On my 1988 Dakota LE 3.9 V6 2WD, when I make a right turn, when is a soft "pop" sound being made. Sounds like coming from the right front, but I am unsure of that. About a month ago, when I changed the front brake rotors, pads, bearings, & wheel seals, I greased the ball joints.
The only front end work that I have had done so far is the rack & pinion being replaced.

 

Pull he wheel off and inspect ball joints, tie rods, sway bar end links, etc.

 

It wouldn't hurt to replace all of those. This truck is one year older than I am. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

Replace everything with Moog, or something that's high quality. It might hurt to bite the bullet the first time. But it'll hurt even more if you have to redo something after the first 6 months from lack of quality like drive works.. and then things keep breaking monthly after the first break.

 

I agree Toby! When it comes to brakes, front end parts, & oil changes, never go the cheap way. It will end up costing more money in the long run.

 

I would also have suggested Moog up until fairly recently. Unfortunately Moog has taken a quality drop in the past few years. I've gotten some poor quality and/or inconsistent parts from them. While I'd still say Moog is better than the average crap that's out there, right now I'm leaning toward ACDelco being a more reliable choice. Just replaced a three year old severely indexed Moog tie rod (which incidentally was completely different and worse than the also Moog branded left side) with a much nicer AC Delco. Also had issues with sway bar links on another car. Anyways, my front end is almost entirely Moog still with no other problems so I'm sure you could do worse...such as the valucraft line at AutoZone. Wouldn't even want to fix and flip with that crap on it.

 

Have You ever tried the NCP line of front end & chassis parts at NAPA Auto Parts? I have read online, that they are better than Moog.

 

I'm sure I have on some car at some point but I can't recall. I don't go to Napa very often but I've also heard their parts are high quality compared to other parts stores. They're also the most well-stocked (with weird parts you wouldn't expect them to stock) parts stores, I find.

 

pulling the wheel off wont do you any good to check out the ball joints, you need the wheel and tire on there to pull and pry on to check for play. I would look 1st at sway bar links with what you describe.
and on front end parts; use MOOG brand and NOTHING else unless you like re-do's....

 

Got some news for you from 2017, Volaredon ... MOOG will cause you to re-do nowadays.

QC for Moog has gone to crap.

The Spicer Pro family (usually sold as the high end ACDelco or Raybestos; i.e., Advanced Technology or Professional Grade) are much better parts nowadays than what Moog is selling.

And even within Moog, there's the "Moog Moog" or decent stuff for Moog; and there's the "Cheap Moog" made of the finest Chinesium. Sometimes they use Thaitanium.

Yes, back when I was a young'un in the 70's, Moog was IT.

So were bell bottom jeans.

Both have passed; Moog's high level of quality I regret. Bell bottom jeans and disco, not so much.

RwP