Chasing a clunk that turned out to be my own damn impact gun

I spent a solid 4 hours last Tuesday tearing apart the front end of a 2015 F-150 trying to find this mysterious clunk on every bump. After pulling the struts, checking bushings, and even dropping the sway bar, I finally realized my 1/2 inch impact was rattling loose in the tool tray behind the headlight. Has anyone else ever wasted half a day on something that wasn't even part of the car?

3 comments

3 Comments

shanec618d ago

Took me 45 minutes once chasing a rattle in my 2004 Tacoma that turned out to be a loose floor jack handle bouncing around in the bed. The worst part was I had already convinced myself it was a bad bushing in the rear control arm, so I had the truck up on blocks and everything. Your impact gun story hits close to home though, I've done similar stuff with tools sliding around in the cab. At least with the F-150 you probably didn't have to jack it up, which is more than I can say for myself.

morganmartinez8d ago

Oh man, I feel that pain in my bones honestly. There's nothing worse than tearing stuff apart for an hour only to find out it was something dumb you left lying around. At least we both learned the hard way to check the easy stuff first before we start pulling suspension parts off for no reason.

olivia_white938d ago

Four hours is a bit much, man. You could have just driven around the block a few times and narrowed it down before tearing the bumper off. I get being thorough, but there's a fine line between being careful and just spinning your wheels. Most of these noises are just loose change or a bracket that wiggles loose over time. At some point you have to step back and ask if you're really fixing a problem or just fighting with the truck. Sometimes the rattle wins and you just turn the radio up louder.