Strange (steering) Sounds

This noise has been plagueing me for awhile....
I have a 1991 cherokee 2 door sport. Aprox. a 3" rancho kit (put on before I bought it). RS 5000 shocks. I added 2" with plastic spring spacers (on top of the rancho spring). It got shackels from rusty's in the back. I run 31x10.50's on the stock rims.

I get a strange knock at about 10 and 2 on the steering wheel. I can duplicate it in the parking lot by rotating the wheel slowly. Steering box feels good. Dosen't seem to more. Steering column and joint also feel good. The only clue I get is the popping "feeling" when I hold my hand inside the tire wheel, on the plastic next to the spring.

I'm just about out of ideas. A few years ago this website cured a funny starter issue I was having, thanks for all the help!

look at where the track bar mounts to the frame,i had almost the same thing on my 92,do you have stock track bar??

I've seen the frame bracket for the track bar get loose,as you turn the wheel back and fourth it will make a deep pop or knock sound as the bracket snaps side to side from the slack of the loose bolts.Hold your hand on the bracket where it meets the frame and have someone turn the wheel back and fourth if thats the problem you can feel it move.This is pretty common.

Sorry Jeeper821, your post wasn't there when I started my reply ,as you can see I agree with you!

I do have the stock track bar...

What you want to check is the mounting of the box. What happens is the clam style sleeves inside the frame start to break away and makes popping noises just as you discribed. A way to see if this is true is you can remove the front bumper to see up in the frame. Turn the wheel to make the noise and you'll be able to see the movement of the parts or atleast hear the noise more clearly.

Fix= SBS steering brace system

mark

Loose track bar bolts at the frame...... THANKS GUYS!!!

I had the same problem, only the box made noises whenever I would turn the wheel, no matter where it was. Rustys Off Road
(http://www.rustysoffroad.com/) sells a steering box brace for about $60 that fixed mine perfectly. It bolts to the unibody, then clamps to the box. Take care of this problem sooner than later, and don't go wheeling with it! I had a friend who had the same problem, ignored it, and ended up ripping his steering box off the unibody!! It set him back a pretty penny, and his XJ has never steered the same. Good luck bro!

Did you try Lukas Power Steering Fluid? My 85 XJ was making a groaning sound whenever I would turn to the left. I lubed everything I could find to no avail. With the Lukas PS Fluid, the problem was fixed within minutes!

mine does the same thing, only it is a bit more "advanced"... it makes a loud ass *pop*, and then darts the direction you are trying to turn. i have not checked the track bar mount, but the track bar itself has like 1/2 inch of free play up and down so i think that is my main issue... i will check the mount bolts today, and see if they are loose too.

thanks guys, i love this site

radardog said:

mine does the same thing, only it is a bit more "advanced"... it makes a loud ass *pop*, and then darts the direction you are trying to turn. i have not checked the track bar mount, but the track bar itself has like 1/2 inch of free play up and down so i think that is my main issue... i will check the mount bolts today, and see if they are loose too.

thanks guys, i love this site

Click to expand...

looks like you ovaled out the hole in the axle mount bracket. i just welded on a washer and that totally fixed the problem. The pop is the force overcoming the friction of the bolt. If it gets loser you will start to get a death wobble and you deffinatly want to avoid that.

i may have, i have not looked at that yet, as the track bar is still on the rig, but i know with certanty that the "rod end" on it is shot to shit, because that is where i was getting all of my free play. and my dad told me about welding a washer on the oter end if it is wallowed out, so i will definatly be looking for that.
thanks

on a side not i am going to grab a track bar from a local u-pull-it... it is on an 89 XJ, and isl ike 1.25 diameter, and appears to have a replaceable rod end. at any rate it is WAY beefier