I had a clunking noise coming from the front of my 08 feh fwd when at full left or right turn at slow speeds. Took it in and the dealer replaced the right side axle. Problem solved.

Fyi for anybody. I couldn't find a post with anything similar.

 

What was the total cost on that repair?

 

It was under warranty so I do not know. Parts included the axle and a seal, and it was done in under 7 hours. I would say that probably means around 4 of billable labor.

 

Mine needed to have this done when I sold it. '07 AWD @ 52K. Mine was starting to clunk right around 50K. I made the guy aware of it when I sold it. I was given an estimate from my mechanic of $260.00 to replace whole left axle half shaft assembly. I consider that pretty good wear since I did quite a bit of off road/rock crawling. I ran fairly aggressive Michelin LTX-AT2 tires for about 25K after the Contis decided they did not like holding air.

 

Sounds like you blew out the seal on one of your CV joints and they replaced the affected half shaft. It is pretty common on front wheel drive and AWD drive vehicles but usually as they get higher in mileage.

 

i base the failure on soft metal or sheer point. I know, for example in my Dodge Dakota, the aftermarket units are a more hardened steel. the hardcore dudes replace the IFS(independant front suspension) with a Dana 40 unit out of a bronco. There really is no after market for Escapes so the best you can buy is factory or factory reconditioned. In a front digger biased vehicle the failure is in the front since that is the bias. Dak dudes running IFS also use a beefier less spline alternative axle. But we're talking hybrids here so MPG, not real tough in the outback.