Clunk noise off road / sometimes on road

I've got a clunk. I first noticed it wheeling trip before last, on pretty mild terrain (Subaru would have been fine). It sounds more substantial than a broken sway link, somewhat like a bad shock absorber. I was climbing a steep and bumpy hill at the time I first heard it. I've got a totally stock front end except my bump stops are 1" poly units instead of the factory 1" foam.
Since that time, I have:
replaced upper ball joints and axle side control arm bushings
replaced all four lower control arm bushings
removed & installed the axle (while I was doing other work)
drilled the track bar for a 1/2" bolt & installed one
torqued & re torqued all the bolts.
The Jeep drives very nicely on road, except for this : if I'm going around a corner + braking and THEN hit a bump, "clunk". It seems to only be when one front corner is pre-loaded and then bump.
Off road - I can be rocking back and forth (shocks are worn) pretty quickly without making a noise, I can go very slowly up or down some good sized features, etc - quietly. Or if I've got my foot off the brake, all sorts of things will cause a clunk noise.
My question is this : am I crazy, or could I really be bottoming out the front end *all the damn time* on dirt roads and sometimes even on pavement? It sounds like something is wrong but I can't find a problem.

OK - got the GF to help - it isn't bottoming out. When I heave as hard on the Jeep as I can it still isn't even close, according to her.

So. I'm down to the two frame side bushings on the UCAs or the exhaust on the frame.
Guess I'm in it for some control arms and maybe a visit to the exhaust shop.

Upper bushings is the same problem i have. Only clunks at slow speeds, more often when turning.

check trans mount too. and the rear DS u joints. And front DS u joints. and the splines on the front DS slip portion.

Control arm bushings of course, if you run sway bars check those too. check front DS U joints too.


also check your caliper bolts for torque~! a loose caliper bolt makes a light clunking before it falls off, its happened to me on 2 different rigs in the last 10 years and that sucks…

tighten steering box and track bar mount at the frame.
key here is to crank on the frame side track bar mounts.
check shock bolts.

exhaust will make a very annoying rattle that sounds terrible. so its probably not exhaust related unless the entire down pipe is about to fall off.
you have a welder , weld up an additional exhaust hanger.

trans Xmember bolts are tight?

no loose TREs?

don't have a socket in the frame rails?

are you running hard joints in the arms?
trackbar bushings at either side.

also one last thing, jeeps clunk and creak off road.

In between the two wheeling trips, I had the whole axle out then back in.
All bushings are OEM rubber except track bar axle side which is Moog poly, frame side UCA bushings are original to the car (140K on them or so) and look funky when I inspected just now.
No sockets in the rails that I know of.
Trans cross member bolts... should be tight, but I should check that. Trans mount & motor mounts have been changed between the two wheeling trips where I heard the same clunk.
Exhaust is all rust-free & fresh. been replaced from manifold to tailpipe. There is a witness mark on the body in one spot but it looks old / no recent contact... I could be wrong though.
Caliper bolts & steering gear bolts will get checked.
Track bar bracket is welded to the body.
Shock bolts are all tight.
TREs... hmm... I'll get the little lady to help me check those over soon

I do get a little movement when I push the front driveshaft at the splined connection. Just a little but it's there. All U-joints are tight.

And yes, I'm fighting an uphill battle trying to silence every last creak and clunk in a '98 XJ. Hell, I'm even fighting the oil leaks - damned fool that I am...

Thought I'd post a conclusion on this in case it's helpful to anyone.
I am not positive what the clunk was when I first heard it. Based on witness marks, though, I *think* it was WJ lower control arms binding on the axle side shock mount when the suspension tried to droop going over uneven terrain.
When I had the axle out, I reassembled with XJ arms and a Solid diff cover. It didn't occur to me that the noise would come from the diff cover but it was.
The Solid cover has a big reinforcing rib that comes out further in front of the diff than the stock cover. At stock ride height, this rib will bang into the track bar when you go over bumps. I only found the noise by the missing paint on the diff cover. I put some white out on it, drove a couple miles, heard the clunk, white out was gone.

Lifted 2.5" & added Prothane bump stops... all is quiet.

If your axle isnt centered, the upper control arms could be hitting the unibody on whatever side the axle is pulled/pushed to when its cycling. This has happened to me with larger OD aftermarket control arms though.