My friend has a 1999 Grand Cherokee Limited (4.7L, Quadra Drive) which recently began to make a clunking noise. This happened a couple of weeks ago when we drove it over some dirt roads with washboards. Before then it didn't make this noise.

The noise doesn't seem to change with speed or road surface. It just kind of exists at any speed and on any surface. One would think it would occur when the tire hits a bump but that's not necessarily the case. It appears to do it on smooth surfaces too.

Before we purchased this particular one we test drove a number of WJ Grand Cherokees and this appeared to be a problem with all of the ones we test drove. We were pleased when we found this one which didn't make the noise. Is this common and if so what may be the cause?

It's difficult to pin down as I cannot hear it from outside the vehicle during testing. It appears to be coming from the rear of the vehicle somewhere. The noise doesn't appear seem to be related to the vehicle being under power (i.e. acceleration) but I wouldn't rule it out at this time.

Possible suggestions have been u-joints and bushings. Vehicle seems to drive OK. Thoughts?

 

Some have blamed that on the rear shocks, others say it's the tie rod type attachment at the top of the rear axle, which is where the center of the rear upper control arm mounts to the axle.
We bought our '04 new, and it now has 112,000+ miles on it. It never has made that noise.

 

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll look into them. Forgot to mention we just installed new shocks when we first got the vehicle. They've got less than 1,000 miles on them.

 

CV joints make a clunking sound when worn due to the ball bearings jumping within their race – this was a common occurrence on my old Ford fitted with rear drive half-shafts.

But I’m not sure about the arrangement of the rear drive on a Grand Cherokee – even though I own one.

 

sway bar bushing also possible noise area.

 

Should have said – a clunking CV joint will change with the road wheel speed – whereas your original post stated that the noise does not change with speed or road surface.

 

No worries...given I have no idea where it's coming from any and all suggestions are welcome. As it just started a couple of weeks ago I haven't spent any time digging into it yet. Will do that over the next few days.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

 

To follow up on this: Finally had some time to investigate this issue further. As it turns out one of the new shocks was the cause. We replaced it with a new one and the clunking is gone. Lesson learned here: Just because it's new doesn't mean it isn't the problem. Consider all possibilities.

 

Thanks for the update.