Thread: Clicking Coming From R&P Area & Rapid Thumping Sound While Driving

Hey guys,

For some time now I've been experiencing a rapid thumping sound coming from the front end. The faster my speed, the faster the thumping sound. There is also looseness/play in my steering.
I jacked up the front end and looked for play. The hubs are tight and play-free, the outer tie rod ends have no play in them, but when I grab the wheels at 3 and 9, I do feel a little play back and forth. When I rock the tires like that, I hear a clicking sound coming from the R&P (it sounds like).
For good measure, I got my tires rotated and balanced and that had no affect. My first thought was that maybe the inner tie-rod ends needed to be replaced so I called my shop so see what he'd charge for that (since he'd have to align it anyway) and he disagreed that the inner tie rods were the culprit. He said usually inner tie rods won't make a clicking sound like that. He said he thinks it's a connection at the base of the steering column and that a dealership can usually grease/pack the connection in order to solve the problem.

Have any of you heard of this before? I try to avoid stealerships when possible and would like to have a better idea of what's going on before I resort to taking my car there.

Thanks for any input.

If the clicking is there when the car is going straight, it is not the steering column that the mechanic said about. Typically, I would think a clicking noise is going to be a bad CV shaft.

No, the clicking only occurs when the wheels are in the air and I rock the tires back and forth (with hands at 3 and 9 o'clock).

While driving I get a thumping sound that corresponds to the speed of the vehicle.

For what it's worth I did check for play in the axle shaft joints and they are rock solid.