not the usual cracked frame question.

i repaired my torn frame in the left front. and added a steering brace. which is attached to the rt side which is also partially plated now. i went out last weekend to stretch her legs after the repair. and i kept getting a popping sound. which is felt thru the floor board. after careful inspection i found no other cracks. and all suspension components are tight and appear to be undamaged.
:banghead: my question is "is this somewhat normal after seriously stiffening the ft 'frame' and nothing else or should i be worried?":banghead:

popping noise

Mine pops when i turn to the right, but i found out that its the track bar doing it. I guess the heim joint is worn out, so i need to get a rebuild kit from RE. Have someone turn the whell for you and listen for the sound. Good luck.

It's not normal to here cracking/popping noises ever.

IMO, take off the cross steering brace.

Seeing you checked the suspension and all is well;

Might look for movement inside the frame at the steering box location. Have to have the bumper off to do this though. The noise can transmit up the frame to the follor location you speak of.

Another place that is common to have from hearing noise there is the upper driverside arm mount to the frame. The back upper side of the mount has a few spot welds which fail and make noise. Then it starts to tear. Welding both outside and inside of the mount back to the frame is nessecary with some extra bracing to fix it.

good luck, it can be very frustrating to find this type of thing.

mark
orgs mfg

Check your motor mounts. They may have been damaged when frame was tweeked. We had this problem on our 87.

What are you running for lower control arms? I was getting some very alarming clunks and bangs from a stock '87 MJ. I replaced the driver's side LCA and all's quiet. Now I have similar noises in the '88 MJ, which has Trailmaster drop brackets. Those are coming out. Since a friend had one rip completely off the frame on a trail ride, I don't want any part of them.

i would say trackbar is making the popping sound. either the axle mount is not tight enough or the ball joint on the frame mount is shot or it just might be dry and needs to be lubed.

One thing to check is the track bar mount bolts. I had to tighten mine regularly.......finally welded it to the frame. The inside ones are the ones to check.

Goatman said:

One thing to check is the track bar mount bolts. I had to tighten mine regularly.......finally welded it to the frame. The inside ones are the ones to check.

Click to expand...

Mine and two other XJ's I know of and wheel with regularly have had to do the same thing for the 'frame' trackbar mount. I'd check that and replace your RE heim with a higher quality one.

i take it your swaybar is disconnected while it makes this sound right? I just had mine out today and I have a brace on and welded cracks as well. While crawling some nasty rocks, I got some unpleasant popping coming from that area as well (to go along with all the other creaks and squeaks). I checked the frame there, and it doesn't seem to be cracking anymore.
But, as soon as you reiforce the frame somewhere, it puts stress somewhere else. Keep an eye on that area.