Trying to narrow this down (if possible)

[Roler]

So, to celebrate the fact that our new rental place has a level (-ish) driveway, I can finally put it back on jackstands and proceed with solving my right front issue/clunk.

I have some trouble defining whether its tierods, balljoints, control arms or all that cause the squeaking/clunking when going over bumps (and sometimes when I corner) as well as a slight feel of having to correct direction when going over smaller bumps, especially with speeds > 50km/hr. There is also a pull to the other (passenger) side with uneven tyre wear, but an alignment did not fix this. Now I realize that if there is anything faulty in the steering/suspension , an alignment is pretty much useless until that is fixed.

If I jack up the tyre and put a pry bar under it, there is hardly play. When I rock top and bottom of the wheel, there is nil play to write home about, when I rock the wheel with hands at 9 and 3 o'clock position there is some movement, but I guess that is because I have the front wheels of the ground and they can still move with the steering (maybe I should put the steering 'lock' on next time...). The draglink/trackbar/tierods etc. do not give a lot of play when I rock them either.
Quite some of the rubber boots on the tierods/balljoints are worn/torn...

I hate having to bring it to a shop for this to sort out, because they will likely start 'diagnosing' all components on the list as being up for replacement...on the other hand, I can imagine that all kinds of " little" plays can add up to a bigger one..

Any other things I could try in order to define which one needs replacing before I start doing so? Shocks are new btw.

Cheers for the input

[nitrobrent]

Time to get on your back.
In park, get some one to push the Jeep hard, then pull it back.
Watch each control arm bush, to so if theres movement.
Then, get them to slowly turn the wheel from 11 o'clock to 2 o'clock , backwards and forwards ,watching each tierod end, and the track bar bush for movement.
Then get them to do it full lock to full lock.

[rustynuts]

I'm with "Nitro" on this. Get a mate to push the car and turn the wheel. Feel is everything. Put your hand over the joints. You can feel more than see. A lot of XJ's have that clunk. Check how much the steering box and the track bar bracket is flexing the rail. A bad control arm bush can also be a culprit but I bet your chassis rail is flexing. If so, get back to us for a cure. I had the same.

[ruffy01]

Agree with Nitro & Rusty.

Having to correct steering after bumps at slow speed sounds a lot like a trackbar problem, but as you said Roler, lots of little things....