Two years ago I had the standard clunking/popping noise from the front right wheel while making a slow right hand turn, so I had the axle replaced - badly torn boot. With nearly 120K on it at the time, I figure I got my money's worth out if it. I had no noise for a while, then it came back. Over the course of a year I've had the axle replaced a few times (one broke literally in half - talk about bad luck), but the noise persists. I finally decided to do some work myself and replace the rotors/pads and bearings, since I love working on the car, and I discovered the ball joints were shot on both sides. So, I replaced both upper control arms, tie rod ends, and the ball joints on the knuckles. After a front end alignment I hoped for the best, but the noise is still there.

Neither CV boots are ripped, and both look in good shape, so my question is this: is there a good chance that the axle is toast since I had been driving for 12K miles with bad ball joints?

 

Anyone have any ideas? I don't want to buy another axle if something else may be causing the noise.

Thanks.

 

Bent wheel? Bubble in your tire?

 

I've rotated the tires but the sound stays on the right, so I don't think it's either of those. Thanks for the suggestion, though.