4X4XJ

Hey guys I'm not sure what I should be looking at here. When driving around town and hitting a small bump in the road I get a deep knocking-type "clunk" noise from the front of the XJ. Is this a shocks thing? Anyone have experience with this? I'm try to kill this noise so I can enjoy my daily driver. Thanks!

Jeepman659

That's where I would start. make sure the shock mount bolts are all tight.

Cherryokee

Check the mounts and bushings at the front stabilizer bar too. Got ramps? Put it up on ramps and climb underneath for a visual inspection and, if necessary, jerk, jiggle and bang things (use a mallet) until you find the "clunk".

jcwclm

Check shocks, sway bar bushings, and sway bar link bushings.

Kelso

90% of the time its the shocks. Could also be the track bar. I've heard that bar pin eliminators help get rid of the recurring shock clunk

jcwclm

Don't think I'd say 90% of the time.

4X4XJ

Thanks folks, will look into new shocks first and check the bushings...good stuff!

Bob_esper

my 99 started doing this two weeks after i lifted it three in. id like to know if you find out anything.

mr baer

Mine started doing the same thing on the drive home from a weekend wheeling
The bolts for the chassis bracket for the panard rod came loose and the bushes on the sway bar where completly worn out.
And my universals in the axles are on the way out

Bob_esper

i just looked ane my bushings look wore out that hold the sway bar up to the "frame" like you can see light through them. can this cause it?

jcwclm

Very much so! Measure your sway bar (Millimeters) and head to your local parts store!

widefieldcherokee

u could be looking at a lot of things here
first thing id look at is ur sway bar busings where ur sway bars attach to the bar that holds them. then id check ur axle u joints the ones that are in the knuckle of ur front axle then check ur trac bar where it mounts to ur "frame"
these are all problems i've had to fix on my cherokee makin the same noise

oh and ps. it could also be ball joints but thats less likely

Bob_esper

sweet, how much do they run roughly? also is it something you can do without having to re adjust anything? dont thinl it would mess up the alignment but i figured id ask

Burnout84

i spent $13 on the cheep ones at orielly to get rid of the same noise last month and had no problems with my allignment after. really easy to do. took me 5 min max to do both frame mount bushings

jcwclm

You can get cheap ones for around 12-15 and good greasable polyurethanes for 25 I think. Has nothing to do with alignment.