chasing the elusive front end clunk

[tim37]

been chasing a clunk up front over sharp bumps and when going into driveways, the wagon has a 2 inch OME lift have done new upper control arms, lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, sway bar bushes and links, all this was done when new cv axles were fitted. the clevis fork bushes look quite worn and the bolt seems to be sitting very low through the bush wondering if this could be the culprit. has anyone had any luck replacing these bushes without removing the lower control arm ?. all bolts were re torqued with the the vehicle sitting on the ground, look forward to your opinions

 

[LibertyTC]

For the Upper control arms, are you using Jeepin by Al's 4.5's ?

 

[tim37]

just running standard upper arms, the lift was done prior to all other new parts and there was no clunk previously, the clevis bolts did not come out very easily but after a clean up slid straight back in, so wondering as the clevis bush appears to be out of center and a slightly sloppy bolt that this is the problem.

 

[LibertyTC]

The KJ will handle so much better with the 4.5's and offer a better alignment.

 

[ikuo78]

If the steering rack side seal has deteriorated, the rack rod may become loose.
You can check this by shaking the extended side of the rod during full steering.
If you replace the clevis bushing, it is a good idea to also replace the LCA mounting bushing.
It will probably be easier to replace it with a new LCA with a bushing.

 

[topaz]

been chasing a clunk up front over sharp bumps and when going into driveways, the wagon has a 2 inch OME lift have done new upper control arms, lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, sway bar bushes and links, all this was done when new cv axles were fitted. the clevis fork bushes look quite worn and the bolt seems to be sitting very low through the bush wondering if this could be the culprit. has anyone had any luck replacing these bushes without removing the lower control arm ?. all bolts were re torqued with the the vehicle sitting on the ground, look forward to your opinions

 

[topaz]

been chasing a clunk up front over sharp bumps and when going into driveways, the wagon has a 2 inch OME lift have done new upper control arms, lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, sway bar bushes and links, all this was done when new cv axles were fitted. the clevis fork bushes look quite worn and the bolt seems to be sitting very low through the bush wondering if this could be the culprit. has anyone had any luck replacing these bushes without removing the lower control arm ?. all bolts were re torqued with the the vehicle sitting on the ground, look forward to your opinions

If you don't have bump stops it will hit

 

[KJowner]

I'm laying under mine now, the bushes don't look too hard to change out with the arm on but you will have to split the bottom ball joint to get it low enough to clear the crevice off the bush.

 

[KJowner]

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Road salt... what a joy! The whole lot is going to be stripped and painted in epoxy before it gets fitted to my other Jeep.

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[tim37]

If the steering rack side seal has deteriorated, the rack rod may become loose.
You can check this by shaking the extended side of the rod during full steering.
If you replace the clevis bushing, it is a good idea to also replace the LCA mounting bushing.
It will probably be easier to replace it with a new LCA with a bushing.

steering rack seems to be fine, probably just going to have a go at replacing the clevis bush in place as getting lower control arms in New Zealand is a crazy price, they are $ 300.00NZ from rock auto for the pair but $360.00NZ freight and then 15 percent goods and service tax on top of everything.

 

[vlad588]

Most likely its your sway bar links. They always make that noise, upgrade to universal ball joint link to get rid of it once and for all.

 

[tim37]

Most likely its your sway bar links. They always make that noise, upgrade to universal ball joint link to get rid of it once and for all.

new sway bar links and bushes, also tried it without the sway bar connected,

 

[KJowner]

I don't know if they will deliver to the other side of the world but you could try Autodoc, those bushes are £7.97 here!
A quick Google brings up this...

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No idea what's involved in using a forwarding company but it might be worth a look. I'm in the UK so parts aren't as hard to get here but all the tasty uprated stuff has to come from the US.... ££££!

 

[ikuo78]

steering rack seems to be fine, probably just going to have a go at replacing the clevis bush in place as getting lower control arms in New Zealand is a crazy price, they are $ 300.00NZ from rock auto for the pair but $360.00NZ freight and then 15 percent goods and service tax on top of everything.

It's the same situation as continuing to ride a KJ in Japan.
I had the bushings replaced at a shop.
To remove a stuck bushing with a C-clamp, you need to apply about five times the torque of the wheel nut.
If you can remove the bushing by destroying it with a saw or chisel, the rest of the process should be smooth sailing.

 

[tim37]

planning on getting the bushes from rock auto as nothing available here, smaller items work out at good price even with freight. pretty sure i will be able to remove the center and rubber with a hole saw and then attack the outer section and try to deform it enough to pound it out

 

[u2slow]

the clevis fork bushes look quite worn and the bolt seems to be sitting very low through the bush wondering if this could be the culprit.

My bushes look like that. They don't clunk. Still originals.

 

[KJowner]

At that price I'd be buying polyurethane bar and making the bushes or looking for an old man with a lathe who wanted to earn some beer money!