Questions and Answers

Ford F150 Radius Arm Clunking Q. Hi Vincent, I have a 1995 Ford F150 4WD with an automatic transmission and 136,000 miles on it. Recently I replaced the left front radius arm and the bushing, I replaced it exactly how the manual said to and used the correct type of loctite on the specified parts. But now sometimes when I apply the brakes or turn really sharp there is a loud clunk and you usually can feel it through the floor boards.

When I replaced the arm, I used a brand new one from the Ford dealership. But I used a cheap radius arm bushing from Auto Zone that isn't a Polyurethane bushing. Any solutions would help me. Oh yeah, my truck isn't all stock. It has a 3" body lift on it, with 31x10.50 mud tires.

Thank you,
Andy

A. I'm a bit leery about the bushing you used. I would have used a Ford bushing. When I replace a radius arm, I always get the arm and bushing from Ford.

I would double check my work and see if I left something loose. Also check for play in the bushing area of the radius arm. And it's possible the right radius arm and bushing is also bad.

There was a TSB issued on the front upper and lower ball joints making a clunking sound also. So that is another thing to check. There is an improved ball joint available from Ford to correct this.