BIG clunk in front end, left and right.. checked everything....

Ok, so i have checked everything... I have a 99 XJ with rubicon express 4.5" lift kit installed. It was installed with lower control arms backward, i have since turned one of them around thinking that a very loud clunk i heard in the front end was a result of that.

After swapping that one around, i still hear the clunk coming from both sides of the truck.

Is it the control arm? is it a shock mount? is it an engine mount?

it's only when i turn from side to side and the weight of the vehicle shifts from one side to the other. When i'm going 30 i can make small turns to shift the weight and you'll hear it.

Or, if' i'm going slow, i can go up over a bump while turning or something and hear it.

I'm at a loss to what it is.. i've crawled under and tightened EVERYTHING that had a nut on it and still nothing. I just cant figure it out and it seems to be getting louder. I'm temped to strap myself to the undercarriage of my truck and have a friend drive it down the street so i can listen to where it's coming from. Honestly, i'm not fooling, i'm really thinking about doing it.

clunk, clunk clunk clunk is all i ever hear.. arrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

what the hell could it be!

probably

Frank Z said:

Trackbar issues?

Click to expand...

yeah, check TB joints

Bought an XJ for my wife for our 21 wedding anniversary, seller told me about noise in axle before I even opened the doors to look inside. I guessed it needed ball joints and such, so I replaced all four ball joints and ALL the steering components. It still clunked. Looking at the track bar as she wobbled the steering wheel to and fro I saw the mount on the track bar at the axle moving, causing the clunk. I welded the offending member and now its as quiet as a new one-drives like one too.

i installed the same lift six months ago. same problem first thing i found was the quick dissconnect pins for the sway bar were hitting the front springs during suspension travel. the second problem i had was the clamps for the steering linkage were rubbing the steering stabilizer. hope this helps

to check to see if its the trackbar pull tight next to a curb with your wheel touching and start to turn the wheel both ways until you hear it if its the trackbar you'll see the whole mount move or something else pop/clunk. I tightened the s*&t out of my track bar still made the noise and now I'm saving for the HD mount and bar

Hey man, sorry to hear that you are having this problem, but good news, you are not the only one. I have the exact same problem, exactly. I checked everything as well, replaced all my balljoints, u-joints, even thought it might be the unit bearings or the tie rods. The trac bar is the obvious culprit, but that's not it. After taking it to 5 shops, I finally discovered that it is the bushings in the upper control arm mounts, the ones on the axle shafts. When you replaced your CA's, did you press the old stock bushings out of the factory mounts on the axle shaft, or just put the new arms in with the new bushings already installed in them? Alot of time ppl don't think to do this as you get new bushings with your new arms, but not these ones. They are about $80 CAN from the factory (probably cheaper for you in the US), or you can try buying some aftermarket ones. Good luck, hope this works for you!!

krelja said:

to check to see if its the trackbar pull tight next to a curb with your wheel touching and start to turn the wheel both ways until you hear it if its the trackbar you'll see the whole mount move or something else pop/clunk. I tightened the s*&t out of my track bar still made the noise and now I'm saving for the HD mount and bar

Click to expand...

exactly- even with a new trac bar from Advance Discount Auto, the joints STILL moved and made thoes annoying pops.

looking at the HD tracbar myself- (I am running the RE 3.5")





L.R.

here is another thing to look at... see if when your moving the wheels from lock to lock if the tie rod is pulling back towards the axle and contacting the tracbar bracket... that is what is going on with mine... only problem is I have no idea how to resolve it without changing steering AGAIN

when i put my lift on i had the same problem...mine was the tracbar...it was just about a half of a turn to loose...try that on the top right side...

vajeeper

cool... lots of stuff to check out... i'll check all this out when it stops raining here in massachusetts. that'll probably be saturday

What kind of swaybar disco's did you get with them? If they are the kind where you pull the two pins and take out the center section, they'll make all kinds of noise. Especially when doing a slalom maneuver. Trac bar would be the next guess. If you got the super flex arms, make sure you have them greased up really well, I grease mine everytime I go out, until grease is shooting out of them. They'll make all kinds of noise if they aren't greased well.

Good luck.

ditto on the trackbar bushings and ends

Just my personal experience.... I had that same issue. Recently I decided to ditch my swaybar all together, and voila, the popping noise is gone. My guess is it was somehow shifting back and forth, but not positive. Worked for me though!

Had two different kinds of "clunks." One was remedied with new poly bushings on the stabilizer bar. Other was the upper shock mount. Check top of mount inside engine compartment... if there is a clean circular area around the upper gromet where the stud comes through, the gromets may need replacing or nut need tightening. Other than that, just everything everyone else has suggested.

springs & bump stops crashing into each other.

wow.. even more shit to check out..

with regard to my disconnects.. i cant remember the name of them, but yes, they are the kind that disconnect from both top and bottom.

One of my tests was going to be to disconnect them, and go for a ride to see if it still happens. simple and easy test.

anderld47 said:

One was remedied with new poly bushings on the stabilizer bar.

Click to expand...

If you check out all of the trackbar items and still nothing, I would check the your front swaybar bushings. I had a similar problem a while back after I lifted the XJ... The bushings were loose enough that when turning the sway bay (anti) would actually slide back and forth and hit (i'm not sure exactly what it was hitting off of the top of my head). Bottom line, I changed 'em out with new poly bushings and problem solved.

Good luck trouble shooting

Scarface.

if you didn't try the curb thing you will be pissed off when you finally do I know from experience of changing a million things only to have that mount flex even though everything on the track bar was gorilla tight