So the Jeep I purchased last week has the Rough Country long arm kit on it, and there is a terrible clunk going over bumps at low speed. I have done the grab and shake violently test to see if there were any loose components, but everything feels tight. I am assuming this is just RC quality bushings.

Any recommendations for replacing these? My lady is getting a little pissy about it.

 

It may be the brake calipers rattling. Drive down a bumpy stretch of road and lightly apply the brakes when you hear the noise. If the noise goes away you have calipers that are rattling on the steering knuckles.

 

Brakes are all good. PO replaced everything down to the calipers 500 miles before he sold it to me. Everything is good there. I'll be doing some other stuff tonight, so I'll pop a pry bar behind the flex joints and see how much play is there.

Anyone know the specs for the flex joints if I need to replace? Or would I be ok replacing bushings, and if so, any recommended brand or PN?

 

Double check the track bar bracket bolts they can loosen up and be moving at the frame. You won't feel it with your hand but steering pressure can make it move side to side

 

they may be all new but a caliper bolt may have come loose. My jeep was making a horrible clunking noise too. I couldn't figure out what it was and it turned out to be that one of the caliper bolts had loosened and was rattling over bumps and such.

 

But there may be grooves worn into the steering knuckles that will allow the pads to move around and make noise.

 

I had a clunk on in my front end until I torqued the.lower and upper control arms to spec.

 

I will check that. Thanks!

I will take a gander tonight.

I will check the RC site to see if they have a list of torque specs and make sure everything is correct.

 

i replaced out my rough country joints with currie johnny joints, might not help you but you have the option.

http://www.currieenterprises.com/ces...9.aspx?id=2961
http://www.currieenterprises.com/ces...9.aspx?id=2629

 

Check your upper control arm bushings on the axle side.

Use a pry bar. If there's a lot of play, they're bad. Replace them. That's your clunk.



$15 Moog replacement from Advance Auto Parts, and you'll have a hell of a time getting them out, trust me. Just did mine.

I'll bet money the Rough Country flex joints aren't bad. Especially if they're new. Because they're flex joints, they're much less prone to wear and tear than the factory fixed joints.

 

Brakes are good, the clunk is for sure coming from the flex joints. The good news is that I know where the sound is coming from. The bad news is that my passenger side upper control arm bracket has broken and the radius arm is just sitting on top of the axle. I must not have looked at it well enough to see how close to being broken it was. I looked at doing a truss, but the IRO one is $350... I could get a JY axle and regear or lunchbox it for that price and not have to weld it on.

 

check these out

http://www.artecindustries.com/Front...-XJ_p_335.html

http://undercoverfab.com/brackets-an...na-30-44-.html

http://www.rustysoffroad.com/builder...mount-kit.html

 

That artec industries truss doesn't look bad. I will keep that in mind the next few weeks as I put some more coins in the Jeep Jar. Those Curie joints are so damn expensive.

 

You can the daystars instead

 

Thank you to Busted Back.
I've been chasing a rattle from my front end for weeks - spent hours under it tapping everything with a mallet with no luck.
I just read this link and checked my calipers. Even though I serviced the front brakes a couple of months ago and torqued them up to the required spec, the caliper mounting bolts on the driver's side had slackened off to the extent that they weren't even finger tight!
Good knowledge man. Cheers.