xjnm

Hi,
I recently sideswiped a tree going fairly slowly, but ended up messing up my steering pretty bad. I have replaced the tie rod end between the Pittman arm and the drag link as well as the stabilizer and a new alignment. Replacing the tie rod end made it clunk a lot less, but there is still something clunking. It usually clunks in the same place during wheel rotation and mostly when going at slow speeds.
I think it may be the rod linking the steering wheel and the power steering pump, because it wobbles a little bit when i wiggle it back and forth. Is that something that would be damaged, or should I look elsewhere?
Thanks a lot!

dans98xj

I would look at that but I would also look at the steering box too. You could have cracked the uniframe were it mounts. Or the steering box spacer could have been damaged. You should also check the track bar and the mount on the frame too. The frame in the XJ is all sheet metal any kind of side ways hit could start to bend it and pull bolts out.

xjnm

The bolts holding it in look good, and there is no play in the box. I took a closer look/listen today, and I'm not too familiar with what the inside of the steering box looks like, but it sounds like there is a gear slipping a tooth or something, like a pop noise. There is no major vibration anywhere that I can feel on any linkage or the rod to the steering wheel when it pops. I feel a slight vibration when it pops on the other side of the unibody where the box is mounted, sort of near where the bolts are. I think that it is probably something inside the steering box, but I'm not sure what. Thanks for the help.
I took a video of it and I will try to upload that today to this thread.

xjnm

Here is a video where you can hear the noise.