"Clunk" sound in a 1998 Dodge Dakota

My pickup has made a clunking sound for several years now. It sounds (and feels) like its coming from the front end whenevere I accelerate or brake. Just one clunk each time. The dealer said it was the ball joints, so they repalced them and that didn’t stop the noise. I saw that the shocks were leaking, so I replaced the shocks but that didn’t stop the noise. I though it might be a ‘sticky’ sway-bar bushing, but it has stayed the same since it started. It doesn’t look like the motor mounts are loose. Any other ideas?

“It doesn’t look like the motor mounts are loose”

This is the part that I wonder most about - just b/c unless a mount is completely degraded or has some serious kind of of break in it its not necessarily easy to find a problem there. To really check them you need an assistant and some care - the assistant runs the motor in gear with the parking brake set and foot firmly on the brake, and gives it gas while someone else watches the mounts for breaks or movement. Somebody else might have a smarter way to check these, but casual inspection won’t do it.

I’d say that the other kind of thing to worry about would be joints in the drive shaft.

Thanks! I’ll take a look at both! I’ll let you know.