05 ford explorer - knock/clunk noise when stopping

[Schugg]

anyone know what can cause this? i dont see it as a big deal, but im deployed and cant look at it. my wife just had our tires replaced and they told her the tie rods need replaced and i told her they are probably full of shit like most auto places, and now she is bugging me about somethings wrong. ive heard bad tie rods can make a clunk noise when stopping but i always looked at it as its a noise, it still works fine. is this more than likely the case? or should it be something to get checked? i told her it was probably the brakes, but i dont know any advice?

[AnthonyF]

Check the caliper bolts. One could have fallen out and the caliper is slipping off. Also, check your wheels lugs. ONCE i forgot on wheel on my stang and when I hit the brakes it would clank.

-Ant.

[Schugg]

i told her to check the lugs they were good, not sure if she could figure out the caliper bolts though, haha. it was doing it before the tires were changed so i would think they would have seen that. but ill have her find out, just incase

[Kaiser]

You should have her take it back to where she got the tires done and have them look over it. Having a professional LOOK at it and examine the problem is always better than guessing until you might happen to hit the right one. Also, if they're telling you that your Tie rod ENDS are bad, it could be what's causing the clunk because there's nothing holding the wheel in control as weight shifts. Have also seen a loose upper control arm cause this, but I don't see how the tire place would have missed that. If I had to take a WILD guess, I'd guess it's your Tie rod ends. With how many of them I see bad in a single day, it wouldn't surprise me.

Oh, and if the Tie-rod/tie-rod ends are bad, your alignment won't stick (If you even had one) and your tires will wear significantly faster. Best of all you won't get a mileage warranty since you knew of the issue when the tires were installed. Might wanna have that looked at.

[Schugg]

i talked to a friend who is going to look at it at his shop and he isnt going to make any money off it so ill know if he recommends something i can live with doing it without seeing it. i just dont like dealing with the "professionals" cause most of the time just cause they work there and recommend something doesnt mean they know what they are talking about or just that there not just trying to get some extra money