Hey fellas, I've seen many threads with this problem while lurking and most seem to conclude that it is due to the tracking bar in the front of these XJs going bad. I ultimately decided to make an account in order to see if you gents think that my tracking bar in particular could be causing these issues given the condition it is in.

Thanks so much for your insight guys. Attached is a photo of the front axle & tracking bar on my '96 XJ:

 

I would look at axle ujoints first.

 

I've seen that that is an issue as well, but do they usually fail in pairs? Both turning angles cause pops, but I can't tell from which side, I just know it's coming from the front. It is a singular pop, btw, it's worth noting that the sound only happens one time.

 

components like that don't always fail in pairs...that being said... there are certain components that if one side is starting to go... it's always replace them in pairs.
Brakes, ball joints, tierod ends, etc. Because both sides of the vehicle have the same amount of wear on them... so if one is going, the other side probably isn't far behind.

 

If it's a single pop like that it could be any number of things - sway bar links could have snapped, a tie rod could have separated and is popping on the turn.
Take a good look at the suspension and axle and see where there's any looseness.

 

Checking trackbar, hold on to it and have someone shake the wheel back and forth, (engine off) you will feel it if there is any looseness in the joint or the bushing.
Just need go step by step checking everything on the front end.
jack one wheel up at a time and lift on each wheel watching the ball joints, while have the wheel up lay hand on the shaft and rotate the wheel back and forth feeling the u-joints.
...
Did you check the oil in the diff too? Not empty is it?

 

Hey guys, thank you for all of the suggestions. The front end seems tight to me, but I'm no He-man. I pulled on everything I could really get my hands on. Some further symptoms I'd like to describe are that the single pop seems to occur whenever I go over extremely uneven road with my front end. An example is when I drive into the apron of a driveway with one side of my jeep first so the axle has to bend up on one side for a second. For now this doesn't seem dangerous but I'd really like to know what it is.

Oh and one member had asked if my front diff fluid was full, I think it's mostly full yes

 

This would lead me to investigate the swaybar bushings. Disconnect your swaybar on one side, drive over this apron and see if the pop goes away.

 

Did you check the shocks and springs? If it pops when you're compressing the suspension, you'll want to look at everything that's moving when that happens, shocks, springs, control arms, axle u-joints as someone mentioned, etc.
Make sure your shock mounting hardware is nice and tight as well and that the spring is "centered".

I would also look for any cases of mounting points rusting out. As you know, we get a ton of road salt kicking around every year in every state in New England and that stuff can do a real number on the metal. I had to have multiple frame repairs on my 00 TJ in the last few years I drove it because of things rusting out. Control arm mounting points were among the trouble spots.

If nothing jumps out at you, I'd jack up the front of the vehicle and put jack stands under the frame, then let the front axle extend all the way and examine things. Then put the jack under the axle on one side and start compressing the suspension while looking to see if anything makes noise or seems to be moving abnormally - repeat for the other side.

If that fails you probably should take it to a trusted mechanic.

 

X2

Shocks, and steering ends are all good guesses. How about Trac bar bolt axle side, any wallowing?
Are all nuts tight/ torqued proper?

Any chance you feel anythuing in the floorboard when this happens?
How responsive would you say your steering is?

Does the vehicle wander right or left quickly if you let go of the wheel?

 

i've been there before. and yeah, you're right to believe it's the track bar. i would try tightening the bolt some and even the three bolts that hold the bracket to the frame. that's where i had my popping problem.

but don't rule out ball joints either. jack it up on one side so the front tire is a few inches off the ground, then using a long pry bar, try to lift that tire, it might take a sharp pry to get a pop out of the ball joint. try both sides.

and yeah, it could be a sway bar end link, but you can usually get the sound by pulling up on the fender or bumper corner and rock it as hard as you can.

not likely a shock, but they're quite easy to remove and inspect. if you know what you're looking for. if there's a dead spot as you push it in, then it's time for new ones.