Desert Snow

Hey guys...

Hope this is being posted in the right forum section...

The last 2 times I hit the highway I experienced a thumping sound under the far left driver side front floor board. Occasionally, I can feel the thump under my left foot. Also, I occasionally hear it just a bit further back (under my seat). It's never consistent and I can't find a pattern except I'm always driving over 60 when it happens. I never experience it in the city when I'm driving 40 and under.

I have an automatic 2011 JKU with a Teraflex BB (installed about 1 year ago). Shocks are stock with the extensions.

It did start just prior to finding the axle breather hose disconnected (the first time about 2 weeks ago). And, the second time (today), but the hose was not disconnected.

I physically inspected the undercarriage and found nothing notable. No lights on the dash at the time it occurred and nothing notable on the gauges.

Any thoughts or guidance? I appreciate your feedback as I'm definitely concerned.

Thanks.

dahreno

Sounds to me like you need to make sure all the control arms are tight . Don't just look at them , put a wrench on them and make sure they are tight . Then go around , look at every bolt and make sure they are tight . It could also be control arm bushings . Let us know what you find . Also , if there is a 4 wheel parts near you , they are running a special 42 point inspection , for free .

Desert Snow

Dahreno...

Thanks for the response. I'll be checking that out today. Thanks for the tip on 4 wheel parts. I'm actually going there tomorrow to pick up a replacement Trektop NX. But, I don't see anything on their site about the free check. Do you have a link?

dahreno

I received a mailer from them on the check up . Maybe not available everywhere . I would call them to find out . My mailer also said free flashlight , so with the check up , also got a free led flashlight . Tell them a friend got a mailer from the Reno Nv. store about the check up and see what they say . Good luck .

shawnpalmer

I have that same issue, and I think its the hood fluttering. It sure feels like its underneath, but I can see the hood doing it.

dahreno

I installed the Daystar hood latches for mine , haven't had the problem since

Desert Snow

Thanks guys. So, I took a pretty systematic approach here to isolate the problem. I found out exactly what is was too...

I pulled up the torque settings from wayalife and went through nearly every bolt on the front end: control arms, tie rod, sway bar links, track rod, etc. I torqued each one and then hit the highway. Every time I still experienced the thumping, but with all the other road noise it was hard to really isolate if it was coming from underfoot or not. It certainly felt like it was underneath, but the location shifted every time (foot, seat, center). The entire process was taking a few hours with all the driving and I felt I was getting no where closer towards resolving it.

My last test run (yup, my last one because I figured out what it was) was at about 9PM last night and it was pretty windy. However, i figured if i waited until later at night I would have a better chance of listening and it not being drowned out by all the other road noise. Well, immediately when I hit about 65 it started again. But, this time it was pretty apparent where it was coming from. It turns out the latch able (header) front side portion of my Trektop NX was getting lifted and slammed down onto the roll bar/speaker bar. I heard it pretty clearly and felt the thump underneath my seat at the same time. I pulled over, latched the top and hit the road again. No thump. Unbelievable. I couldn't help but laugh as I felt like a total dipshit.

BTW...one thing I left out was that I also pulled my front diff cover and drained the oil, cleaned the gearing, reseller the diff cover and filled her back up. I did this because 2 weeks ago I found my breather hose disconnected and I had been running through mud.

It was a busy day. At least my front end is in good order right now.