Repair help near Cortez CO?!?

[katuah]

Hello Colorado folks,
My mom & I are in Cortez and something in the drivers side front end right under my feet is popping like crazy.

It started after a bad stretch of potholes on I40 in Oklahoma. I tightened all my track bar bolts and such two days ago in Santa Fe, but that didn't fix it. After we went down & back out of Chaco it got worse. It does seem to be steering related as it pops when I turn the wheel, more the harder the turn. Sounds like fireworks trying to parallel park! The tie rod seems tight when I grab it and try to wiggle. I don't see any frame side cracking near the track bar bracket, and I have an aftermarket double-shear track bar and bracket so there's no tie rod end frame side. It doesn't seem to be rpm related at all so I ruled out front driveshaft u joint.

Is there anyone in the area who would help me out for a few hours with a jack & stands to check control arms and maybe replace the ball joints? I have tools but only a hi lift, which I don't like using for such things if possible. Barring that, recommendations for a garage?

 

[time2getdirty]

Tighten track bar bracket at frame and steering box aswell.

 

[old_man]

Sorry I'm so far away but maybe some guidance can help.

Most likely the noise is either a loose track bar bracket or a loose steering box or cracked frame where the steering box mounts.

Start the vehicle and put it in park. Have someone turn the steering wheel back and forth while you crawl under and take a look at everything. If it is making as much noise as you say, it should be very easy to track it down.

 

[YELLAHEEP]

X2, do the partner steering check but put a little bind on it. Park a sidewall against a tall curb or put both front tires against a parking block. The more resistance, the more movement you can see/feel/hear.

If it's right at your feet, look at the upper control arm where it bolts into the unibody bracket. My lifted XJ's with short arms always popped there, especially when the bolts were loose or the joint went bad.

 

[katuah]

Before I posted up originally, I'd cranked the heck out of my track bar frame side bracket bolts. This morning I tightened up all the steering box bolts (I have the JCR steel spacer and an ORFab front bumper with the steering area brace, so if it's cracked it still ought to hold together!). I am now able to at least park it without feeling like I'm in a popgun shoot out, but the biggest baddest pop is still present under my foot. It seems to happen most loudly when I am putting the vehicle in a sideways bind, as in, coming over a curb at an angle. So maybe this is a combination of many bolts shaken loose and maybe the control arm mount as Yellaheep mentioned. The bolt seems tight though... Could it be a badly deteriorated bushing?

 

[UnlimitedMatt]

Definitely could be a bad bushing. On those frame side upper arm bolts, you need to make sure you don't break the bolts, they are a lot smaller than the rest of the control arm bolts.

As my auto shop teacher used to say: tight is tight, too tight is broke.

 

[md21722]

It could be the chassis end of the track bar. Turning lock to lock, look at the greasable ball stud end of the track bar and see if it jumps around. If you have an adjustable track bar with a jam nut, make sure the jam nut is tight. If it's loose, center the chassis end before tightening it.

 

[katuah]

This trip is turning out to be kind of a mess. I fixed the popping - in searching for more things to tighten I discovered a motor mount bolt with a nut that fell apart in my hand. I got a new nut on it, and all pops stopped. However, now the thing has started leaking gas every time I fill up. I'm assuming either the O-ring gasket or the filler neck. However, I can't drop the tank in a parking lot outside a random motel. Anyone know if I can keep driving it, so long as I don't fill it all the way up again?

 

[UnlimitedMatt]

You should be fine as long as the leak is coming from the top of the tank. Like you said, just don't fill it all the way up. This should minimize the spillage.

 

[katuah]

Looked just now in daylight and from the trail of drippage it looks pretty clearly to be coming from the top of the tank. O ring gasket I suppose. I'll see about nursing this home.

 

[Fred]

Good luck. Fix it and bring it back for COfest this July.