I just put in new drums and shoes on my XJ the other day and since then I have been hearing a metallic clinking noise between like 5-30mph then it goes away at higher speeds. I actually don't think it has anything to do with my brake job actually since it sounds like its coming from the front end, but maybe im wrong.

Its fairly loud (so much so that pedestrians give me funnier looks than they used to) and it sounded kind of like I had a stick hitting the spokes of my wheel, though this is not the case. I hosed the undercarriage off in case something was there and got rid of any debris, but it still makes this noise. I don't know if it could be a u-joint since I only have 68kmi on my XJ and I don't have any problems driving/steering. I honestly cant think of anything else that could be making this noise, my front brakes are almost all brand new too, only like 3,000 miles old. Does anyone know what this could be, it doesnt seem too serious since I just took a 300 mile highway trip yesterday and it's still making this sound, but its driving me crazy having to listen to this pinging all the time.

 

What u can do to better diagnose this is put it up on a lift or jack stands & have someone take it up to 5-10mph! (Carefully starting out slow & stopping slow) then u can walk around it and lissen for the noise!!!

 

Yeah, that's actually a really good idea that I didn't think of, thanks.

 

Let us know what u find!?!?

 

Well the results of the test were pretty disheartening. I jacked up both the front and back and let it freewheel in 4wd. The front wheels seemed wobbly, so i preceded to just tighten the lugnuts, which did nothing. So I went and felt around and the wheels seem to have play up and down, not much but I can wobble them a good quarter inch either way. And the noise seems to be that the brake caliper/pad assembly wobbles against the rotor, making a pinging sound.

I think this means im going to need all new ball joints which is basically something I didn't want to find out. Everyone else agree that's what the problem is or am I misdiagnosing the issue. And also i that is the problem, where should I get new ones, should I just go to NAPA or order the brand name ones for a little more, or go with MOPARS?

 

go with Napa, there stuff is made by Moog for them just in a differant box.

 

Well, i've done everything else to my XJ up to this point and dont really plan on changing but how hard are ball joints to do, I mean I've installed my lift and done like spark plugs and brakes, but I dont want to gt in over my head with a job. A friend had them done for his Ford truck and they ended up costing like about 1,000 dollars, leading me to beleive its fairly labor intensive.

 

I had those done on mine after I did my lift when I had it alighned.Took the shop about 3 hours to do them,they ended up not charging me for the alighnment .

 

I think that means the wheel bearings are bad. Did you see the ball joints moving? Or just the wheel wobble?

 

Yeah, im replacing both, but the wheel only wobbles up and down, it seems if it was the wheel bearings then it would be 360 degrees

 

I had to do my ball joints. After an hour of swearing and bleeding, and getting absolutly no where, I called a local mobile mechanic who did them for £60 a side.