Odd sensation on acceleration from full stop

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jyi786

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Vehicle: 2012 Yukon Denali XL. Awesome truck, about to hit 100K, no issues to speak of, except this.

When accelerating from a full stop, I get a very odd sensation. It feels like something on the driver's side front suspension/wheel "lags" behind the rest of the truck. Kind of like a thump, but not exactly a thump. It feels like when I hit the throttle, it kind of delays behind the rest of the truck before it starts moving, whereas the entire truck otherwise is already moving. It's definitely not the brakes, because I did a full brake job recently, and this precluded that job.

Definitely related is the fact when going over a bump with the front wheels cocked to the left, something underneath the truck (I believe front driver's side) makes an extremely loud "clank".

I believe it's suspension related, but have no idea where to start looking. Tie rods? Sway bar links? Strut? I'd rather not start throwing money at it until I have at least an idea.
 

Doubeleive

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you might get lucky and have it be something less complicated, check your motor mounts, sway bar bushings & end links, upper & lower control arms. you can check the motor mounts by raising the hood so you can see the engine from the drivers seat, put your foot on the brake, put it in gear and while holding the brake pedal firm give it some gas and observe the engine to see if it jumps or if it just slowly moves a bit, then do the same in reverse gear, if the engine just slaps from side to side then you probably have a bad motor mount/s
 
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jyi786

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Bolt-on parts in your driveway. I think it was @Doubeleive recently replaced his or at least contributed part numbers in another thread. IIRC, there are two and one is only available from the aftermarket.

Thanks for that. I tried doing a search and wasn't able to come up with anything. I did find a bunch of people having a very similar issue.
https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/07-suburban-front-end-noise.1375/

Paging @Doubeleive. I'd appreciate any suggestions!
 

Doubeleive

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you need to check what I mentioned above as well as the wheel hubs, struts and slip yoke, the front differential mounts are a last resort if everything else is good, there may be a way to get it up on a lift and stick a pry bar up in there and see if it has any abnormal play though.I just went ahead and had them done after checking everything else
 
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jyi786

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you might get lucky and have it be something less complicated, check your motor mounts, sway bar bushings & end links, upper & lower control arms. you can check the motor mounts by raising the hood so you can see the engine from the drivers seat, put your foot on the brake, put it in gear and while holding the brake pedal firm give it some gas and observe the engine to see if it jumps or if it just slowly moves a bit, then do the same in reverse gear, if the engine just slaps from side to side then you probably have a bad motor mount/s

you need to check what I mentioned above as well as the wheel hubs, struts and slip yoke, the front differential mounts are a last resort if everything else is good, there may be a way to get it up on a lift and stick a pry bar up in there and see if it has any abnormal play though.I just went ahead and had them done after checking everything else

The thread didn't update before I replied. :D

I did already try the motor mount check. The engine barely moves at all (or very slowly/just a tiny bit which looks normal) when I tested for it, so I thought that wasn't it.
 

Doubeleive

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The thread didn't update before I replied. :D

I did already try the motor mount check. The engine barely moves at all (or very slowly/just a tiny bit which looks normal) when I tested for it, so I thought that wasn't it.
slow and little movement is normal
 

swathdiver

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Vehicle: 2012 Yukon Denali XL. Awesome truck, about to hit 100K, no issues to speak of, except this.

When accelerating from a full stop, I get a very odd sensation. It feels like something on the driver's side front suspension/wheel "lags" behind the rest of the truck. Kind of like a thump, but not exactly a thump. It feels like when I hit the throttle, it kind of delays behind the rest of the truck before it starts moving, whereas the entire truck otherwise is already moving. It's definitely not the brakes, because I did a full brake job recently, and this precluded that job.

Definitely related is the fact when going over a bump with the front wheels cocked to the left, something underneath the truck (I believe front driver's side) makes an extremely loud "clank".

I believe it's suspension related, but have no idea where to start looking. Tie rods? Sway bar links? Strut? I'd rather not start throwing money at it until I have at least an idea.

Do the simple stuff first. Check the swaybar end links, 4 rubber bushings on each side, 2 up, 2 down on each side.
 
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