I can distinctly hear a loud popping sound from the front end, when I'm going from left-lock to right-lock and traveling slowly also if I turn the wheel when the vehicle is not moving, my question is does this sound typical of worn out Tie rod ends? This only started happening after I recently replaced the passenger side hub bearing assembly. Any suggestions appreciated.

A possibility may be a loose bolt somewhere. Sounds like a loose trac-bar bolt to me but w/out seeing all in person it can be very difficult to diagnose. You may want to try jacking each front wheel off the ground seperatly and pulling up and down on them to try and isolate a side making noise. Also might want to try shoving the body side to side to see if the trac bar clicks during side to side movement.

Good luck brotha,

Easy Rick.

Had exactly that happen on my wife's XJ... tore apart nearly everything trying to diagnose it, because I assumed the new hub assembly wasn't to blame.

The replacement hub bearing assembly was indeed bad. I was able to return it for a refund, and replaced it with a decent part from NAPA.

last time i had a popping sound it was a damn stick.. i think.. i hope.. cause all i did was wrench it to the left quickly and it must of broke it out or something.. either way, no more sound.. still drives straight.. no longer care.

Had exactly that happen on my wife's XJ... tore apart nearly everything trying to diagnose it, because I assumed the new hub assembly wasn't to blame.

The replacement hub bearing assembly was indeed bad. I was able to return it for a refund, and replaced it with a decent part from NAPA. Yep, seen this a million times at work. Seems some aftermarket hub assys don't fit as tight as the factory ones and cause a LOUD pop when turning at slow or no speeds.

Well if I do have to pull the hub assembly again it won't be quite the PITA it was to get the seized bolts out. I'm heading home this weekend to jack it up in the front and give it a full once over.

Never hurts to get under the front of the Jeep and have a friend turn the wheel back and forth. Generally speaking anything that makes a noise on steering in the cab will be audible under the front end. And many things that are audible under the front end are visible under the front end. Could be as simple as a leaf spring popping, but you gotta look.