Front end popping noises.

[jeharman]

I have a 1998 eddie bauer. I had a new transfer case put in about 40,000 miles ago. Recently it started making a popping noise the moment you started going forward. I had 3 different mechanics look at it. The first one said it was a upper control arm and ball joint on the right side front as this is where the noise comes from. Thesecond one said it was the left upper control arm and ball joint. The third one finally put it on a lift and it makes no noise in drive or reverse then. He said it was because the tires were too worn down, and told me to put all new tires all around. This did not good still, and the tires are exactly what is called for. This is an automatic all wheel drive. I googled the problem and one google said it was a front vc axel. The last mechanic said the drive train was binding and that was the problem and put new tires on. Has anyone else had this problem

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've moved your post into its own thread in the stock 1995-2001 section. Listen to the advice of the first two mechanics, and don't go back to the last one. CV axles do make popping noises eventually, so check the boots for rips, and leaking grease.

 

[jeharman]

I have grease showing on the right cv joint area

 

[corkey]

i would find a garage that doesn't have it head up it ,,,
well, okay you say there is grease at the front,, right cv area , i would say that is definately a sign that the other garages didn't look too hard,,
check the boots fro the cv, and see which one is ripped, that should be the problem ,

does it make the noise all the time, or just when turning corners ??
like in a left turn, or right turn,,??

 

[jeharman]

it makes noise about 99% of the time and it does it no matter what, turning, going straight. Sometimes it will not pop for a second, but just starts immediately again. The boot doesn't look ripped, but does have grease in the area and looks like it is coming from the boot towards the center of the vehicle, not outward toward the tire

 

[jeharman]

i don't understand left or right turn, the noise or popping happens going straight, turning either way, going backwards, which when the vehicle is on a lift or off the ground there is no noise, which it was ran in drive for 20 minutes while on the lift. My neighbor heard it and others have said they thought it was a backfire it is so loud when my daughter was driving it down the street. Has not been driven for months because of this problem as I did not want to cause anymore damage, and this has cost me about 1500.00 and 6 tows to the different shops. One time we drove it home from the last shop which is about 1 mile down the road, and my daughter said it smelled like burning rubber following me home. By the way, this all started about a week after one of the shops put a wheel bearing up front on the right side

 

[tvalentino]

its probably the torsion keys... the have a rubber like bushing on top of them so it doesnt have metal to metal contact and those are probably worn... i had this problem and the bushings on em were worn out then i put in new keys that had newer bushing and problem went away...

 

[jeharman]

what are torsion keys and where are they located.By the way thanks for the help with this, and how much does this repair cost for parts, getting this vehicle back on the road would make my daughter happy and let me have my vehicle back from my daughter

 

[jeharman]

I also wanted to point out that a torsion bar link was put in on both sides months ago

 

[Redneck0907]

check your sway bar bushings that mount to the frame. if theres any play its probably that. i had this clunking popping on my truck.. 15 bucks later from napa problem fixed and truck sounds and drives great!