where to look for clunks in front suspension

I have small clunk in the front end I get it mostly when going slow over bumps like speed bumps and such. I also get it ALOT when I am off roading. I have tried bounching the front end while sitting still and I get nothing not even a sqeak so I dont think its control arm related. someone told me the front driveshaft might need to be greased but I did that and it was very low it took ALOT of grease to fill it up but the noise didnt stop.
my thoughts are the track bar because it seems to be happening on stuff that make the front end shift side to side, but I am unsure what too look for to confirm this or how to check it from underneath.
can anyone give me some advice on this
thanks


also its a 99 stock suspension except for a 1.75" spacer and 31's but it was doing it before the tires I cant remember if it did it before the spacers but I am pretty sure it did maybe not as consistantly as it does now tho

Get under the jeep while someone turns the wheels back and forth. That way you can look at everything. It very possibly could be the track bar. The joint at the frame end wears out.

Either the joint at the frame end or the bolt hole at the axle end is ovaled. Or it could be something completely different.

Check the frame bolts on the trac bar mount and your steering box bolts. Could also be a ball joint. Jack up a tire then grab it on the top and bottom and check for play.

My $ is on the lca's. Just get under there with a bunch of tools and start tightening stuff up. If you can't find anything loose, then start checking components for play.

I have a noise in my 98XJ hitting small bumps, rattle,nocking sound thats is comming from my rf brake pads rattling in the bracket's.....it's easy to tell that one because the noise goes away when you apply the brakes while hitting bumps, but as said above check it out, loose stuff can lead to bad things

could be shock binding/bushings....check those too

but my money would be on the track bar...

some more ideas:

my $ is on the trackbar too, but if that isn't it....

1) check bolts on the drag link adjusment collar
2) sway bar bushings (where it is secured to the body)
3) apply brake pressure while going over a bump that would usually cause the "clunk" - if it goes away the prob is most likely in a LCA or UCA...usually the LCA in that case, but ymmv.

Do you have an aftermarket bumper or any other type of uni-body tie in bracket. My sway bar used to hit the head of the mounting bolts on my bumper when I hit speed bumps and other small bumps. The sway bar actually shifted over about 1/2 inch and made a clunking noise when it hit the bolt heads. Just an idea. I do agree with the other posts though if this is not the case.

Carman

I too have a 99xj with the same type of thing going on. It is coming from the passenger front. I know that my swaybar bushings that mount to the frame are bad, but it still does it with the sway bar disconnected. A friend at work got under there while I turned the wheels back and forth and drove forwards and backwards and he seemed to think that it was the track bar. I've started to think that it is the bar pins in the shocks or something else also. So that is where I'm going to start, by adding in some bar pin eliminators to see. It also makes a loud clunk when backing up and turning at the same time.