Loud clanking when doing a sharp turn into Driveway.

[Bigb55]

Well, I'm out of ideas. I Went offroading in Sedona last week. No noise after the trip. Now it's making a clanking sound. Nothing to hard trail wise.

2023 gladiator Sport S, 14,000 miles, 1.5" Rancho Front Coils, Adjustable Track bar, Mopar lower control arms, rancho extended front sway bar end links. Eibach shocks all around. Rear is still OEM. 285/70/17 tires

All Installed for 4-5000 miles. When installed it made no noises.

Driving down the road, hitting speed bumps, potholes, normal turning, etc. not a single clank, squeak, anything. Turning sharp on level ground, no issues. I can aggressively bounce the suspension and no noises.

If I turn sharp into a raised driveway, something is binding and making a loud persistent clanking. It does it in reverse or forward. Once it does it, it persists while driving straight for a bit.

It appears to be coming from the driver side front.

Here's what I have done to figure it out so far.

Checked and Retorqued all control arm, track bar, drag link, shock, and sway bar bolts.

Checked the torque on the ball joints castle nuts, both sides. All were good. ReTorqued per the TSB for balljoints.

Sprayed lubricant into all bushings, and on coil springs. Hoping to find the culprit. Nothing made it quieter.

Took off sway bar end links, the noise still happened.

Front U-joints appear fine. Not loose. Tire/hub spins freely no issues. No excessive play in balljoints.

So I have no ideas. Based on it only happening when turning sharply and going over a bump while moving forward/backwards, im leaning towards bad ball joints or a loose u joint.

Unless a control arm bushing is completely destroyed internally and can't see it or feel it, I got nothing. But that would show up hitting hard bumps elsewhere, which it doesn't.

Im taking it to the dealer next week. But not looking forward to their possible excuses or lack of proper diagnosis.

Any ideas?

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[Hootbro]

Can you duplicate it sitting and turning the steering wheel sharply back and forth? If so, may need a second body to lay on the ground and observe the front end.

Could also raise each side up front and with the suspension drooping on its own check the ball joints the old fashion way with a long pry bar under each lower ball joint and observe for play on both upper and lower ball joint.

Sounds like you have just about everything else I would suggest already. Maybe others have some insight to help?

 

[Bigb55]

Can't duplicate it without actually moving the jeep forward or backward while hitting the driveway bump. It's very loud and can feel a pop.

I tried every which way to get it to bind stationary and make the noise. Even built a platform out of bricks same height as the driveway bump for one tire at a time. If the jeep isn't moving, no clank.

I did the old school pry bar check for balljoints before and after checking the castle nuts. Jack stand on axle, tire off, pry the knuckle up and down. No excessive play that I can't tell.

Prior to the bump, It does sound similar to the clicking that the balljoints makes if they castle nuts are loose. Followed by a much louder click/clank when you hit the bump. Then a few clicks/clanks as you straighten out.

Could the balljoints be bad internally and bind up at extreme angles, but still be tight going straight?

 

[BSW520!]

Its worth a shot to try I have had this with 3 gladiators and just recently my 2025 Willys under 5000 miles mopar ish lift done at 2500 miles and all was quite until a few weeks back . Did the same checked everything and on wife’s 22 it was transfer case skid plate to gas tank fastener a nut. On mine it was transfer case skid plate outboard passenger side bolt didn’t matter how tight. Put a thin rubber shim under that one and no noises at all. The transfer case skid plate is simple to remove and try or do one bolt at a time.

 

[Maximus Gladius]

My buddy had the same clank/clunk when turning into his soft curbed driveway and he had to be moving to hear it when at full turn. I stuck my head under there and it was a bolt head hitting the steering stabilizer shaft.

The bump of the curb while moving at full steer caused a nearby bolt head to hit the shaft. He parked and steered to the full lock and just steered slightly back and forth and the bolt head was nearly hitting the shaft but there had to be force of a bump to make the bolt head make contact.

 

[Bigb55]

I did install a transfer case skid before the Sedona trip. And all the skids took a couple hits. I'll check those tomorrow. But I laid under the truck and hit everything and nothing rattled.

I already took the steering stabilizer off and repeated the entry to drive way. The noise persisted without the steering stabilizer on.

 

[Badunit]

Is this a rhythmic clank clank clank that goes along with wheel rotation or vehicle speed or a random or bump induced click clicking like something is loose or out of place?

 

[BSW520!]

I did install a transfer case skid before the Sedona trip. And all the skids took a couple hits. I'll check those tomorrow. But I laid under the truck and hit everything and nothing rattled.

I already took the steering stabilizer off and repeated the entry to drive way. The noise persisted without the steering stabilizer on.

It’s worth a try I had torqued re torqued banged on everything and nothing helped. But I knew I had one day left before artic air moved in. So I tried the skid plate .

 

[Bigb55]

Is this a rhythmic clank clank clank that goes along with wheel rotation or vehicle speed or a random or bump induced click clicking like something is loose or out of place?

Sort of both. It starts when tires are fully turned to the driver side. If I crawl over the bump, It's a few rhythmic clicks or pop. Then when the bump is hit the loud clanks are due to the tires hitting the bumps.


But it only happens at left or right full stop steering. Going straight over any bump, even speed bumps there is no noise at all.

Occasionally I'll have a small click or light clank going from start to stop or vice versa.

I'll take video tmrw.

 

[Lost1wing]

Its worth a shot to try I have had this with 3 gladiators and just recently my 2025 Willys under 5000 miles mopar ish lift done at 2500 miles and all was quite until a few weeks back . Did the same checked everything and on wife’s 22 it was transfer case skid plate to gas tank fastener a nut. On mine it was transfer case skid plate outboard passenger side bolt didn’t matter how tight. Put a thin rubber shim under that one and no noises at all. The transfer case skid plate is simple to remove and try or do one bolt at a time.

My undercarriage didn't look that clean when I bought it.

 

[VA6489]

Can't duplicate it without actually moving the jeep forward or backward while hitting the driveway bump. It's very loud and can feel a pop.

I tried every which way to get it to bind stationary and make the noise. Even built a platform out of bricks same height as the driveway bump for one tire at a time. If the jeep isn't moving, no clank.

I did the old school pry bar check for balljoints before and after checking the castle nuts. Jack stand on axle, tire off, pry the knuckle up and down. No excessive play that I can't tell.

Prior to the bump, It does sound similar to the clicking that the balljoints makes if they castle nuts are loose. Followed by a much louder click/clank when you hit the bump. Then a few clicks/clanks as you straighten out.

Could the balljoints be bad internally and bind up at extreme angles, but still be tight going straight?

Check the track bar. Sounds like the mounting bolts are loose or the sleeve is not fully tight.

 

[Mightytalldude]

Clunk noises after off-roading, start with the shock bolts, then the track bar, and finally control arm bolts.

 

[Bigb55]

Clunk noises after off-roading, start with the shock bolts, then the track bar, and finally control arm bolts.

Did all of the above, 3-4 times. Today I even replaced the adjustable track bar and lower control arms with the OEM ones to test. Still made the noise.

I'm convinced it's a balljoint. See what the dealer says next week. If it is the balljoints, I'm taking my freeby repair under warranty. Next time the knuckle and ball joints get upgrades.

 

[Bigb55]

Check the track bar. Sounds like the mounting bolts are loose or the sleeve is not fully tight.

Replaced with the OEM track bar and lower control arms today, still made the clunk noise.

Im convinced it's a non suspension part.

 

[BSW520!]

Replaced with the OEM track bar and lower control arms today, still made the clunk noise.

Im convinced it's a non suspension part.

No dice on skid plates?

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