"Pop" noise when making sharp U Turn

[ssocal87]

Friends- on my 87 4WD, when I make a sharp U turn I hear a pop sound underneath. It's not a click noise like a bad CV, but just pop/grind, metal to meal noise. Is there a worn part or something I can look for that causes this if I crawl underneath?

[Burntboot]

CV's would only be in play if you were in 4WD and I am assuming you wouldn't do that on dry pavement.

There is nothing inherent to vans to create that particular situation that I know of.
Without more information, it could be just about anything.

Maybe start with narrowing down the source:
Front, back, left, right, only when braking, only when not braking, cold, hot, rough roads..........
Maybe have someone ride with you to help identify where the noise is coming from.

Either noise on its own isn't a good thing, the 2 occurring together less so.

Grinding noises are usually best to avoid, so find it and fix it, before it does more damage.

If you're going to crawl under for a look-see, maybe grease the steering stops while you're in there, just to see if it makes a difference.
Should be a thread about that somewhere.

[originalkwyjibo]

My guess would be the steering stop bolts as mine does the same thing at full lock. There is supposed to be a plastic cap on the bolt heads in the lower balljoint to cushion the contact point on the lower control arm but I'm sure most of these have been left on the roadside long ago. Try smearing a little grease on the stop bracket on the control arm. If this fixes it than you can keep it greased, get some new caps, or just don't turn the wheel to full lock. If it doesn't fix it then do :whs:

[ssocal87]

Ah! Thank you. I crawled underneath and sure enough, there's no caps and the metal curved stop plate is dry. I'll grease those up!