Hello,

I've been trying to figure out this strange pop I have when turning close to full lock and moving slowly.

Steps to reproduce on solid pavement:
Stop vehicle
Turn wheel almost all the way to the left (occasionally a minor pop doing this)
Reverse slowly while turning left the rest of the way
Result: one or two pretty bad sounding pops
Stop vehicle
Drive forward slowly while turning to the right
Result: One pop at about where the wheels straighten out.

Similar results when reversing the steering direction.

No popping or anything when driving normally, just when backing into or out of a spot slowly. Almost sounds like lunchbox lockers but I don't have those. Doesn't seem to do it when on dirt roads. This started after I replaced my front wheel hubs on both sides. I've since replaced the axle shaft u-joints because they needed to go. I ensured that it wasn't the dust cover for the rotor binding somewhere and I removed the front sway-bar.

I checked for a cracked steering box/mount but didn't notice anything unusual there.

check the u-joints at the wheels

I just replaced those yesterday. They were dry as a bone but all the needle bearings were there. I put spicers back in, but still have the popping.

I had a similar sounding problem. The bolt that connects the trackbar to the axle on the passenger side was stripped. Previous owner had replaced the flag nut the bolt connects to with a regular nut at some point and must've over-tightened the bolt, stripping the bolt at the end. Easy fix, sounded a lot worse than it really was.

Check ball joints.

The frame side of the trackbar. The joint could be worn and the ball and socket pops in and out. Also. It could be a loose or wollowed out hole at the axle side of the track bar (mine had this and did exactly what yours is doing).

Hmm. Could be. Do you happen to know what size the hole should be? The ball joint connecting to the pitman arm only has about 6k miles on it. Should still be OK. I check the torque on the front end bolts frequently, and i know that the bolt on the axle is to spec. That's why i was wondering about TREs. They're pretty loose compared to the ones I've got to replace them.

I hope it's not the axle side bolt hole wallered out. That thing was a pita to get in.

I have a similar issue. For me, it was because I didn't torque the control arm bushings to spec. They shift around in there at slow speeds with hard turns. I've learned to ignore it. I also have a small clunk that is due to pinholes for aftermarket sway bar disconnects opening up. Try to recreate it and have a buddy listen and/or put hand on different parts when it clunks.

This bad boy and the one at the pitman arm.

I'm talking about the ball joint on the track bar connecting the the frame bracket. Mine on my jeep right now is actually popping. Your best bet is to have someone turn the wheel back and forth while u get underneath and see what's popping. Could be a number of things.

I highly recommend just replacing all the TRE;s on the center link and the drag link. 93xj is right, thats the best way to find the bad ones and make sure you put your hand on each one while turning to feel for the requisite pop. However most of us a driving a rig with 100k plus on it, so, just replace them. Especially when they sell the whole set on Ebay for about 30% of what you pay in the store. Easier to do them all at once too.

My bad, I meant where the trac bar meets the frame, dunno why I was thinking pitman arm. I've got a replacement joint for the pitman arm and for both tie rod ends so I'll try to replace them today and see if that helps.

I've had a friend sit in the truck and move the wheel back and forth while listening and looking for odd stuff but came up empty. I hadn't tried having my hands on the joints while that process was going on so if replacing those joints doesn't fix it I'll give that a try.

It doesn't always pop when turning without moving, but do you think I'd be able to feel some crunchyness or something on one or more of the joints?

Thanks for the input so far, I appreciate it. My XJ is at 94.5k miles now =)

You can't always feel it with your Hand. In my case with my track bar. I can see the ballpoint pop in and out. But if I grab and shake it with my hand it is nice and tight.