Crunchy sound when accelerating from a stop

Just today my Jeep started to make a weird crunchy popping sound under light acceleration. It only happens from a stop and only lasts for a couple seconds. I haven’t had a chance to look under it yet. It still seems to drive fine, but I’m hoping to get a couple ideas so I know what to look for when I crawl under it in the morning.

My first thought is to check the U joints. Any clunking when going from forward to reverse gears?

My first thought was capt 'n' crunch spilled in the back seat... This happened to me once after my kid was back there

No I joints would make sense. I’m thinking possibly CV joints as well. Nothing notable shifting from reverse to forward or anything like that. It also didn’t do it in my way home tonight.

mtbspm said:

No I joints would make sense. I’m thinking possibly CV joints as well. Nothing notable shifting from reverse to forward or anything like that. It also didn’t do it in my way home tonight.

Click to expand...

CV joints tend to click when they fail.. and usually on turning as the joint it is articulated.. not always, but generally.

U joints would be a good one to check, upper control arm bushings and balljoint is my next best guess. Sometimes it crunches instead of clunks.

Can you tell if it's more from the front or back? Lower control arm bushings is another one to look into.

Definitely sounds like the front. It decided to get cold again, so it'll be a couple days before I look under it. The lower control arms are original, would Jeep still cover them under that recall?

mtbspm said:

Definitely sounds like the front. It decided to get cold again, so it'll be a couple days before I look under it. The lower control arms are original, would Jeep still cover them under that recall?

Click to expand...

Only if the recall campaign is open on your VIN.

Punch your VIN into the lookup page on Jeep's website and check it out.. if it's still open and applicable to your vehicle, it'll be listed.

I'll have o check that out when I get home tonight. Otherwise I'll probably spend a bit of the weekend messing with stuff under the Jeep.

I just got around to checking everything out. I honestly can't find anything. I'm noticing a bit of a lip on the end of my brake rotors, and I've been getting a bit of a squeal. I'll probably start by doing pads and rotors to see what happens. Also, my lower ball joints have broken boots, but when looking at the recalls, that job was already complied with. Is there any chance they'll redo it? Concerning those ball joints, I know that I do need to replace them, but there is no play in those joints, so I'm not thinking that's the cause of the noise.

Noise has gotten worse and far more consistent and it a result of steering motions. I'm thinking those ball joints are likely the issue after all, replacing them tomorrow. I'm thinking that if that doesn't do it, maybe the tie rods?