philwarner

My 86 Cherokee came with a clunk in the steering thatcould be felt in the floor, and it happened usually when turning sharply at low speed. I couldn't find anything loose underneath and thought it must be the steering box which I replaced it with a used one, but the clunk remained. Now our 96 also has a similar clunk in the steering and I am suspecting the front axle locating arms on both because I can't find anything else that might transmit a clunk to the floor board. Any advice?

93XJRay

could be bad u joints in your front driveshaft. that would cause the feeling of it coming from the floor. more than likely your problem. i dont think your lower control arms would have anything to do with that. are you lifted or not? if so how high? what suspension components are you using? i.e procomp lower control arms etc. etc.

JeepneyNJ

i feel the same problem in my 2000 xj, is a u-joint replacement a big project? It's my (only) DD so i hesitate to modify myself...

mike albo

There was a clunk in mine it was my trac bar mount off the frame rail.All the bolts were loose.I ended up drilling them out and useing better larger grade 8 hardware.To check it have someone watch as you turn the wheel left and right you can see it move around on the frame rail.

85on32+4

maybe your tire brushes up against your fender causing it to bump your door?

fantic238

Ehem, could you explain this phenomenon a bit better, i am interested in the theory.
Thanks

85on32+4

TIRES:TOO **** BIG
rubs fender...hit door.
was trying to help

polo609

Actually, the question to ask is...does this happen when your in 4wd? Because I have the same problem ONLY when i go into 4wd..i suspect it's the u-joint but not sure which one. Its a huge bad sounding CLANK...i'm all stock btw.

fantic238

Ahahah, JK, lol...

mike albo

Well then take a good look at you axle u-joints,front drive line,open your front diff cover and look at your ring n pinion.Look at your tranny mount.

philwarner

Both the 86 and 96 are stock with stock wheels and tires, no lift, and the clunk happens in two wheel drive on both at low speed and usually on moderately sharp turns. There is no tire rubbing that I can tell.

So.... Check the front axle U joints then?

BTW, the 86s fuel pump has recently started to whine; will it run that way for long or do I need to bite the bullet and change it soon?

philwarner

Thanks for the suggestion. Guess I'll have my wife sit inside and turn it lock to lock while I watch from underneath. The odd thing is that it is intermittent, but happens much more often on the 86 than the 96.

BTW, the 96 has always acted like something "winds up" in the suspension on a hard stop and then "unwinds" as you start up again. It is particularly noticible to me when my wife is driving and I am in the passenger seat as she tends to brake later and accelerate harder than I do (I'm trying to save gas when I drive; she just drives)

TheGreatGazoo

I had this problem years ago on my old XJ turned out to be a bad lower balljoint on the drivers side. found it after replacing track bar,drag link, tierods. next it was Balljoints then controlarms but the balljoints did it. and the only one with lots of play was lowerleft. hope this helps.

philwarner

Thanks for the lead. Is it best to jack up the frame or the axle to look for play in the ball joints?