I would be more worried about 10 dollar ball joints lol. You really get what you pay for and I've heard a lot of horror stories about cheapo ball joints. I use raybestos professional grade.

 

+1 on the ball joints. Keep in mind: as quickly as these things eat ball joints, and, "you get what you pay for", you might be better off with the ones you have in it now Good quality ball joints, Raybestos, TRW & Moog, all run about $50 each. Lower ball joints on 4WD involve a fair amount of labor to replace. Uppers not so much, but still, try to stay away from el cheapo suspension & steering parts. Might want to try greasing the heck out of them and drive it, see if that makes any difference in the noise.

 

I picked up raybestos service grade ball joints, I figured I would try those before replacing the control arms, because the arms come with ball joints installed already. If the noise went away, at least I would know what the problem is.

 

Not sure about the service grade but I know the professional grade has a lifetime warranty that covers the part and any labor cost.

 

"Service grade" is comparable to the $10.99 jobbie..... cross your fingers

 

my 2000 ls 4x4 does this also. ive did ball joint,tie rods, idler and pitman arm, sway bar bushings. only think i didnt do it control arms and shocks. The aligment checks out good...i seen the paper. Mine does it when you are turning hard to the left. I think it does it turning right but not as bad.

 

Another thing you can check is the overturn stops on the lower control arms. They are what limit the turn on each wheel and most everybody forgets to grease them. 1/2" wide by 1" tall steel stops and the bumpers are on the steering knuckle, grease 'em up.

 

the POP that i had for a while ended up being the motor mounts...
Just my 2cents..
Robert

 

I saw a video on youtube, of a guy fixing his hood? He says that it makes a popping sound because the bolts are defective, and there's nothing wrong with the front end. Anyone else ever heard of that?

 

Yeah, I had that same problem. Don't remember what the noise sounded like because it was so long ago though. But you just replace the washers with a cone shaped washer. Check out the DIY section for more info.