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4.5" lifted XJ clunks now...

Justpunchit

Justpunchit

NAXJA Member #1291
Location
Jaffrey, NH
I have a 95 XJ with a rustys 4.5 lift in it.... i didnt get an ilignment yet but in reverse when I cut the wheel it makes a horrible clunk sound seems to be from the front end.. you can feel it through the whole rig. i checked my control arms those are tight, i check the track bar thats tight and good. i checked my tierod end at my pitnam arm and replaced that one. and all the other tierod ends hold grease fine. is it becuase I didnt get that elignment? anyone had this problem. any input would help :) thanks guys
 
Did u check the jam nut on the adj trac bar? Maybe the powersteering box is loose? bad motor mount? Swaybar end links hitting something?
 
well i checked the jam nut and its tight. and if it was the powersteering box wouldnt it move around in foward and reverse... and the tires clear the control arms no problem. hmm motor mount I'll check it tonight and let you guys know. Thanks for the help so far. Keep it coming :) any other thoughts or coments would be a bigggg hellp.
 
brand new shocks i assume? otherwise - id check the bushings

check your trackbar again - 90% of the clunking in my front end was due to my POS RRO trackbar and chitty TRE design...
 
Justpunchit said:
I have a 95 XJ with a rustys 4.5 lift in it.... i didnt get an ilignment yet but in reverse when I cut the wheel it makes a horrible clunk sound seems to be from the front end.. you can feel it through the whole rig. i checked my control arms those are tight, i check the track bar thats tight and good. i checked my tierod end at my pitnam arm and replaced that one. and all the other tierod ends hold grease fine. is it becuase I didnt get that elignment? anyone had this problem. any input would help :) thanks guys
Click to expand...

Lift kit or not sounds like some bad ujoints, or you need to re-adjust the wheel stops so you don't turn to short.
 
Have a buddy turn the steering wheel from side-to-side while you look at all of the steering linkage and joints to see if anything is loose or rubbing on something.
 
only in reverse huh? sounds kind of odd. I guess the suspension would unload in reverse right? but anyway defenitely try the method where someone watches everything while you crank the wheel and or put in reverse. Did you get a heavy duty trackbar mount too? Sometime though the trackbar might feel thight it is still moving in the mount, kind of like what mine is doing right now? Not to hijack but how do you tighten a tierod end that just keeps spinning?



Mike
 
some possibilities:
Coil spring hitting either bumpstop or trackbar mount

steering linkage hitting stabilizer mount

front DS hitting exhaust (2000 or newer)

Bad joint in new trackbar or control arms


You should get the alignment done immediately. Lifting your rig 4.5" has it thrown out quite a bit, even if it doesn't seem like it. If you don't you will wear out your tires.
 
I would also recommend having a buddy move the wheel back and forth to recreate the sound while you watch the linkage. I've tightened and re-tightened my track bar to death and still can't get the frickin' thing to stop clunking. I noticed the slight movement in the drop down bracket by getting a nice coat of mud on everything, then drove it for another 50 miles and checked for shinny spots where things were shifting...and sure enough my track bar mount was moving about 1/8" up and down every time it clunked. It sure is a fun way to "diagnose" problems. :) good luck. Hopefully I helped
 
oh about the tie rod, I had one do that on my half ton dodge just last month, I tried wedgeing it tight with a pickle fork to hold it still while I torqued on it with an impact. That "almost" worked. Still couldn't get it tight enough and finally had to cut the damn thing off and just ended up buying a new one.

If anything you know what not to do :)

-mike.
 
well after a few days of checking... i thought it could of been the tierod end on the pitnam arm so I replaced it. still the noise is there. next was U joints... maybe but they look and feel intact. motor mounts are good... i dont have bumpstops on so it couldnt be those... and what was the info on re adjusting wheel stops.. about not turning enough? also could it be a broken ball joint? if so how could I tell. the camber on the tires looks to be good. and they hold grease fine. i tried the idea of havin someone steer while I watch and I cant see anything at all..I even tried to feel around see if I can find it by following the sound. no good.. thank you for the help so far! -Eric



Mike are those ball joints new by the way?
 
I'm not sure if you were asking about my ball joints or the other mike's but mine are well past their prime and not making any funny noises. The only other thing I might suggest that hasn't been mentioned yet is to make sure your calipers are bolted on tight. I had one of mine making a funny noise only when backing up and turning at the same time and it turned out I had over tightened one of the bolts and stripped it without realizing it and it had wokred it's way completely out! That's a real shock when you check your calipers for play and there's only one bolt holding it on! Either that or it's a Gremlin living in your undercarridge!!!

-mike van horn (friends call me "HORN!")
 
A couple of new ideas...

You said that the CA bolts were tight. But the LCAs have to be really tight - about 133 ft/lbs.

Check your tranny mount and crossmember bolts.
 
Do you have the stock front skid plate? Mine made a loud clunking sound when I did hard turns and it was the adjustment sleeve bolts on the draglink hitting the stock skid plate.
Could be some thing simple like that. Hope it helps.
 
i'm the mike he was talking to. haha but good to know about the other mike and yor ball joints!! I don't think they are new but i really can't say. Maybe when you come pick up your f***ing parts rig i can give you a hand diagnosing the problem!!!!!!!



Mike
 
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