Weird pop in steering

[dholloway543]

This doesn't happen when its less than or equal to about 80F outside but when its above that temp. whenever i'm turning the wheel a large amount to the left or right I can hear a pop. like something was in the way but the pressure released. Is this normal, I can record it if need be.

[anticubus]

Originally Posted by dholloway543

This doesn't happen when its less than or equal to about 80F outside but when its above that temp. whenever i'm turning the wheel a large amount to the left or right I can hear a pop. like something was in the way but the pressure released. Is this normal, I can record it if need be.

Pretty much guaranteed to be something loose in the suspension or steering. What kind of loose will be hard to say.

I'd start with checking lug nut torque, move to sway bar links, followed by outer and inner tie rods, then ball joints, CV joints, and the bolts holding your struts/coilovers to the strut tower.

It's best to do this with the suspension entirely unloaded and the strut/coilover disconnected from the knuckle. Sway bar links, tie rod inners and outers, and ball joints should not be easy to move by hand, but they should also not be frozen. CV joints should hold position but not bind. Strut tower bolts should be checked with a small torque wrench (Usually inch-lb rates, don't know the spec off-hand.)

After going through all that diagnosis effort, I'd be posting this same thread and making a stop at my preferred wheel and alignment shop. Lots of members here can offer more experience than I can.

[ItsReiko]

Did this issue arise after installing new suspension components? A similar issue for me after installing new springs.

[MCTeeJ]

My pop is when going lock to lock (but the pop always comes from passenger front) or sitting at 3/4 of the way to lock while backing out of a driveway. I've taken the endlinks off momentarily, and it made no difference. I'm headed to a shop Saturday for a professional diagnosis.

[radroach]

@dholloway543 On some mornings I get a pop in my steering when I back out of my parking space and turn my wheels to the left. Almost feels like my wheel is running over a rock. I figure its my brakes dragging.

[dholloway543]

If there are more than a handful of cases its probably just a feature not an issue

[dholloway543]

I have a feeling that its the tophat bearings binding. Ill look into it farther though.

[pogofx]

Originally Posted by dholloway543

I have a feeling that its the tophat bearings binding. Ill look into it farther though.

My top hats (upper strut mounts) pop doing the same kinda stuff. Usually low speed turns backing out of the driveway or into or out of a parking spot. Really irritating. I dropped the strut and reinstalled and it seemed to go away for a while, but came right back. I've retorqued everything a bunch of times with no help. Even changed out the sway bar outer end links to adjustable ones when I thought that's where it was coming from.

It took me a long time to track it down to the top hats, but I'm confident now that's where its at. I opened the hood and had my wife slowly back the car out of the driveway while I walked along side and place my hand on the top hat. I could feel it right there when it popped as she was turning. Finally the smoking gun to my noise.

I'll be changing them out to Pedders strut mounts over the next few days. Hoping that takes care of it. I am on Eibach Pro springs (TRD's) as well so the may have been a contributing factor.

[dholloway543]

NVM turns out this issue was actually my motor mounts being blown. Also the popping during turning was my skid plate shifting, i only had half the bolts in it