I'm going to ask a total n00b question that's going to make anyone who knows me lose all respect.

We have an intermittent dull clunking from the front left corner that's proven hard to track down. I don't notice an issue while driving, but my wife says she does, and she thinks the front left shock must be broken. Part of the support for her hypothesis is that you can twist the front left shock's metal case with your hand, but you can't twist the front right one. The nuts at the top of the shock all seem to be tight and secure to me. She's very worried about it, to the point that I have to do something, but I'm not sure how to proceed. Any suggestions?

The shocks are whatever came with the Full Traction 3" Ultimate lift. The tire is a 35. Thanks!

 

Have you checked the bottom bolt on the shock?

 

You might try unbolting the loose shock and adding a washer or two on top. I had to do that to one of my new OME shocks to get it to tighten up all the way.

 

You may very well have a bad shock. I don't know how your wife feels the difference in performance unless there is gas leaking from it -- thus loosing the pressure. I had the same problem with one of my Pro Comp shocks; the clicking noise as I dubbed it when going over cracks in the road or a bump. Honestly, you will be fine. Nothing bad is going to happen to you on the road. Most manufacturers offer lifetime warranty on shocks. What I did with Pro Comp was called them, told the info, etc and so forth, they sent me a new one and I sent them back the old one -- free of charge. Try doing the same with Full Traction.

To test, what I did was I had my dad rock the jeep from side to side and if the clicking was noticeable I pinpointed which shock it was from and that's how I basically knew one was busted.

 

Also, if your shock is mounted can up on the front, you could probably turn it by hand anyway. Have you taken it off and checked the bushings?

 

mkjeep - The big horizontal bolt on the bottom of the shock as at least tight enough that I can't jiggle it, and it looks really tight. ("Hot wife" picture endorsed, but need higher res.)

Others - Thanks, I'll try rocking the Jeep and listening, and also unbolting and rebolting the top and see if that solves the knocking she hears. I guess I could also try taking it completely off and testing it in my hands.

 

Push down on your front bumper cornerand or bounce it, see if you have the noise. I originally thought mine was a shock and it ended up being the clunk from the intermediate shaft from the steering wheel. Could also be a loose sway bar link, control arm, etc. Get a torque wrench and check all parts of the suspension. Full Traction had a problem with bad control arm bushings awhile back, you may wanna check those.

 

If you do hear a clunk bouncing on it, get under it and have someone else bounce it so you can try to locate it. Does she hear it more when she's turning in somewhere? Can she feel it in the steering wheel?

 

A mechanic's stethoscope is a great help when doing this.

But, if I was suspicious of a shock, I'd pull it off and check it over thoroughly. There were problems a while ago with a lot of shock manufacturers getting bad bushings (they were crumbling into nothing) that filtered their way into a number of lift manufacturers offerings. You can find replacement bushings at a local auto parts store.