Help me out with this guys, thanks. I have a steering issue. When i turn in a parking lot or make a sharp turn, there's a single pop coming from under my feet. I can't get it to pop when i jerk the wheel back and forth while driving but when i make a sharp turn, it does it. It's been doing it since i bought it. Another thing that i think may be related is when i'm parked and try to turn the steering wheel lock to lock, it seems to get stuck or there's one spot where it's so hard to turn. It's not as bad when the jeep is moving, only when it's parked. It does not do this when driving. I notice it alot when backing out of a parking spot. Tires are not hitting anything. Today i was parked and tried turning it fully to the left and about 3/4 of the way there it would get stuck and i could force it to turn more but didn't. Nothing was hitting.
I went on a spending spree and replaced everything listed below, trying to track down this issue:
trackbar
draglink
tie rod
all tie rod ends
steering stabilizer
shocks
springs
all control arms

The only things i haven't replaced are the front bearings and ball joints. I checked teh ball joints for play and there's no clunking, and nothing with the bearings. I'm growing suspicious on the ball joints though. Could they be screwed even though there's no clunking or play? I tore everything off the front end except the knuckles and turned them with my hands. They turn just fine but this is when there's no weight on them so i can't really tell if they are bad or not. Maybe they are bad but ain't noticeable unless the front weights on them? I haven't checked the steering box though, but it seems to be fine cuz i can manually turn the steering components lock to lock (when on jack stands) with my hands.

what do you think is causing this clunk and mysterious park-turning "friction" ?

 

Only thing I could think of would be ball joints are bad or binding, power steering pump or steering box...The wheel bearing I could see causing a noise or vibe when the wheels are rotating but not when you are steering..Another thing is the sterning linkage somewhere from the steering wheel to the steering box..I do know this from passed experience your ball joints can be bad and still be fairly tight to the touch (if that's the proper way of saying it). I'd replace the ball joints..You can get a set of moogs off ebay for around $50 and they aren't to bad to change with the proper tools.

 

I might add when steering and you here a popping noise you might try having someone stand outside the vehicle and listen to see if they can pin point the popping noise.. My first guess is ball joints..

 

Did you check your tracbar mount? Those bolts really need to be torqued as they come loose often.

 

Check the trac bar mount and make sure your control arms are tight as well.

 

Remember frame side CA's are 110ft/lbs.

 

mine does it and I'm going to replace my ball joints and a hole axle on my driver side cuz it needs a new unit bearing. it happened after rausch. how is hitting pot holes and bumps at 45? mine was pretty scary until i put in a new big bore steering stabilizer

 

My jeep pops a bit when hitting bumps and I know it's a combo of ball joints, tie rod ends and likely needs that stabilizer replaced since it's the factory original..doh..I will be out of town the next couple weekends but after that I am going to tackle the tie rod ends then replace the ball joints..After that the bearing assembly will get replaced...hopefully after all that my front end will calm a bit..

 

Mine handles bumps and potholes very well actually. It's real smooth except in the back where's it a little stiff from the OME HD springs+OME AAL. I'm running a regular skyjacker stabilizer.

I just noticed this today after inspecting the tires for abnormal wear. The tire has 4 sets of tread blocks (superswamper trxus MT's). I think they are called 3 stage lugs or whatever since the tread blocks are stacked like pyramids. On the two middle tread blocks, there are 1/16" upper soft tread on them. I noticed this upper layer wearing a little different on the passenger front tire than the rest of them. It's very minor right now but you can tell the difference. The other three tires have flat edges, like they are still new while the passenger tire's edges (of these middle blocks) are worn at a slanted angle. Like i said it's very minor and these tires are still new but it's showing that something's probably off on that side.

I will re-torque the control arms.

 

Axle U-Joint mine did the same thing but passenger side. My u-joint was so shot and it would pop when it would bind cause how bad it was it could move freely. I would Check that.

 

Those were the first things i replaced on the jeep. I forgot to mention them. I just had the axle shafts out when i tested the ball joints and they bent freely and effortlessly. I think the popping is more related to vehicle lean as if i'm turning left into a parking lot and the jeep leans just a bit and it pops. I thought it was my shocks but they are tight and i have oversized BPE bolts where i had to drill out the bushing just a little so the bold could fit through it. It's very tight.

 

My friends XJ does the same thing and we have crawled all over and under that damn thing trying to find it..... still, no Fing luck!! If you figure it out please post your findings so we can try that on his, thanks much!!

 

X2, Mine would make the same sound, tracked it down to the tracbar mount.

 

Which part? the trackbar itself or the trackbar bracket? Why do cherokees have a bracket there that's bolted on anyways? I'm guessing because of no frame?

Come to think of it, when i was in the process of removing my stock trackbar, the cotter pin broke inside and i couldn't get the nut off so i tried loosening the trackbar bracket bolts (all four) but they would only loosen like one full turn before seizing up so i tightened them back down. I was using a regular wrench, not a socket wrench so maybe it wasn't tightened down enough. I'll check those out.

 

The track bar bracket on the axle side was shifting. It was an add-on that came with my lift. I had to torque it down...again and it has finally stopped making the popping noise. I’m temped to weld it.