I dont know what that truck has for a front end.. I dont remember.

[BIG DS]

It should be a independant suspension with a differential on the left side of the vehicle. To replace the cv shaft, you will need to take apart the ball joints on that side, and pop the tie rod end off of the steering knuckle. The entire steering knuckle has to come out of the way to get the cv shafts out. It wouldn't hurt to consider putting in the ball joints at this time as long as you will have it pulled apart to that point anyway.

[bassman186]

Here's where I'm at with the truck. I have decided to just replace the entire driveshaft on my truck. I need the section from the tailshaft to the differential. Does anyone know of a place that deals in these used and repaired parts near the chaska area?

~Matt Jung

[huntingislife]

It might not be that easy to find one around that area. But you should be able to find one easily on car-part.com. They have an easy lookup tool and you might even locate one nearby. Good Luck

[bassman186]

Alright I'll give that a try.

~Matt Jung

[bassman186]

Alright I got the CV U joint fixed today! now all I have to do is get the popping noise fixed.

~Matt Jung

[katofishingguy]

I found a great place Viking Auto Salvage They have a web site www.vikingautosalvage.com located near northfield mn good luck.