Strange noise after installing LCA's

I just installed new lower adjustable control arms on my XJ with 3.5" lift, and everything went smooth, but now I can hear some knocking when driving, only on the left side.

I really checked everything, it does it with swaybar connected and disconnected, so I don't think there's the issue. The LCAs were torqued within specs, and everything seems OK and my XJ behaves well, but this knocking keeps coming out sometimes, specially when turning left (Seems as if it does it more often when the weight is on the right side). It couldn't be the trackbar, I checked it thoroughly and the mount and everything is OK, besides didn't touch it as I am not ready to install the adjustable one.

It really sounds as if the LCA or the shock was loose, but I have really checked it carefully and it's properly torqued. Any ideas?

what brand of LCA?
what type of knock? "life is going to end as we know it" knock or "sounds like a dwarf wants to come in" knock

did you install the LCA's at the same time as the lift?
what kind of swaybar disco's?

have the stock caster adjustments been tightened?(the two little bolts behind the stock mounts)
did you leave a wrench under your seat?

Steering box bolts tight?

Well, first of all, it didn't do this sound before I did the upgrade. I had stock coils + 2.5" spacers, upgraded to 3.5" RE coils and the LCAs are Rusty's.

The knock is not too bad, I don't feel like my axle is going loose or something, it's just annoying.

About the swaybar disco's, they are homemade, I used the same before and it never caused any trouble or knocking.

I will check the caster adjustments, I'll see if that's the cause.

And about the steering box, I don't think that's the issue as it clearly started when I installed the new LCA's and coils, so the sound could only come from some part I loosened, or be a big coincidence, but I'll stay with the first until I'm 100% sure everything's OK.

Regards

if the rustys arms are Adjustable, then there ya go.

im always saying how i hate his arms but love the springs..... Jam Nuts maybe

skyjackedxj96 said:

if the rustys arms are Adjustable, then there ya go.

im always saying how i hate his arms but love the springs..... Jam Nuts maybe

Click to expand...

Yeah good call, I didn't think of that... Jam nuts?

any luck with this problem?

Haven't resolved it yet, I'm starting to suspect it's the shock that's hitting sometimes as I have too short shocks for my lift. The adjustable arm shouldn't be the problem, the right one is not giving any trouble, only the left one. I do not have much time right now to start checking out.

I'll try disconnecting the shock and drive a few blocks this way, this should discard things a bit.

My Currie Adj LCA's(Johnny Jointed) did the same thing, sounded like some one was beating the bottom of the floor pan when the left front suspension would do its work. I resolved by tightening the LCA's bolts at both ends EXTREMLY tight, don't worry, those grade 8 bolts will take a lot. I used two 1/2" breaker bars turning against each other with all that I had. I don't know the torque but I'd guess around 175-200 ft pnds.

xjtrailrider said:

My Currie Adj LCA's(Johnny Jointed) did the same thing, sounded like some one was beating the bottom of the floor pan when the left front suspension would do its work. I resolved by tightening the LCA's bolts at both ends EXTREMLY tight, don't worry, those grade 8 bolts will take a lot. I used two 1/2" breaker bars turning against each other with all that I had. I don't know the torque but I'd guess around 175-200 ft pnds.

Click to expand...

x2 dude crank those bolts.

Well, I'll give it a shot, if the pressure I put on them wasn't enough, I'll have to tighten them more. If it was that, they should stop making noises. I'll see if I have time today and I'll post back on Monday.

What condition are your upper bushings in? I overlooked mine and I had a thump I could not figure out....
Just a thought.
Tony

I think they're OK.

I wanted to check this out a few days ago, but work only let's me a while in the afternoon, and it has been quite rainy lately, so I have to wait until I get some non-rain afternoon or a free weekend.

muduck18 said:

Jam nuts?

Click to expand...

x2

For the first few months with my REs I had an issue getting them tight enough to stay.

It seems to be related. Yesterday it started raining late, so I was able to check my setup. First of all the bolt that holds the trackbar to the axle was getting loose, which of course was also making some noise. I also tightened the left LCA as good as I could (which was not more than maybe 1/4 of a turn of each bolt). I also rechecked my shock to see how much travel it got left (I have the stock shocks). I noticed it has less than 1" left, so this is for sure a very bad scenario.

Now having that done, the noise really reduced, maybe 70% less noises than I had before. I am now like 50% sure the noise I still have is due to the too short shock. Now I have to plan to buy new shocks, however the RC9000 (Rough Country Nitro) or the equivalent Skyjacker are 72USD each here in Mexico, so I think I'll have to wait a little before I can get this issue over with.

I was also starting to have som DW issues again. It was gone after I installed the LCAs and new springs, but now it was back when I hit some hole with the left tire. I am thinking it was surely caused by the loose trackbar, but I'll have to wait.

Also, I will get my alignment values checked in a shop (I'm interested in resulting caster and toe). I know I can do this at home, but I don't have the adequate tools at hand, specially for the caster measurement, so I'll have to get all this checked too.

Regards

Your caster shouldn't have changed if you are only running 2" lift?(your stock shocks will work 0-3", so you must have 2" lift) unless you have adjusted your LCA's, they should be same length as stock with less than 3" lift. Your toe in should be "0". Here is how I adjust my front end at home; 1) make sure axle is centered, measure from the frame to the outer top edge of the tire tread, both sides should be within a 1/8" of each other, adjust the Trac Bar accordingly if you can, 2) set toe by measuring to the center of the tread on both tires, at the front and rear of the tires, they should be as equal as you can get them, adjust tie rod, 3) re-center the steering wheel by adjusting the drag link. Make sure everything is tight before you drive it.

I have 3.5" lift as I said. I installed adjustable LCAs which I adjusted to the lenght posted in some chart I found on this site. I think I left them at 16 3/16" or something quite similar.

By the way, I read toe should be adjusted to have 1-3mm difference between the front and the rear side of the tire (I haven't checked alignment specs yet).

By the way, I'm suspecting the noises aren't from the LCAs nor from the shock (although I'm sure the shocks aren't working anymore so I'll replace them this week or next at most). I have seen that either the tierods and/or the pitman arm are already gone. I can hear some noises when I turn the steering wheel (under certain situations), and this seems to be related to the noises I hear while driving (will have to fix this to find out).

My guess is that these defects weren't noticeable with the lower lift, but as lift increased without a drop pitman arm, the stress on these parts is greater and is letting the faults of the parts become noticeable.

Regards

increased lift? 3.5" is nothing, you dont need a drop pitman. its either the track bar or CA's from what u describe. grease everything

Well, the trackbar got loose but I tightened it. I know for sure that I have some issue from my steering. I might not NEED a drop pitman arm, but I feel like the arm and the bushings from the tie rods are nearly gone, and I hear some noises when I turn the steering wheel, and I'm starting to suspect these noises are the same that can be heard when I drive. As I'm planning to raise 1-1.5 more inches, I'll get myself a 1" drop pitman arm to get a better geometry (rather than buying a new stock pitmarn arm), and I'll check all the parts to see where this noise comes from, but from visual inspection I am almost sure it comes from the pitman arm and/or tie rods as they look quide bad already.

those arent ''bushings'' they are dust boots. and yes they are probably rotted, you have TRE's that need grease. lowering the pitman alone will NOT give you better geometry

what about the trackbar frame mount

OK, now the problem is solved. I will have to replace draglink and tie rod ends as they are all rotten, about the pitman arm, I will think about it, a dropped pitman arm should get less stress to all the terminals, but from visual inspection I don't think it would make a huge difference.

Now about the strange noises I had; they were from the left LCA, where it attached to the frame, I'm 100% sure about that, but they disappeared as soon as I installed the adjustable trackbar, I think that the wrong attachment angle was causing the noise, now it's completely gone.

Regards