Freightliner Chassis Frontend Clunking Noise

[fzeuner]

I have a 2012 Fleetwood Expedition built on a Freightliner XCM Chassis. With about 5K miles on it I started noticing a clunk clunk sound coming from what sounds like the passanger side. The noise is more prevalent at slow speeds, like when slowing to pull into a rest stop, or driving across the parking areas. I've told Freightliner service about the noise, but everytime they have the unit they tell me they can't recreate it. They tightened the upper bolts holding the shocks in order to get the bracket to squeeze on the bushing tube on the shock thinking it may be moving up and down. I haven't had it jacked up in the front to shake the wheel to see if a wheel bearing is loose myself. There are no bearing oil leaks so I'm figuriing the bearing are set up properly. If they were loose the seal would be getting beat up and a leak would occur. Has anyone experienced this issue, and if so what was the cause. I'd appreciate any help you can provided.

Frank Zeuner

[wolfe10]

Frank,

Check the sway bar end link bushings. If any play/you can see any daylight between bushings and bar or bushings and frame rail, they can rattle.

[fzeuner]

Brett,

Thanks, I'm going to do as you suggest. I'll let you know how I make out.

Frank.

[bpidev]

I had a clunking noise in mine that drove me nuts, I finally found it, it was the battery holder casement, it was not fastened securely and as I would turn, no matter how slowly, it would roll and clunk against the door to that compartment. Simple but hard to find. Hope this helps your problem.

Ron

[rockylarson]

I found the cause of a similar sound to be the jacks rattling inside their brackets. They are hinged at the top and have some lateral play to accommodate uneven ground. Try grabbing the jack pad or cylinder casing and moving it back and forth. I used a small bungee to hold the casing snug against the bracket in travel mode. It stopped the rattle while moving without interfering with use when leveling.

[wolfe10]

Rocky,

Yes, some jacks (RVA rear jacks for example) have rubber or polyurethane bushings that allow small amounts of movement to accommodate uneven ground. Particularly the OE rubber bushings can degrade, causing excessive play and rattle.

[lms1943]

I have Steer Safe Units and they will sometimes make a clunking noise on certain turns.

[five]

I had a similar noise under the passenger side. Long story short, the mating of the chassis and coach was missing some welds and had some broken welds. Two weeks at factory in Decatur, IN, fixed it.

[brianw8602]

Frank, I had a clunking noise on my 2009 Fleetwood Discovery. Complained about it during my annual inspection while being serviced at Freightliner Chattanooga. They could not find it. Next year took the coach to Gaffney for the annual. Went for a test drive with the service tech who was going to do the annual inspection. He immediately diagnosed it as a loose shock. That was it. No clunking noise since then. I know you said the shock brackets had already been tightened, but might be worth another look????

Brian

[FIREUP]

fzeuner,

Did you by any chance figure out your "Clunk" in your front end?

May I ask, did it primarily happen at slow or low speeds and, while applying the brakes to some extent?

If so, I may have a remedy for it.

Let me know.

Scott