Loud Popping sound in front end

[Jackhill442]

Hey, I am a new member. I have a 96 XJ with 180,000 miles. 1 in. spacers in front. When I make hard turns, the front end makes a violent popping sound that I can feel in the floorboard. It does it once after each turn in the different direction. I have replaced the track bar and tightened the mounting bracket bolts pretty good, but not as hard as I possibly could. It is about to piss me off. Any ideas? Help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[87cheif]

I get that exact same popping noise too!!!

 

[Matthew Currie]

Checked your axle universal joints? Jack up each wheel, rotate wheel and turn steering. Joint should not rattle, pop or bind. You can often just reach down and wiggle the joint and detect looseness, but sometimes they will get very stiff without showing any sign of looseness.

 

[logdog]

Ditto on the u joints, also check the bolts on the power steering box. Mine loosen on a regular basis and makes a funny popping when they do.

 

[Jackhill442]

Thanks a lot guys for the quick replies. This forum is awesome! I will go inspect and tighten these things and see how it goes. Thanks,
Jack

 

[87cheif]

i'll check on that also, thanks for the info

 

[Jackhill442]

Thanks everyone. I finally took a torque wrench and torqued each of the 4 big bolts on the track bar bracket and torqued them to like 100 pounds, and the popping is gone. I was just suprised the damn thing had to be so tight. I appreciate the help. Jack