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slow turn = ticking sound

That sounds like a good differentiation of the two noises to me as well. The spiders don't break evenly all the way around, they will make somewhat erratic noise, not the dead even noise a CV will.
 
your welcome;). i have a swap bar endlink click, but thats at full lock and only turning left. maybe you could just test the ball joints really quick. that would be my first step.
 
I finally got another chance to test things. First, over the last week I noticed that the binding/ticking sound only happens when I am turning the wheel. Not just having the wheel turned, but I have to be in the process of turning the wheel.

Second, I lifted the car front, put it in first, and tried to rotate one front wheel with the other front wheel being held steady. It turns only slightly. Not big play, no bad grinding sounds at all. Just for giggles, I spun one wheel and saw that the other wheel also turned freely. No sounds at all. I then canted the wheels almost all the way in one direction, and spun one wheel. Again, the other side also spins freely with no problems and virtually no noise other than the rubber boot. I canted the wheels almost all the other side, with the same result.

I then had my wife turn the wheels while I was listening near the wheel well. I couldn't hear any bad sounds. When it happens, its only when the wheels are on the ground - presumably due to the friction of the wheels on the ground providing resistance to turning.

This might be wishful thinking on my part, but this is not a differential or CV problem due to the almost total lack of grinding, clicking or other bad sounds.

I didn't get a chance to test the ball joint or the tie rod end, but that is for next weekend.

thanks,

Mad Dog
 
CVs have to be loaded to click, they can go all day long with no noise until you do that. This..........

'Not just having the wheel turned, but I have to be in the process of turning the wheel.'

..........says CV to me, you are moving it across the differing ball slot wear while loaded, the diff spider gears are turning regardless of moving the wheel to decreasing or increasing radius. They just turn faster on the back sides against a thrust washer cup and no extra noise comes from that.

If ball joint you can make the noise simply sitting in one spot and turning the steering limit to limit. Car on ground of course.
 
No one is going to pay me to diagnose car problems. : ) Well, I can live with it being a CV joint problem. By now, I have enough confidence to replace one when it gets (really) bad. I really appreciate all the help from everyone in helping me diagnose this.

thanks,

Mad Dog
 
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