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strange clunk, suspension questions- out of ideas

P

Powderhound

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Missoula, Montana
I've got a '91 cherokee. Straight six, 5 speed. I bought it with the rancho kit on it (which I believe to be a 3" kit It appears to have the new coil springs and an add a leaf in back) I bought it years ago, and put rusty's 2"coil spacers and 2" greasable shackles on it. I'm running 30 x 9.50's for winter, usually run 31x10.50's in the summer.
I've been through it with a wrench and couldn't find anything loose. I just replaced a motor mount, as I thought that was my culprit, but the noise remains. The clunk comes when I hit continuous rough terrain. It's subltle, and seems to come from the drivers side up front. Sounds like somethings literally bouncing up and down. It's not related to hitting the gas or brake, seems to be something else. Any ideas out there?
Are the rancho shocks from the 3" kit compatible with the extra 2" I put on? Any recomondations? The rear also is starting to sag and I'm wondering if I should get a new kit, or just new rear leaf packs. If I do get new rear packs should find a size to still use the shackles, or should I ditch 'em and get all my lift out of the packs? Your knowledge and imput's appreciated!
 
just an idea - i had a clunking on mine also and couldnt figrue it out. someone gave me the idea that it could be the steering stablizer so i bought a new one since i needed one anyway and when i took the old one off and shook it, it mad all sorts of noises. the prob was fixed.. you might want to check that.
 
Powderhound said:
I've got a '91 cherokee. Straight six, 5 speed. I bought it with the rancho kit on it (which I believe to be a 3" kit It appears to have the new coil springs and an add a leaf in back) I bought it years ago, and put rusty's 2"coil spacers and 2" greasable shackles on it. I'm running 30 x 9.50's for winter, usually run 31x10.50's in the summer.
I've been through it with a wrench and couldn't find anything loose. I just replaced a motor mount, as I thought that was my culprit, but the noise remains. The clunk comes when I hit continuous rough terrain. It's subltle, and seems to come from the drivers side up front. Sounds like somethings literally bouncing up and down. It's not related to hitting the gas or brake, seems to be something else. Any ideas out there?
Are the rancho shocks from the 3" kit compatible with the extra 2" I put on? Any recomondations? The rear also is starting to sag and I'm wondering if I should get a new kit, or just new rear leaf packs. If I do get new rear packs should find a size to still use the shackles, or should I ditch 'em and get all my lift out of the packs? Your knowledge and imput's appreciated!
Click to expand...

1. Shock bushings
2. Control arm bushings
3. Ball joints


Just some ideas
 
Years ago when I had a rancho lift the shocks that came with the lift where barely long enough to accomidate the lift. With your added spacer you might be bottoming out the shocks.
 
Powderhound said:
I've got a '91 cherokee. Straight six, 5 speed. I bought it with the rancho kit on it (which I believe to be a 3" kit It appears to have the new coil springs and an add a leaf in back) I bought it years ago, and put rusty's 2"coil spacers and 2" greasable shackles on it. I'm running 30 x 9.50's for winter, usually run 31x10.50's in the summer.
I've been through it with a wrench and couldn't find anything loose. I just replaced a motor mount, as I thought that was my culprit, but the noise remains. The clunk comes when I hit continuous rough terrain. It's subltle, and seems to come from the drivers side up front. Sounds like somethings literally bouncing up and down. It's not related to hitting the gas or brake, seems to be something else. Any ideas out there?
Are the rancho shocks from the 3" kit compatible with the extra 2" I put on? Any recomondations? The rear also is starting to sag and I'm wondering if I should get a new kit, or just new rear leaf packs. If I do get new rear packs should find a size to still use the shackles, or should I ditch 'em and get all my lift out of the packs? Your knowledge and imput's appreciated!
Click to expand...

Shocks bottoming out? If you have 2" more lift than the 3" lift the shocks were designed for, could there be some issues with shock length? Just a thought:)

FUNKYTEE5
 
Does it happen on rough terrain where you are getting some side to side bouncing? You might want to check your headers if you still have the stock ones (or even if you have aftermarket) for a broken weld. I had one pipe come off and there was enough flex that when the engine was moving side to side under heavy torque or side to side bouncing, it would hit where it was supposed to be welded to. It was just like you describe, a subtle bouncing noise on the drivers side.
 
I'm getting that exact same noise, and I just ordered new shocks with bar pin eliminators. I'll let you know if the problem goes away by this Wednesday night.
 
check the track bar TRE / mount

also also unit bearings - mine is going out and i get a clunk while crawling and steering...
 
I just put on a new RE 4.5 lift, and am getting a strainge clunk/crunch on hard hits to the front end. found out that when my front suspension compresses, my driver spring bows outward, and hits the knuckle.
 
I had the same problem. Mine was from the track bar mount bolts coming loose since I still had the stock track bar with 5" of lift. I would check that and the steering box just to make sure it isn't moving at all. If the steering box does move some, which it might, you should seriously look at getting a steering box brace.

Chris
 
how about swaybar bushings? On mine even when I disconnected I had noise coming from the damn swaybar which I always discounted as I figured if it's disconnected and tied it shouldn't make noise. $10 later I was all quiet on the western front :D (till I picked up another rattle from some other spot that I still haven't tracked down)
 
Powderhound said:
I've got a '91 cherokee. Straight six, 5 speed. I bought it with the rancho kit on it (which I believe to be a 3" kit It appears to have the new coil springs and an add a leaf in back) I bought it years ago, and put rusty's 2"coil spacers and 2" greasable shackles on it. I'm running 30 x 9.50's for winter, usually run 31x10.50's in the summer.
I've been through it with a wrench and couldn't find anything loose. I just replaced a motor mount, as I thought that was my culprit, but the noise remains. The clunk comes when I hit continuous rough terrain. It's subltle, and seems to come from the drivers side up front. Sounds like somethings literally bouncing up and down. It's not related to hitting the gas or brake, seems to be something else. Any ideas out there?
Are the rancho shocks from the 3" kit compatible with the extra 2" I put on? Any recomondations? The rear also is starting to sag and I'm wondering if I should get a new kit, or just new rear leaf packs. If I do get new rear packs should find a size to still use the shackles, or should I ditch 'em and get all my lift out of the packs? Your knowledge and imput's appreciated!
Click to expand...

DITTO except mine is a 86 with the 2.5L and 5spd and no lift...
 
A friend ordered some ranchos a few years back for his zj with spacers. They were for a 3 inch lift on the same jeep, and he had a little less than 3 inches of droop with the shocks. He called ranch and asked what people would do with the same shocks and 3 inches of lift ( they would have less than two inches of droop). Rancho said that the short length of the shocks were meant to limit droop, I don't know why. If this is the case with your shocks then they may be bottoming out on rough roads. Your noise could also be the bushings at the top of the shocks. Mine go pretty worn, and made a clunking noise till replaced. Hope this may help.
 
Well, I don't have my sway bar connected, my rusty's tracbar bracket is tight, i have a c-rok steering plate, and all that is left is the ball joint. It may by that my upper bump stop is hitting the coil... but I doubt that is the problem really...
 
hillbilly_jeeper said:
I just put on a new RE 4.5 lift, and am getting a strainge clunk/crunch on hard hits to the front end. found out that when my front suspension compresses, my driver spring bows outward, and hits the knuckle.
Click to expand...
that sounds like your trackbar is too long to me...
 
i had a similar noise when i first put on my crusty's trac bar. it would hit the mount on the axel side. look for metal deformation and/or shiney metal.i had to give it a bit more clearance. but this was when it was only 3" lift with an adjustable though. now i have the re bar and more lift and everything seems to be quiet from that part of the jeep anyway!
 
I had a similar issue with my xj. Put on a RE 3.5" lift and had some clunking in the front end on the drivers side. I found that the track bar (RE adjustable trac bar) was a little loose on the frame end. However, once I tightened it up I continued to hear the same sound. After double checking, I found that it was also a little loose in the axle mount as well. It was just transmitting the sound up through the bar to the frame mount. After tightening up everything, all was quiet again. It took me a little while to find out what the problem was because I needed a second person to turn the steering wheel while I was under the jeep so I could actually see the movement in the mount.
 
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