2003 Liberty 2WD Loud Front End Bang

[Hannibal]

Hello all.

I'm new to this board but I have owned a Jeep in one form or another for the last 25 years.

I have a problem with my 2003 Liberty and I'm not certain how to solve it. Let me start with the general description of the problem. When going over very small bumps, a loud jarring bang is heard in the front end. It happens at any speed but seems to be more frequent at low speeds (under 20 MPH).

The Jeep has had the ball joints replaced per the recall.
The Jeep has 91,000 miles on it.
The Jeep is 2WD and bone stock.
No unusual tire wear is seen that would typically indicate a bad ball joint (in my experience).
The struts/shocks are original and have not been changed.
The car doesn't pull or drift when driving.

I really don't want to play a game of $500 dollar roulette with my local dealership so if anyone has had the issue or knows how to solve it, I would greatly appreciate any help.

Thanks!

 

[02blue]

Have you pulled it up on some ramps or jack it up (please use jack stands too) and shaken everything you can see? Might even see something. Broken shock/ spring, defective new ball joint? Have to look first if you haven't.

 

[Hannibal]

I mentioned the issue to the dealer when it went in for an airbag recall. I explained the issue to them and asked if they would check over the ball joints. The dealer told me that, "everything looked fine". This was one week after a local place told me that my ball joints were bad. I can't imagine that the ball joints are bad because it shows none of the usual signs.

I haven't had a chance to place it on jack stands yet though it was on my list of things to do if I couldn't get any insight from the forum page.

Thanks.

 

[02blue]

May want to try this procedure:

LOST JEEPS • View topic - HOW TO CHECK YOUR BALL JOINTS.

 

[Hannibal]

Thanks for the link.

I went out in the garage and tried this test exactly as the post instructed. I jacked up each side by the lower control arm and did the lift tests with a pry bar. I have no play up and down nor do I have any play back and forth.

I did notice that the rubber bottom out pucks were gone off the struts on both sides. I'm sure they fell out due to dry rot though.

I took the Jeep for a 20MPH ride down the road. I wanted to see if the loud bang was isolated to one side. First I ran the driver's side over a small hole. BOOM!! Very loud bang. I repeated this on the passenger's side and I got the same result; a very loud bang.

Does anyone have any other ideas? I'm at a loss.

Thanks.

 

[CactusJacked]

I did notice that the rubber bottom out pucks were gone off the struts on both sides. I'm sure they fell out due to dry rot though.
Does anyone have any other ideas? I'm at a loss.
Thanks.

I believe you answered your own question right there. No "rubber bottom out pucks" means you have metal to metal when your suspension bottoms out. Either your upper control arm is hitting at the top, or your coil springs are compressing completely. Either way will give you a bang, which is what the rubber prevents. Replace your missing rubbers.

 

[02blue]

I believe you answered your own question right there. No "rubber bottom out pucks" means you have metal to metal when your suspension bottoms out. Either your upper control arm is hitting at the top, or your coil springs are compressing completely. Either way will give you a bang, which is what the rubber prevents. Replace your missing rubbers.

X2

Sounds like your suspension may be completely shot too if you are hitting even with the missing stops over small bumps.

 

[Hannibal]

I went outside looking for any sign of metal to metal contact and found none.

However, after turning the wheels and looking inside, I saw that the boot has rotted away on both upper ball joints. This pic is from the driver's side. The lower ball joints don't appear to have an issue.

 

[CzarKJ]

That looks like a really sagged suspension! Sounds like the shocks just can't handle it any more. A bad suspension will destroy your ball joints.

 

[Hannibal]

I really am at a loss. There is no play on either side when doing the ball joint tests. I see no visible sign of a failed/worn part other than the ball joint boots. The Jeep steers fine and has no noise at all when driving...until you hit any hole that causes the suspension to compress. That's when I hear the loud jolting bang on which ever side compresses.

Logic tells me that if the sound is the same on the right side when hitting a hole as it is when I hit one with the left, it must be a part that connects to both wheels.

Thanks for the ideas and thoughts thus far. Please keep them coming. At this point, I will try anything to figure this out.

 

[CactusJacked]

Once you replace the missing bump stops, your questions are most likely going to stop too.

 

[Jo6pak]

I'm also voting for a combination of sagged out suspension and missing bumps.

 

[02blue]

(yeahthat)

Once you replace the missing bump stops, your questions are most likely going to stop too.

(yeahthat)(yeahthat)(yeahthat)

 

[Slims]

There's a recall on either the upper or lower control arms also. Mine was doing the same thing yours is doing. Got the control arms under recall changed then paid for the ones not covered in the recall to be changed as well and the noise went away.

 

[Hannibal]

There's a recall on either the upper or lower control arms also. Mine was doing the same thing yours is doing. Got the control arms under recall changed then paid for the ones not covered in the recall to be changed as well and the noise went away.

I just found the recall that you're talking about. I will be calling the dealer this morning.

Thanks!

 

[Slims]

Let us know what you find out.

 

[Hannibal]

I took the Liberty into the dealership. They have identified the problem.

I took the tech out for a ride through a nice muddy pot hole ridden parking lot. When I hit the first pot hole, he instantly said, "Yep, I've seen this before. I bet it's the control arm/ball joint issue...".

I did ask if the suspension looked sagged/worn out. He said not at all. It's not a sagging suspension. It is the upper control arm/upper ball joint recall issue.

I'm currently waiting on parts so as soon as it goes in and gets all the updated gear, I will report back. I also told them to replace the lowers while they were there just like another poster in this thread had done.

 

[Slims]

Glad to hear. It should eliminate the noise.

 

[Cardhu]

depends on what you might consider worn out for suspension. If it were me i'd have it changed considering that your hitting where you bump stops used to be at every pot hole.

Measure from wheel center to fender, new is 19inches.

Replaced mine at 18 inches, was overdue.

I do agree that you UCA are shot.

 

[Slims]

depends on what you might consider worn out for suspension. If it were me i'd have it changed considering that your hitting where you bump stops used to be at every pot hole.

Measure from wheel center to fender, new is 19inches.

Replaced mine at 18 inches, was overdue.

I do agree that you UCA are shot.

The noise he is referring to if its the same as I experienced is hard to describe. It's not really a bang. The noise starts as soon as the tire goes into the pothole, not when it bottoms out.