2006 Jeep Liberty - Mysterious noise

[Qman]

Hello - First time user.

My wife has a 2006 Jeep Liberty Sport. This only happens when the outside temp is above 70 degrees or so. There is a noticiable popping/clunking noise coming from the front end of the vehicle (at least that what is sounds like). It happens typically during braking and is literally sounds like two pieces of metal hitting eachother. I have sprayed all bushings, checked ball joints - tight, no movement. Kind of at a loss. I had a shop look at it and they said it was front brake pads shims were loose. Fixed that, the sound still persists.

Any help would be great.

 

[JeepJeepster]

Does the noise happen once when the brakes are hit? Or is it a rotational noise that continues to clunk as long as the brakes are depressed?

 

[Qman]

Not rotational. it does it once the brakes are hit and nearing a stop. One time, that is all

 

[Qman]

update

Today - Replaced both u-joints and lower strut bushings. Sound is still there. I narrowed it down to the passenger side, (almost sounds near firewall). I rechecked all components, everything is tight. No sounds going over bumps, etc. Could it be the hub? When I slow down, it binds up? It only happens periodically when I am slowing down. Any help??

 

[JeepCoMJ]

check the kmember bolts. rear ones, 18mm head. one of the KJ's I worked on had a loose one.

not sure on the torque spec of them, but I run them tight as I can with a 4' breaker bar...somewhere around 150 ftlbs with feeling the tension.

 

[Qman]

thanks for the response...you are saying the cross member bolts correct? For the transfer case? or the front diff?

 

[JeepCoMJ]

Front suspension.


Also check caliper bracket bolts....they're 21mm.

 

[Austerity]

Passenger side near firewall, how about the rear upper control arm bolt? That is the one that comes loose repeatedly and makes the SAME knocking sound on my 2006.

 

[Qman]

Is that the arm that the upper ball joint is attached to?

 

[JeepCoMJ]

yup. 18mm. you can get at it with a swivel and several extensions and a ratchet, if you don't have the mechanical fan. If you do, take the airbox out to access those bolts...that's just a flat head or 8mm or 5/16" to loosen the clamp, and then pull up on the entire box to remove it.

 

[rbm92226]

Check your cv axles for any movement, and always the intermediates shaft can provide all kinds of noise in the front. I just ended up taking mine out for a similar issue

 

[JLRockies]

Make sure the noise isn't actually in the rear. My front end cluck on the pass side ended up being a rear end clunk once Yellow Coyote's boy stuck his head under the Jeep as I drove around in circles.
Noise can be hard to localize in a unibody vehicle. In my case, the rear control arm bolts had come loose.

 

[Qman]

I swapped out the front sway bar bushing and I thought the sound went away. But, low and behold, it is back...Rear control arms were replaced under recall. I will check to ensure they are tight.