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Front end noise when going slow and turning

Rubicon1785

NAXJA Forum User
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Any ideas on what to check next? Thought itcould be ujoints so put in new Spicer's 2 months ago, has 1 year old wheel bearings, brake pads and rotors, new steering linkages and trackbar as well. It makes a odd sort of quick popping sound when going slower and turning. I notice it mostly on left turns, if i start to press the brakes it goes away then starts doing it again as im slowly climbing the driveway. Had the front end apart and cant find anything! Driving me nuts, drives just fine otherwise. Anything else to look over brake wise? Nothing appeared out of normal, not much else to replace besides calipers.
 
So when you say new u-joints you mean axle u-joint, right?

That is what it sounds like. Did you do the joints yourself or have them done? If they were not the lifetime lube joints, they did get greased, right?

If it isn't u-joints, you could be fighting a bad unit bearing.

Any difference between 2wd and 4wd?
 
Sorry, meant the axle ujoint. I used spicer 5-760x to replace some year old off brand ones but it didn't change a thing. I havent tried it in 4x4 to see if it still made noise but if i ride the brake it wont until i let off and climb my driveway then its thunk thunk thunk rotation style noise. I have also removed the front driveshaft and it still does it. One thing i did notice is it seemed to appear shorty after i installed a new trackbar, the old one stuck outside the passenger fender side more and the new one was a inch or so shorter. Not sure if that has something to do with it as i have been under there many times and cant see anything contacting or rubbing. My xj only has about 1.5" of lift and falken 30" tires. Have put a few thousand miles on it and doesnt get worse just always there on the same turns and whatnot lol, if it would just break it would be so much easier!
 
I would also check your caliper mounts for "grooving".
 
Just tried it in 4x4 and same thing. The other 90% of the time i dont hear anything, its been a few thousand miles now and doesn't get worse. Its just there and annoying!!
 
Ill try to get the tires off soon and look. Need to rotate them anyways, would the surface on the knuckle be so worn they rattle back and forth? And braking the pressure they grab and stay at one end so it goes away?
 
yes on the brake slides, i just had to weld mine back flat on the outer knuckles, a piece actually broke off and the brake pad would wedge itself in a crooked position. check your steering shaft also your steering box spacer. it does sound like a universal, could be a loose or worn steering component. those odd and seemingly random noises are a pita to find.
 
The steering popped before when turning about a year ago and I found a few bolts loose on the frame for the box and it went away after I tightened them all up. Im hoping it's the brakes lol, i just want to find it and fix it already! Its got new sway bar links as well and all new tie rod ends, draglink and trackbar. I wasnt throwing parts at it, they needed done anyway just crazy its almost all new. I even used my old tj rubicon control arms that were like new. Ill try to get under there tonight and check out those knuckles!
 
Good news, i found what it was. Whatever trackbar was on it was loose on the frame side after i removed the cotter key, didnt seem like the tapered end went up in there much so ordered a moog trackbar amd fixed it instantly. Guess what, same popping today!! Wtf! Both ends are tight and so is the frame side bracket bolts. All i can guess is the tapered hole is out of round or something, maybe the old bar messed it up? I cant find any double shear style for only 1.5" or so of life. Rc has one buy i usually stay away from that brand. Any suggestions? Cant seem to find a new oem bracket either. At least i found it lol. Was a shock hearing it pop again, same left turns to!
 
Good news, i found what it was. Whatever trackbar was on it was loose on the frame side after i removed the cotter key, didnt seem like the tapered end went up in there much so ordered a moog trackbar amd fixed it instantly. Guess what, same popping today!! Wtf! Both ends are tight and so is the frame side bracket bolts. All i can guess is the tapered hole is out of round or something, maybe the old bar messed it up? I cant find any double shear style for only 1.5" or so of life. Rc has one buy i usually stay away from that brand. Any suggestions? Cant seem to find a new oem bracket either. At least i found it lol. Was a shock hearing it pop again, same left turns to!

pics ?
 
I ask because those bolt holes I believe bolt to the mount itself. them being bigger holes is normal.
I suspect something is not torqued correctly. Or you need an alignment.
other than that.
Jack the car up *By the frame* until the front wheels are off the ground.
Push and pull on every side of the tire.
should become really easy to see where the play is.
unless its your steering box itself is crunchy.
 
Pics of what? Its bolted up and looks normal, ill have to pull the bar again but nothing looks out of spec. I still thing the frame side is the issue, the bolts were tight on the bracket thought.
 
It might be the bushing on the other end - my OEM bolt was smaller than the metal insert in the bushing allowing a small amount of movement and a popping sound on turns when the track bar would suddenly shift. Tightening the crap out of the bolt didn’t stop it.

If that’s where your popping is coming from Clayton makes a kit with a bigger bolt and a tighter bushing that stops the popping. I used a ball joint press to get the old bushing out and the new one in.

https://www.claytonoffroad.com/jeep_death_wobble_fix_kit
 
This sounds like what I've been experiencing for a couple years on my '01 XJ. Almost sounds like you're describing my XJ to a T! I've replaced all the same stuff you're talking about (other than U-Joints) but I've yet to find the issue. I've suspected I have a cracked frame but can't find anything. It's frustrating as hell because it only happens at slow speeds, usually when I'm backing out of my driveway or pulling into my driveway. When it cools down a bit I'm going to check a few more things and see if I can find anything... or if you find your issue I'll check that on mine as well. Good luck!!
 
The other day i put a breaker bar on 3 of the bolts for the frame mount i could get to and tightened them up abit, praying for a difference but nope! Ive been thinking about a double shear track bar but i dont want to spend 200$ and not fix the issue. Its nuts! I will definitely check out that bolt evab99xj, going to pull it off here today and check the mount hole, it didnt appear oblong or anything but ill check the diameter of that bushing out!
 
Both looked fine, tightened up the tre of the bar a few notches but still did it today coming home. Anyone think it could be a ball joint? It drives fine 90% of the time, most turns i dont hear anything but im not sure the symptoms of a ball joint, most of what i can find on youtube sounds really bad like not even drivable.
 
One other thought - early on in my ownership of my XJ there was a popping in the front end when I’d cut the wheel from side to side - turned out to be bad wheel bearings.
 
The wheel bearings are a lottle over 1 year old, last time i had it apart i swapped sides and it made no changes. Next im going to pull a upper control arm and check those axle bushings.
 
.......... Next im going to pull a upper control arm and check those axle bushings.

That's one of the only things I haven't changed on my XJ. Replace both Upper/Lower Control arms but didn't replace the Upper bushings over the axle/pumpkin. They looked good but that doesn't mean anything sometimes...
 
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