Loud popping sound when cut wheels

Hello,

Usually this probably is your vehicle's CV joint. Your vehicle's CV joint is a ball and socket joint like your hip or shoulder joint. It has a rubber boot that protects it. When this boot gets compromised, dust, dirt and gravel get into the joint. Over time this debris works like sandpaper and destroys the joint. When you turn your wheel the ball rolls over itself in the now sloppy socket of the CV joint and makes a "popping noise". I have included a few links for you to go to below:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-a-cv-joint-works
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/symptoms-of-a-bad-cv-axle-joint
https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-cv-axle

Please get back to us with what you find out from going these guides.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros

Do you hear the sound more when going over a bump or pulling in and out a drive way? Try this. Have someone rock your vehicle side to side and see if you hear the popping sound. If you do, I would look for bad sway bar end links or worn sway bar bushings. If no sound then hoist the vehicle in the air and with a pry bar, pry around the engine cradle (sub frame) near the bushings to see if it pops. If you can provide an audio sound and load it here that would be great also. Let us know.

Also check the locking nuts at the tie rods. If they are loose they will make noise. And thinking about it, loose sway bar links will make It sound like the wheel is about to fall off. So make sure everything is tight.

To add on, does it make the noise turning both directions? I would also check the rear suspension. It could be a loose bushing that pops when the weight shifts as the body moves. This would be a good use of a chassis ear. Basically an amplifier and piezo microphones you attach to suspect parts. Then you listen for the noise as someone drives.

I can offer two suggestions. The first is the upper strut mounts are binding. To identify that, reach over the top of a front tire and lightly wrap your fingertips over part of the coil spring. Have a helper slowly turn the steering wheel back and forth. The spring should rotate smoothly with the wheel. If the upper mount is binding, the spring will wind up and build tension, then you'll feel it snap free and rotate. This will occur when the car is standing still, and sometimes when moving slowly. At parking lot speed there is usually enough bouncing to let the mount let go and rotate freely. The second clue is these will not bind when the car is on a frame-contact hoist with the suspension hanging down. That unloads the bearings in the upper mounts and lets them rotate easily.

The second recommendation is the "Chassis Ear" Steve W. Mentioned. That is a set of six microphones, a switch box, and head phones. You clip the microphones to suspect parts, then drive around while switching between them to listen where the sound is loudest. The guys who drive the tool trucks around get around $200.00 for the original version of this tool. I found it for $99.00 on eBay. There are newer versions too. One uses four wireless microphones and two with wires. One model doesn't use head phones. I don't like that because normal road noise interferes with listening closely. Be aware most mechanics have never even seen or heard of this tool. Suspension and alignment specialists use them quite often to find the causes of squeaks and rattles.

Does the car have to be in motion or will it do it setting still as well? What parts were replaced with the struts? Complete units or just the inner unit?
Try this to maybe narrow it down a bit. Jack up one front corner so the tire is just off the ground. Put a hand on the tire and have someone turn the wheel. Does it move nice and smooth and does it still pop? Now try the other side the same way. When it pops do you feel anything in the steering wheel? How about if you feel the steering shaft itself under the hood.

Can you make a recording of the sound and post it on here? Needing to be in motion suggests it's more likely the front subframe moving around.

Bad rack or inner tie rod you would feel in the wheel and it would only pop while you were turning. You said it sometimes does it going straight. It's six years old, that's plenty of time for a bolt to work loose or a bushing to fail enough that things can shift around.

That is possible and one of the items you would need to check with it on a lift. I would pry around any of the areas where the bolts are as well as the suspension points to see if there is movement that shouldn't be there.
Is the popping repeatable? Like you can get it to do it every time you turn the wheel? Does it do it when turning both directions? How far do you need to turn the wheel before it pops?
Does it also do it if you hit bumps or speed bumps?