Popping Noise From Front of Jeep When Turning

[MyWyomingJeep]

I have almost 24,000 miles on my 18 Sahara 4 door. Recently (within the last 200 miles) it started making a popping sound from up front when I take off if I turn to the right or left when in 2 wheel drive. It’s a pretty loud noise. Checked everything up from and everything seems tight. Guess I’ll be taking it back to the dealer again.

Already had the front axles and the transfer case replaced when I had rotational knock up front. Now this happens.

Jeep’s quality is less than to be desired. I’ve never had a new vehicle that’s been in the shop as much as this Jeep. It’s a blast to drive, especially off road, but the way it’s going I may be getting something else that I can take off road. Guess I’ll have to give the Ford Bronco a good look before my extended warranty expires in a few years.

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[Nickp01]

Had the exact same symptom in my JK, my swaybar end links were just barely loose. Couldn’t feel it by hand, but tightened that sucker up and it’s been good for 6+ months.

 

[MyWyomingJeep]

Had the exact same symptom in my JK, my swaybar end links were just barely loose. Couldn’t feel it by hand, but tightened that sucker up and it’s been good for 6+ months.

I’ll have to give that a try! Thanks for the info.

 

[Arterius2]

I have almost 24,000 miles on my 18 Sahara 4 door. Recently (within the last 200 miles) it started making a popping sound from up front when I take off if I turn to the right or left when in 2 wheel drive. It’s a pretty loud noise. Checked everything up from and everything seems tight. Guess I’ll be taking it back to the dealer again.

Already had the front axles and the transfer case replaced when I had rotational knock up front. Now this happens.

Jeep’s quality is less than to be desired. I’ve never had a new vehicle that’s been in the shop as much as this Jeep. It’s a blast to drive, especially off road, but the way it’s going I may be getting something else that I can take off road. Guess I’ll have to give the Ford Bronco a good look before my extended warranty expires in a few years.

Probably a bad ball joint, or bad wheel bearings. They are known to go bad on these Jeeps. Bad idea to go from cylindrical to spherical bearings for 0.1 mpg gain.

Mine has been in the shop every few months over the past 3 years of ownership. More than 20 dealer visits! Got another visit scheduled next month! It’s like clockwork!

Still love my Jeep though.

 

[MyWyomingJeep]

Probably a bad ball joint, or bad wheel bearings. They are known to go bad on these Jeeps. Bad idea to go from cylindrical to spherical bearings.

Mine has been in the shop every few months over the past 3 years of ownership. More than 20 dealer visits! Got another visit scheduled next month! It’s like clockwork!

Still love my Jeep though.

It gets old when you have a newer vehicle and it in the shop so darn much! I still love my Jeep too. I really don’t think there is anything like it, especially when your off road. I just don’t know if I’ll be able to depend on it after it gets older with as many problems as I’ve had with it. Since I’m in my late 60’s, I was hoping that it may be the last vehicle I would have to buy, but I don’t believe that’s going to be the case.

 

[Suffolklou]

I had that after a lift kit install on a JK and it was a loose tie rod end.

 

[MyWyomingJeep]

Picked up my Jeep last week. Drove it all over town to ensure their was no more noise from the front end. They replaced the tie rod ends, sway bar, and something else on the rear ended, plus retorted everything upfront. Put 10-15 miles on it before heading out of town and back home. As soon as I got off the interstate it started doing the same thing again.

Called the dealership the next day and told them it still wasn’t fixed. Back to the dealership last Friday, and they had the mechanic take it for a drive along with us. It did the same thing, so yesterday we dropped it off. They called today and said it was ready to pickup, but told us that after the mechanic retorqued everything upfront and everything on the rear suspension that the mechanic heard the noise once, but couldn’t get it to do it again.


We drove it around for about 20 minutes and it started doing it again. Took it back to the dealership and told them what was going on. The person behind the counter asked when I installed the lift and large tires. Told him I purchased it that way from their dealership. He said the mechanic that worked on it told me that you installed it. Told him that I never said I installed it, and again that it was purchased that way from their dealership. After searching their computer system they found the documentation that showed it was in fact installed at their dealership. They didn’t say anything more about it!

One of their mechanics that has been working there a long time was listening and asked if he could go for a ride. Off we went, and for the first 15-20 minutes it never made a noise. Then he made a sharp turn and it started doing it again then it would stop. We drove it for another 15-20 minutes and sometimes it would do it and sometime it wouldn’t.

Not sure what their going to do next. Just hope they get it figured out before my warrant expired next month.

 

[MyWyomingJeep]

Picked up my Jeep this morning. Drove it about 1/2 mile and took it right back for the same problem. Service department was closed, so filled out the paperwork again for the same problem and put everything in their drop box. Monday I’ll call their manager and corporate to see what it takes to get it fixed. May take it to another dealership that’s about 90 miles away to see what they think.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Picked up my Jeep this morning. Drove it about 1/2 mile and took it right back for the same problem. Service department was closed, so filled out the paperwork again for the same problem and put everything in their drop box. Monday I’ll call their manager and corporate to see what it takes to get it fixed. May take it to another dealership that’s about 90 miles away to see what they think.

Did they check the ball joints and track bar? The ball joints have plastic inserts inside them and wear out quickly. The track bar has been known to become loose and elongate.

I only had about 10K miles on mine when I replaced the drag link, tie rod, and track bar with Metal Cloak. The difference between the OEM and Metal Cloak is more than night and day (or any other decent aftermarket replacement).

 

[MyWyomingJeep]

Did they check the ball joints and track bar? The ball joints have plastic inserts inside them and wear out quickly. The track bar has been known to become loose and elongate.

I only had about 10K miles on mine when I replaced the drag link, tie rod, and track bar with Metal Cloak. The difference between the OEM and Metal Cloak is more than night and day (or any other decent aftermarket replacement).

Really not sure anymore what they actually did. They had it 9 days this time, and that doesn’t count me picking it up twice before that when they said it was ready snd I took it right back.
According to their paperwork they replaced 4 stabilizer arms, retorqued the entire front end, replaced the sway bar links, and replaced the tie rod ends. Then listed the sway bar as loose, said noise was coming from sway bar links, replaced and retorqued. Every time after their repair something they’ve said their was no problem afterwards.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Really not sure anymore what they actually did. They had it 9 days this time, and that doesn’t count me picking it up twice before that when they said it was ready snd I took it right back.
According to their paperwork they replaced 4 stabilizer arms, retorqued the entire front end, replaced the sway bar links, and replaced the tie rod ends. Then listed the sway bar as loose, said noise was coming from sway bar links, replaced and retorqued. Every time after their repair something they’ve said their was no problem afterwards.

4 stabilizer arms? Not sure what they mean by that? Control arms maybe?

The major caveat to the OEM stuff is the ends on the tubes are crimped and they loosen with no way to tighten them. Also, there is no way to replace the passenger side tie-rod end, it is not removable, so they are outright lying if they said they replaced it too.

See the photo below and note the crimp marks on the tube.

 

[MyWyomingJeep]

4 stabilizer arms? Not sure what they mean by that? Control arms maybe?

The major caveat to the OEM stuff is the ends on the tubes are crimped and they loosen with no way to tighten them. Also, there is no way to replace the passenger side tie-rod end, it is not removable, so they are outright lying if they said they replaced it too.

See the photo below and note the crimp marks on the tube.

My mistake, I thought they said they replaced the tie rod ends, but it’s not listed on the paperwork, so I really don’t know anymore.

You can see what they did below in the two pictures. They had it the first time from the 10th to the 12th. Then they got it back the next Monday or Tuesday 17th or 18th. We drove into town on the 20th to pick it up. Drove it and found that the problem was still there. When I took it back to the dealership, that’s when they asked me when I installed the lift and tires. Told them they installed them. We just left it at the dealership, even tho they said they couldn’t start on it till the 24th. It stayed at the dealership all week. We drove it today for a mile or two, and then back to the dealership.

Notice the paperwork dated 5/10-5/29 that we got today showed nothing more was done from the time we left it there on the 24th through the 28th. We’ll be scheduling an appointment with the manager of the dealership on Tuesday.

 

[MyWyomingJeep]

This morning we called the general manager and the service manager of the dealership that has been working on our Jeep for the last 3 weeks. The service manager said he couldn’t hear any noise while driving it. We drove into town, (30 plus miles one way) and took the service manager for a 2 minute trip. When we turned onto the street from their dealership the noise started, so we just made the next turn back into the dealership, and parked it. He said he would make sure that it gets fixed. I sure hope he does, cause this is getting real old fast. If they repair it, and it doesn’t happen again I’ll be happy as can be!

 

[jlroman2]

Any update? Mine started making a one time knocking noise when I turn all the way to the left at under 5 mph or stationary. I have a feeling it’s coming from the steering box, which was replaced with the new steel one a couple months ago.

I have aftermarket tie rod and drag link (2.5 ton RPM) and track bar (Metalcloak).

 

[AMKRubicon610]

i'd make sure those castle nuts on each ball joint (uppers and lowers) are tight. mine were all loose from the factory, the noises went away after tightening

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