Hey Jason, you are exactly right, my Firefox browser corrects everything I type (its quite annoying)..

but anyhow... The part i was meaning to type was a "Track Bar"... If you don't know what it does- it centers your axle under the jeep, without it, when you have a lift kit it causes your axle to pull to one side- i found out the hard way that with my 4.5inch lift, that a Track Bar that isn't adjusted right will cause the bolt to break off in hard offroading and what not- as i explained before....

But, im not really sure exactly what part you are describing under your jeep, but heres a picture i found of the bolt location where mine broke....



In this picture the silver bar that runs into a small mount where one bolt holds on the track bar is that bolt that broke....

But anyways... The bolt broke one day when offroading and had jammed itself into the bushing around it and was thankfully still holding in there....But all i did was un-wedge the bolt and replace it.. it has this funky nut on one end with a tab welded on, and the only reason it is there is due to the tight space where its nearly impossible to get a wrench into... so the tab acts as a stop for the bolt allowing it to tighten... but that bolt and nut could both be replaced or just the bolt...

I hope i helped, feel free to ask any questions, or correct me on anything i didnt understand about your problem...

Hope everything works out..
Evan..

 

Hi Evan,

Many thanks for your reply. It made me realize two things: firstly, we're not talking about the same part (more on that in a moment) and secondly, my memory is horrible. My description of the part on my car was horribly inaccurate! It runs across the width of the vehicle from door to door and is blatantly a strengthening beam. I looked at the nut/bolt situation again and it's actually the same on either side (4 bolts in total I think) - I believe one of the pair on either side is a bolt pointing down with a visible nut and the other a bolt pointing up where only the head of the bolt is visible. A strange arrangement but I guess intentional.

So that doesn't appear to be the problem. In taking a fresh look at the steering and suspension components this morning, my layout is quite different to yours and all looks to be in pretty good order. A local shop replaced the stabilizer bar 4 - 6 weeks ago and could be related although my clunk has only been apparent for the past 2 weeks (on full lock, maneuvering in the driveway for example, it's been there since we bought the car 4 - 6 months ago but we just stopped going right over onto full lock).

I thought when you mentioned being able to feel it through the driver's floor we were experiencing the same issue but we're not. The clunk occurs at any speed, but on the highway the corner needs to be pretty steep - it doesn't occur on the interstate. Once stationary it will clunk when turning the wheel in one direction but won't do it again until the car has been driven and is stationary again which makes diagnosis quite tricky.

If you have any suggestions on other items to look at I would be grateful, but no worries if not because I'll take it into the shop tomorrow.

All the best and thanks again for the reply.

BTW, the car is a '94 Country 4.0 Auto with < 180k miles

Jason.

 

First pic is your transmission crossmember i.e. what holds the trans to the rig, and NO that is NOT normal to have a bolt reversed. They likely broke it off and ghettoed a new one in backwards.

 

Status update on this post for the benefit of anybody else that may come across it.

The issue was the steering box was shot. The car's on it's second one since then and now needs a 3rd because the symptoms have returned again! I have no idea what's killing them or what junko ones the shop is installing.

 

do you have a lift on your jeep? i used to have the same issue and found out the hard way that when you lift your jeep if you dont put a drop pitman arm on or a lengthened pitman arm, you will keep killing them due to too much stress on them, i actually sheared the mounting bolts in half on of my boxes at one point in time.

 

Always a good thing to do once in your Jeep's lifetime, but everybody seems to ignore this advice.............

 

Also look at the bolts holding the thread clamp on your tie rod bar, if facing backwards, they can sometimes catch on the Sway bar lower mount and "pop". I chased the same pop for a while till i found the bolts bent. Rotated them out of the way, and everything is fine.

 

nice read guys i have the same problem will be checking hopefully in the morning thanks for the info

 

ok, I own a 1997 Grand Cherokee and Ive had some work done to it. shocks, brakes, new struts, CV axel on passengers side along with drive train and front differential rebuilt... so I can not figure what is causing it to making a grinding and popping noise when I make a turn..very noticeable when I make a tight turn in either direction. Open to any ideas

 

Hello, new hear and I wanted to share my revelation regarding the mysterious knocking and popping.
After goin GB they all front end components and replacing all of it the noise continued. I was giving the front end a real close look for structural issues and behold I found the drivers side upper control arm bracket to be cracked! This is the spot where I am feeling the knocking under my feet. I'll attach a few pics.

Viewing from under Jeep, edge of weld upper control arm bracket

This is viewing the crack from inside wheel well access hole.

 

Could not edit last post so I'm doing it here. That post is in referance to a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited.