Front end popping...riddle me this.

Ok, about 100 miles ago, I replaced my front axle u joints in a d30 and it's making this really strange popping noise in the front end. it only makes it when i turn hard to the left or right and am moving. its not a constant noise and goes away after it makes its presence and sounds like a binding u joint. there is also a popping noise when i turn the steering wheel sitting still, but it doesnt make it until i'm almost full left or right. any guesses?

You might check the track bar. Look underneath, or better yet, put your hand on the ball joint where it connects to teh mounting bracket, while somebody turns the steering wheel. You might not identify the culprit but you will eliminate what it might be.
BSD

Trac bar will pop like mentioned, the mounting brackets (top and bottom) are also worth a look see. The tip off for a loose Trac bar, is often that the steering wheel is a little off center, while driving in a straight line. I once had the bottom Trac bar bolt come loose (factory tightened). The ball joints will also pop, but usually when turning into a driveway, the combination of turning and hitting a bump, is the usual tip off. U-joints usually act up the most, when in 4X part time and turning.
Always read the little white paper packed with your new U-joints. I live out in the boondocks and often have to take whatever I can get. I´ve gotten U-joints that say, "they are packed in shipping grease and the grease has to be replaced before installation" and have seen them with instructions to "grease before installation", which leads me to believe, they used minimum grease at the factory. Dry U-joints will wear out quick.
After finishing the installation of your new U-joints and finding an extra roller bearing next to the vice, sucks. Running one roller bearing short, will surely shorten the life of your U-joint.

pull the shafts out, stuff a rag in the tubes then drive around the block and see if it still pops, if it does then it's not the u-joints. Look for ball joints and trackbar issues.

WobblesXJ said:

pull the shafts out, stuff a rag in the tubes then drive around the block and see if it still pops, if it does then it's not the u-joints. Look for ball joints and trackbar issues.

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:twak: bad idea :twak: if you drive around without front shafts you're risking damage to the hubs unless you put just the stubs in.
Once you pull the axles out you should be able to determine if the ujoints are bad by seeing how they feel.

Doesn't sound like a u-joint problem. It does sound sort of like a ball joint though...

Kejtar said:

:twak: bad idea :twak: if you drive around without front shafts you're risking damage to the hubs unless you put just the stubs in.
Once you pull the axles out you should be able to determine if the ujoints are bad by seeing how they feel.

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Hence the "around the block". It's not like I told him to take it wheeling first.

Second the shafts just slide into the hub and float in the axle so I'm not seeing how this is affecting the strength of the hub. Please educate me further on why this is a bad idea.

Well- you know that big nut on the end of the outer shaft? Know why it's there? To hold the wheel bearing together. The bearing is actually two halves, without a clamping load, it's just a matter of time until the thing pulls apart.

WobblesXJ said:

Hence the "around the block". It's not like I told him to take it wheeling first.

Second the shafts just slide into the hub and float in the axle so I'm not seeing how this is affecting the strength of the hub. Please educate me further on why this is a bad idea.

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JJacobs pretty much nailed it.

yeah, not a good idea. saw that before, the wheel fell off. not too great, lucky he was only going like 25mph. I looked at the mount for the track bar with my friend turning the wheel and it didnt seem to move, any other way to check it? If its loose, would I see it move even if it doesnt pop? When you sit there and turn it left and right, it will pop once both left and right, then you cant get it to pop until you pull out of the parking spot. But when you do that, it pops. Kinda strange. I'm going to retorque the bolts though, because my steering wheel is off, like 5 degrees to the right while I'm driving straight. That could be the track bar? The joint that is on the left side of the track bar kinda moves, like up and down, so I'm going to look at that one when I retorque it. I'll update further when I get it done...

JJacobs said:

Well- you know that big nut on the end of the outer shaft? Know why it's there? To hold the wheel bearing together. The bearing is actually two halves, without a clamping load, it's just a matter of time until the thing pulls apart.

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Haha welp, good to know, guess I'm lucky mine didn't fall apart. Thanks for clearing that up!

53guy said:

yeah, not a good idea. saw that before, the wheel fell off. not too great, lucky he was only going like 25mph. I looked at the mount for the track bar with my friend turning the wheel and it didnt seem to move, any other way to check it? If its loose, would I see it move even if it doesnt pop? When you sit there and turn it left and right, it will pop once both left and right, then you cant get it to pop until you pull out of the parking spot. But when you do that, it pops. Kinda strange. I'm going to retorque the bolts though, because my steering wheel is off, like 5 degrees to the right while I'm driving straight. That could be the track bar? The joint that is on the left side of the track bar kinda moves, like up and down, so I'm going to look at that one when I retorque it. I'll update further when I get it done...

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OK, lets try it from this angle: When's the last time you greased any of the joints?

I just had the exact same problem. Mine was the track bar connection on the drivers side. I tightened the nut and it was fixed.

yeah, i just greased my joints and it is still making the noises. i took the extra time to make sure the joints were purged of all old grease. i'm going to tighten the track bar and see how that work. hopefully i can get to it this saturday, but i dont know yet.

Towheelie said:

I just had the exact same problem. Mine was the track bar connection on the drivers side. I tightened the nut and it was fixed.

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which connection? i may be wrong, but there's one joint that the track bar hooks up to the mount (i'm thinking that's what you are talking about) and arent there like 3 more bolts holding the mount on? which one did you tighten? the mount or the bold holding on the track bar?