I'm new here so sorry if this is in the wrong spot or something....

I just put a 3.5" lift on my 2000 xj. Everything is new, front and back. (Warning: long parts list) But on the front specifically: Tie rod, all TREs, drag link and adjusting sleeve, steering stabilizer, adjustable track bar and drop bracket, knuckles on both sides, all ball joints upper and lower, UCAs, LCAs, UCA bushings, brake lines, almost every nut and bolt, axle u joints on both sides, wheel hubs/bearings both sides, tone ring, shocks both sides, sway bar end links both sides. I even have new dust shields.

Like I said, I replaced everything with the exception of a few things. I've gotten it aligned (i think i need another one or something. It pulls to the left. But I'm not concerned with that right now....), and now there is a popping type noise under my feet on the driver's side when I turn. I usually just hear it when I'm parked or going slow like in a parking lot or the driveway.

I was having some crazy handling issues after the alignment (which they blamed on tire pull), and quickly found out the passenger side track bar bolt was loose as hell. I hadn't even driven it a mile. Not sure how the shop didn't notice it. Anyway, that fixed my handling issue except for pulling to the left. But ever since I tightened that, the noise started.

So I figured it was my track bar bracket. I tightened those down, and also tightened down ALL of the bolts that I could, and it is still there. I've had someone turn the wheel, and I can't see anything moving where it shouldn't be.

I'm going to take another look at it tomorrow and see if I missed anything. Today while in a parking lot I heard the pop for the first time while hitting a bump, so it's not strictly caused by turning I guess. Sorry this was long but I wanted to make everything clear. Does anyone have any suggestions? I really don't want to mess up my brand new suspension by some stupid clunk.

 

Wow, I tried to read all of that but it all seemed to run together. Paragraphs are your friend.

With that said, it seems that you have everything covered, but when I hear popping in the front, U joint is the first thing that I think of.

Do you have grease-able u joints? If so, I would double check to make sure that they are greased properly.

 

Sorry, didn't even think about it. I fixed it some. Thanks for the reply. They are not grease-able, but everything else was greased that was able to be.

 

Tighten the track bar bolts to the frame before chasing anything else. Have air tools?

 

Tightened those first. Yeah I do but I have to drag out the air compressor and all that and it's a real pain, so I try to avoid using it if it's just for one thing.

But I'm going to check them again today and try and tighten them further, along with the other nuts and bolts.

 

After I installed my new Dbl. Shear track Bar I had to retighten it half a dozen times in a few months. I still snug it up after wheeling a few times and use a 1/2" drive impact to do so. If you wheel one often you need to go over and check all the fasteners on it as some always loosen somewhere.


Or I should say on my junk it does.

 

Sorry this thread didn't go very far, but thank you all for replying. I figured it out, it was the lower control arm front bolt on the driver's side. It was stripped, so it wasn't tightened completely. Stupid, I know. I got a new bolt in and now the noise is gone....

Although I noticed my bump stops/jounce bumpers/whatever you want to call them that come down in the middle of the coil spring, are rubbing on the spring.

Unfortunately I don't have adjustable lower arms, just the uppers are. Not too worried about it since I don't go off reading much, so I'm not always flexing crazy. I'm more worried about the paint on the spring than anything. My steering isn't bad, just pulling slightly but I'm hoping that'll be corrected with another alignment.

 

Good job on fixing your issue!

Now, about your bumpstop, every jeep is different, but if your bump stop is rubbing your spring, then you probably have either too much (or not enough) caster (barring any damage to the bump stop).

To correct this, you only need adjustable upper control arms. To get a good eyeball on this, check the angle of your front pinion. if it is not pointed basically straight at transfer case, then you need to adjust your upper control arms until it does.