Help Identifying Possible Suspension/steering Noises? (video)

I bought my X at 54k. It had to be a street-only truck before me. I am now at 102k. 35's at ~75k. I do a lot of off-road.

I know the steering rack is a weakpoint on these trucks... how do I know if it is starting to fail? I get a LOT of popping at slow speeds. Turning, backing out of my driveway... it's painful. Is there a loss of steering feel? Or just noise? Any play in joints that I can check for?

EDIT: Might not be steering. Added video. This is just me going over the smallest dip in my driveway:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APG0ZpL3wBo

Mine was a popping and it began leaking.

View: https://youtu.be/Um-UOHIP_-o

Added a video in original post. It might not be the steering rack. Looking for ideas as it is really creaky...

Front:

• LCA's - replaced a few thousand miles ago. good. no play in bushings/ball joints
  
• UCA's - SPC titan aftermarket for about 25k miles - bushings seem fine. Ball joint on driver side MIGHT be slightly loose but I have to investigate
• U-joints - good. no play
• Steering rack - ???
• Tie rod ends - ???
• Coilovers - ???

Rear:
It sounds like it is coming from the front. But maybe it could be rear? My leaf spring isolator pads on the Alcans are long gone.


What should I be checking? Not sure what to verify with rack, tie rods, and coilovers

All the creaking is probably the rear leafs and or bushings. Also check your front body mounts (the ones in front of the front tire).

That clunk sounds like suspension. Either the lca bushings are already toast or you are getting the "radflo clunk". At least that's what it sounds like on the video. I'd check to make sure your lower coilover bolt is tight. "" because its not really a radflo problem

That sounds more like a suspension noise than the rack to me. Last time I was trying to track something like that down I bought a few cans of silicone spray and soaked different suspect points one by one until the noise went away on one of them. The loudest noises I used to get were from the front coilover spring perches and the leaf pack shifting. There's a decent chance you have two different parts making the noise.

Well now I feel stupid. I guess it had just been a while and I hadn't given it the attention it deserves with my use... I jacked it up and gave it a good shake. Here's what I found:

1. Driver rear LCA bolt was movable by HAND (yikes!! I've been bombing down some gravel roads!)
2. Driver SPC UCA ball joint has up and down movement needs to be replaced
3. Tie rod ball joint on passenger side has nearly 360 movement and is toast
4. Coilovers need to be rebuilt again (lasted me only about 10k miles again)

So put it all together, and the noises seem pretty obvious haha. I'm going get local autoparts store replacements for both tie rod ends, new SPC ball joints, and I also have components for limit straps in the front on the way to help save my shock. Tightening the LCA bolt already helped a lot with the noise.

Don't feel too bad, I've had an LCA cam bolt work loose twice now.

Glad you got it figure out. I developed a creak (though not as bad) while offroading and it turned out to be the body itself. The front left panel creaks when I push on it.