Clunk while steering

Hi, I'm trying to diagnose a small clunk while steering that appeared recently on my XJ.

It only happens while steering into a turn, and does not happen every time. If at a standstill, I can kind of get it to clunk right at a certain position of the steering wheel.

I've been trying to listen where it is coming from, and it seems maybe to be coming from the steering box area. Would something like this be indicitive of the steering box going out? I don't *think* it's the steering shaft, it sounds just a bit lower than that.

I also recently fought a battle against some pretty serious death wobble, and to fix that I replaced upper and lower ball joints both sides, front axle shaft U joints, new tie rod, new drag link, new steering stabilizer, new track bar, and also put new bolts on the track bar bracket. This clunk appeared a little over a month after replacing all of that. Trying to locate the sound, it almost sounded like perhaps the track bar bracket might be at fault, but that still seems tight and ok.

I'm mainly hoping to get a response as to whether this sort of thing is a symptom of a steering box going out (or perhaps my hearing's bad and it's the steering shaft), but figured I'd throw the other info in here too in case it's relevant.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Frame side track bar bracket. Torque it down as a start.
I went through this a couple of months back and that fixed my clunking steering.
My $.02

Check the position of your control arm bushings. If they have gone south they will slip back and forth...and pop when they do it.

Im gonna guess track bar bracket as well, mainly because you have had it apart. I've also seen loose gearbox and bumper hardware do this.

And to answer your question, your steering would have to be pretty bad if your steering box is clunking. So it's not likely the cause

x2 on the trackbar. look closely at the axle bracket. over time the bolts can get loose and "egg" the hole a little, allowing the bolt to "clunk" as the weight load on the track bar transfers from side to side. even a 1/16" can transmit into pretty big sound.
with all those new parts in the front it's more likely that it is an old part, or a new part mounted to an old one.

Thanks for ruling out the steering box. Since that was ruled out, I decided to get underneath the thing tonight with wrenches, and sure enough, the frame side track bar bracket bolts weren't quite tight (rear bolt was not tight at all). I tightened the two bolts and nuts down as tight as I could get them.

For good measure, I cranked on the axle side track bar bolt and made that a little tighter. I had tightened it to 55 ft/lbs when I installed it.

Took it for a spin, no more noises.

When I put everything in, I tightened everything to torque spec (as listed in an old Chilton manual I found). I used new bolts for the track bar bracket (ended up reusing the nuts in the wheelwell due to crappy hardware store stocking issues). Since the bolts then started coming loose, how do I prevent them from coming loose again? Sorry if it's a stupid question, I'm no mechanic.

good ol Loctite

ALso , you should really check them for torque after any serious wheeling trips, I mean all check all suspension and steering and anything else that can come loose. And For any mild wheeling trips, check it every 2-3 trips.

and of cours, Loctite.