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Strange front end popping sound.. steering box?

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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 03:50 PM
  #1  
McGuinness's Avatar
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From: Waynesville, NC
Year: 1999
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Engine: 4.0 L I6 H.O. (242 CID)
Default Strange front end popping sound.. steering box?

like the title says whenever i turn left and then recorrect and turn right theres a popping sound i just spend money today and bought new tie rod ends thinking that was the problem but then i got to the local tire shop and they said the acual tie rod itself was bent at the driver side so we got it bent straight and got it aligned then drove it and it was still popping and i still have a death wobble at about 50 mph could it be the steering box and if so what year dodge durango do i need to get the new one?
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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 04:38 PM
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tripleJ's Avatar
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From: king george
Year: 1989
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 v6
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possibly a u joint
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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 04:46 PM
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From: ☼ Blackhole Sun
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I'll vote for the control arm bushings.
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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 04:49 PM
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The popping is coming from the driverside and I've replaced the u joint on the side and the control arms are the stock ones from 1988 and look sorta dry rotted
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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 05:11 PM
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Turbo X_J's Avatar
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Just buy the new upper & lower control arms off Egay.
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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 06:18 PM
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From: Prescott, Az
Year: 1990
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
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Put a wrench/socket on every one of your track bar mounting bracket bolts and give it a helluva pull before proceeding to anything else.
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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 06:26 PM
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From: Colorado Rocky Mountains
Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 I6
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i had a popping noise when my ball joints went bad. Jack the front axle up, and check for play in the ball joints - grab the wheels on top/bottom and push/pull. If there's play it'll be either in the unit bearing/hub or the ball joints. My bad ball joints were obvious when I did this after they started popping and I started hunting down the noise.

Control arms will make weird noises if they are worn too - my CA bushings were wearing out because my ball joints were bad, or my balljoints went bad because my control arm bushings were worn or something like that. Pretty sure it all started when the dang recycling truck ran me off the road through a ditch into an embankment and the front pass. wheel took the hit.

Ujoints usually make a grinding or scraping kinda noise from what I've found, but I could see the axle ones popping in a turn if they are worn so get under there and start grabbing/wiggling things around until you find the culprit!
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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 06:30 PM
  #8  
ZINGGG's Avatar
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From: Seal Beach, CA
Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 HO Straight Six
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Originally Posted by cruiser54
Put a wrench/socket on every one of your track bar mounting bracket bolts and give it a helluva pull before proceeding to anything else.
Track bar was my first guess as well. Take a look at that. I am willing to bet the pop is coming from the unibody side of the track bar. Tighten that castle nut that mounts the tie rod end of the track bar to the mount.

And side note, just because your tie rod is straight again doesn't mean your tie rod ends are magically fixed now. You should still replace those since you have them.
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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 06:41 PM
  #9  
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From: Waynesville, NC
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I've replaced the track bar already and all tie rod ends and steering stabilizer
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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 06:45 PM
  #10  
cage's Avatar
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From: Phoenix AZ
Year: 1989
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0l
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ball joints x2
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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 06:52 PM
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From: Kansas City Missouri
Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L
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Control arm bushings. I had the same problem and that's how I got it to stop.
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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 10:53 PM
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From: Edmonton
Year: 1990
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
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i vote track bar. recheck frame side and axle side. this has happened to me twice. first time it was the frame side, so i bought a new bar. second time it was the axle side, the bolt was loose and beat out the hole. so i got a new bolt in there. but now its starting to pop again. yay!
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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 11:09 PM
  #13  
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check your track bar mount bolts. theres two that go straight down, and two on the side towards the tire. i had a bad popping noise, and the track bar mount was binding up becuase it wasn't tight. the bolts have to be super tight
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