every time I initially hit the brakes after switching from forward to reverse or vice verse, I get a big SNAP! I know I cant be the only one this has happened to. My truck is lifted and I have checked the control arm mounts, and re torqued every thing I could think of under the truck, and found no obvious cracks. any help is appreciated, thanks

 

sorry u mean ur moving forward...u hit the brakes...then put her in reverse...when does the snap occur? whenu take off ?or when u hit the brakes?

 

yeah, it happens when I go forward and hit the brakes, and when I go in reverse and hit the brakes it snaps also, but it only happens the first time I hit the brakes in either direction.

 

might be the brake adjusters? Mine did it the first time I replaced my brakes. I have disc brakes all the way around, but the parking brake still adjusts, I believe. If I'm wrong, I am sure someone will correct me shortly

 

where does the snapping feel like its coming from? u dont put it in reverse while ur still moving forward and then tap the brakes do u?

 

no, I come to a complete stop. switch gear directions, move in that direction for a few feet then hit the brakes, and it sounds like tank abbot hit the front axle housing with a sledge hammer at a full swing. definitely coming from the front half of the truck

 

..u said it only does it once...so when u come to a light after that it won't do it?...got a 4x4? how's ur front driveshaft U-joint?...i suggest u jack up the front end and remove the wheels and have a look since its coming from the front....

 

thats correct, if i travel in the same direction I can stop all day long and never hear the noise, only when switching directions it makes the noise on the first stop. I've jacked it up and tried to move the front axle assy. but there isnt enough weight to shift the front end hard enough to make the noise like there is when your driving and stopping the whole rig. yes its 4x4 and the drive line and u joint are in great shape

 

My truck is lifted and does the exact same thing. Just when I back out of the driveway and hit the brakes the first time. One thing I noticed was that my rear U-bolts needed re-torqued. This seemed to help but it still happens ever now and again. Not sure what is causing it.

 

I've had wheels with a crack between the lugs do this.

 

how much lift do you have , it may be that u need to lengthen your drive shafts

 

Loose studs in the front wheel hubs would do this. Have you changed front wheel hubs recently?
You have to really torque them down a couple times to get the spline-like edges of the studs to seat into the thing. They should be bottomed out against it.

 

My truck was doing the exact same thing (3" spacer lift btw). I found that my control arm bushings were shot. You might not be able to see how bad they are without removing the control arms and looking at them. One other thing to check is the "excentric" (I hope thats the right word?) bolts on the axle end of the control arms. I've seen some guys tighten them while the "lobe" wasn't properly seated in the guides on the axle and it would make a noise. Another question for you: Does you truck have a wander while driving down the road? My truck had the noise you described and a pretty bad "drift", but it was only every once in a while. My bushings in my arms were so shot they would cause the truck to almost dart off in another direction if you hit just the right bump in the road. Just throwing out my experience. HTH

MIke

 

thanks for all the comments and or questions/ suggestions.
I'm gonna lean toward checking the control arm bushings, this weekend. cuz I've had the wheels off/ no cracks/ no new studs/ only a 2 or 3 inch lift, no drive line bind/ steers straight, and every thing mentioned is tight