soooooooo let me give some background here. front axle is completely rebuilt. u joints, axle shafts, hubs both sides. also steering linkage, track bar, sway bar. but recently i went wheeling and thats when the pop first came about. i heard it while trying to turn in the the roll that almost happened haha. anyways the pop was intermittent but the next day it was loud and when ever i turned the wheel. not a constant u joint type pop. so i pulled home and saw that the driver side ball joints were toast. i replaced them the noise went away. well as i was driving i began to hear it again. but this time only when i stopped and turned the wheel or was going really slow and turned the wheel. i checked everything underneath and all was tight. but after greasing all the joints and bushings it is very suddle. but still there. so please any help would be so much appreciated. thanks a lot. -Tom

 

Get some spicer U Joints, make sure they are the right ones. There are two sizes, you may have put in the smaller ones which are still snug but off by a tenth of an inch.

 

I'm not positive if it's the trackbar that runs to the axle but check bolt that's monted to the axle

 

i put in spicers when i replaced them. i normally upgrade when i have to replace something. and that bolt is hella pain in the *** to get to. could it be anything else?

 

Yup, TRE's or trac bar

 

excuse the n00b but what are TRE's ? and the track bar joint as far as i can tell is all square. no play in it

 

Tie Rod Ends

 

oh word alright/ those seem not to have any play in them. but what about bushings like in control arms being fried? would that cause it.

 

This bolt?

 

possibly. have you checked the front driveshaft for play? the CV's tend to wear out and can cause weirdness... are there any vibrations at speed?

 

dry ball joints?
stearing box?

 

Check and retorque your track bar frame bracket bolts.

The symptoms you describe sound like bad TREs or loose track bar bracket. It'll only pop whill stopped or moving slow and a load placed on it like steering out of a roll. the entire rig's weight left to right is supported by basically 5 bolts. The one on the axle and the 4 holding the bracket on.
That's a considerable job to do and the frame bracket, unless welded on, tends to loosen up and "pop" a bit over time.
Loctite the frame side bolts too. Just not red.

Edit: Check your steering box bolts as well for the same reasons. Inspect the unibody around said bolts for cracking or stress.

 

make sure your tie-rod ends are good... wouldn't want this happening
tie-rod broke while I was on the free way. luckly i was in the HOV lane so I didn't hit anyone I just hit the median. I ignored the popping sound for like 8 months then this happened... ha

 

i dont have cvs i have u joints which are brand new. also i was thinking the steering box but wouldnt that be constant? and yea i have a very slight vibration but im sure its cuz i need an alignment.

 

May be your front coils popping. Mine does it occasionally.