Front end clicks on turns and shimmy

Hi,
I have a tech question that has been getting me for over a month now.
I took my 1997 jeep xj to get inspected and ever since have had a almost
flat tire sound coming from the front driver's side.
We instantly checked the tire pressure and lug nuts to see if they had not
tightened them.
So that did nothing and the problem got worse.
I next changed out one of the only balljoints that seemed to be worn which
was on the passenger side, while there i noticed that the hub was dry and i
replaced this as well.
Well, this did not fix the problem. So i figured that it must be the other
hub, but it wasn't. After i put the new hubs on i started to hear a
clicking/popping when i turn left or right (another new problem). So i checked my work
and made sure everything was tourqed correctly and it was. I crawled underneath
again while someone was turning the wheels back and forth and noticed that the
long arm tie rod now was also worn and so was the pitman tie rod end, so i
replace those as well. nothing!
So yesterday i crawled underneath again and checked the track arm and this
was worn so i replaced this and the frame end sway bar bushings.
So now all i have is an extremely tight front end which pops when i turn
and wanders a little going down the road and sounds like there is a front flat
tire here and there.
I would greatly appreciate and input for i am going bankrupt and this is
my daily driver.
Oh yeah i also had the truck looked at a couple of firestone's but they
found nothing that would fix the problem.
Thanks,
walkeddownalameda

Check your front end U-Joint. I had a similar noise, thought it was my hub bought it, went to install it and seen my u-joint shit the bed. Saved 100$

I had a similar problem with the combination of an off balance tire, worn track bar end, and bad wheel bearing. The combination of those gave me the feel and sound of a flat tire. Replaced the worn parts and got the tires rebalanced and its like new. Only took me 2 months to get it all figured out.

Try doing a tire rotation to see if the rears make any difference in balance.
Also check the frame end track bar mount. They have a tendency to come loose, but you can't always tell with a quick glance.

4x4 or 2x4?

Thanks for the input. It's a 4x4 jeep.
I have checked the u joints up front when replacing and rechecking the hubs. They seem fine.
Yeah the track bar axle end was a problem today for me as well. I ended up have to get a grade 8 bolt and nut for it so that it'd be tight enough. The old one wasn't up to par anylonger.
I was going to get new front tires for it and have them balanced and such but i am not sure that'll fix that clicking in the turns. I also tried dropping the driveshaft u joint near the front differential to see if that is possibly binding, but i couldn't get it undone. although i also didn't have lots of time to do so either today. I would have though that someone would have been able to tell me this before now though. Any additional info would be great, thanks alot!

check the bushings around the shock upper mount just for giggles, that'll make it feel like a low tire if they're worn/gone

i had a sound like that ended up being a worn swaybar end link bushing.

raypla said:

Check your front end U-Joint. I had a similar noise, thought it was my hub bought it, went to install it and seen my u-joint shit the bed. Saved 100$

Click to expand...

Did your bad ujoint cause any loose steering. Becasue my ujoints are going out and it kinda binds in 4wheel going around corners in snow and when turned tight enough in 2wheel my whole front end just feels loose i swear it needs a new track bar and control arm bushings.

Mine's the same right now; I'd like to know, too.

I don't recall that being something i noticed(loose steering). But it may be that. I can say that the track bar i just installed made a huge difference in how tight the front is. I also installed new frame mount sway bar bushings and that is great as well. Feels new,only if i could figure the rest out i'd be really happy. Oh well, I've spent roughly $800 right now trying to fix this and i have had it. It's going to the shop tommarrow.

how tight is your track bar in reference to the cotter pin, is the cotter pin all the way to the top of the castle nut? is it in the center? or is it really tight to the bottom of the throat of the nut? what i'm thinking it might be is the hole for the track bar bracket may be over sized and poping ever so slightly

just throwing it out there

I experienced this first hand on a few customers Jeeps. When you changed the hubs, did you use Mopar or aftermarket? I've found that the aftermarket ones fit too loosely into the knuckles causing a clicking/clunking noise while making turns.

I'm not knocking aftermarket parts, I'm just saying some factory parts just fit better.

belt broken in front tire . put the tire witht the problem on the back and see if it goes away .

No, no loose steering. Just the shimmy when ever I turned, especially when in reverse.

Stupid Question: did you check the tire for a nail or a lodged rock? I've heard that sound before and ended up finding a nail in the tire. Pul, patch, problem gone.

Won't do a thing for the shimmy though....

Well it's been a little while now and i just thought i'd fill in the blanks of what i have and have not achieved.

I fixed the clicking sounds with changing out the aftermarket hubs to mopar. They were making the axles sit crooked (the things ya just don't see without someone else looking at it).
I still have the shimmy problem and i have been noticing that there is a slight drag going on when in 4x4. I'm thinking of pulling the rear driveshaft and making sure there isn't a problem with one of the u-joints there.
It just never felt like that at all so i am not convinced.
I do notice a thumping now upon accelleration though so who knows.
Oh yeah to let some of you know about the front wheel joints
I had the same problem before with the wheels binding when in 4x4 and turning and it turned out to be those. so yeah that sounds about right, though i bet you guys have already repaired them by now.
thanks,
walkeddownalameda

id suggest a heavier duty stabilizer for the shimmy. and check motor /tranny mounts for the thump.