"Clunk!" in Front End During Slow Turns

Thanks a bunch, snow. I'll be checking this tonight as well. I've noticed that sometimes I can catch it just right on a turn where the clunking continues rapidly through the whole turn until I correct the wheel again. Did this ever happen to you?

Thanks!

I rechecked all of the bushings and had a question about the state of the ones found on the swaybar.

Should the gap here be this large? (It's the same on the other side)

This side (outside) looks ok to me:

But the inside seemed really smashed. It's hard to see in this pic because I had a hard time maneuvering the camera in there.

Other than that, the bushings on the track bar and the rest of the suspension look old, but in relatively good shape.

Thanks!

In most areas the dealers order out some fairly similar units, so if some dealer thinks 2wd is the way to go, that's what they order. And by gosh, if that is the only thing the dealer has to demo and sell, that is what sells.

D'oh, my bad. Didn't read it.. there was another white 2 door last week that was 2wd... Just saw the pic, copy and pasted the link... Back into the corner with me.....

Mike Becker did pass the time by typing:

Mine have no gaps.

Yep.

That's "normal" wear due to the bars curvature at that point.

Little bit of rust there. Might want to rework the bar (sand and paint) And make sure that's raggedy looking line isn't a crack (unlikely, but...)

Remember, sometimes bushing look old because they are. :) I found that replacing my otherwise "old" looking sway and track bar bushings helped the handling a lot.

L.W. ("ßill") Hughes III did pass the time by typing:

It's close, but not much closer than the one in my ZJ. My suggestion to the OP is to replace those bushings. The ones on the end look shot (or terribly loose)

My wife had one for 3 years. Great vehicle, but it sucked in the snow and ice. Front suspension was the same as a 4x4 Cherokee, with a non-driving axle.

-- Old Crow '82 Shovelhead FLTC 92" 'Pearl' '95 Jeep Wrangler YJ TOMKAT, BS#133, SENS, MAMBM, DOF#51, SPONGER#2

The crack is just in the paint. It's coated in some really thick paint that comes off in sheets when you so much as touch it. Any special paint to use? Just some black rustoleum spray paint?

Thanks

I tried tightening the ones on the end and they wouldn't budge. Sounds like I'll be ordering a new set of sway bar bushings regardless :)

I tried jumping all over the front of the vehicle to really hit the suspension and try to get it swaying, but couldn't get anything to clunk. I then jacked both wheels off the ground and tried turning it from lock to lock several times without any sort of noise.

I followed it up and down the driveway a few times holding on to various components. It was clunking like crazy but I didn't feel or see anything in the suspension. I then just held onto either wheel, and I could distinctly feel it when it clunked. It was a sharp metal to metal clunk (more towards a "clink" when you're outside the vehicle) that sounds like something is getting bound and unbound.

The only things this could possibly be are the hubs, the calipers/rotors, or the steering knuckle mounts. Nothing else attaches here. The pads/rotors are relatively new but I went ahead and disassembled and cleaned them for good measure. I rechecked the torque on everything at the hub and it looks good. There is no play in the wheel at all when I try to rock it back and forth, so I can't imagine anything is wrong at the knuckle. I'm totally stumped.

A loose sway bar bushing link will clunk like mad!

When the vehicle is under weight load and the steering wheel turns sideways it shifts the front axle sideways, that is why you have the track bar. I would fix that one in the photo before worrying about anything else.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Mike Becker wrote:

Picked up some parts today. I got a complete set of sway bar bushings plus some new links. The guys on jeepforum.com suggested that it might be the calipers so I'm going to go ahead and replace those too. I'll be sure to post back afterwards if I'm able to solve the problem.

Thanks again for all the help and suggestions!

I would replace that one broken link before spending another cent on it!

I do not think the 'extra' parts are needed nor do I recommend changing calipers because that opens up a whole other issue with brake fluids, master cylinders that can/will fail while bleeding, etc...

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Mike Becker wrote:

L.W. ("ßill") Hughes III did pass the time by typing:

Sounded a bit odd to me as well. If calipers are clunking it's usually due to worn mounting bolts or bushings, both cheap and easy to fix. Then usually they don't "clunk" but rather just cause abnormal (unequal) pad wear.

It was actually a few guys on jeepforum.com. Several had a mechanic suggest they replace their calipers for a "clunk" similar to mine, and when they did it cured it. I'm not really sure what the logic is or why it would cause a "clunk". Maybe a lazy/spongy caliper? O_o

I've been having other brake problems anyway (squeaky and pulsating, even with new rotors), so for $18 a pop after core, I figured what the heck. The brake fluid is orangeish with lots of black floaters. Hopefully changing it doesn't cause problems with the master cylinder, but it seems like it's ready to me. This is all pretty much a last ditch effort. After this it's going to a mechanic :(

Well, it's better, but not completely fixed. After I replaced the calipers and flushed the system with new fluid, the rapid "clunk-clunk-clunk" while going through turns went away. However, I still had a single "clunk" every once in a while. I replaced the sway bar frame and link bushings, but that didn't fix it.

The remaining clunk usually happens when I'm in reverse, but it also happens when going forward. I don't necessarily have to be turning at all. Since there's still a clunk but the type and cause have changed after installing the calipers, I assume it's related to the original problem. I'm going to drive on it for a few days and see what it does.