Solved the riddle of the front end popping noise
 

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I'd say my bushings were somewhat lacking. This was not one of my prouder moments in my backyard mechanic experiences. I could not stop the shock rod from turning holding a small open ended wrench on the slot on top of the shock rod while I tightened the hex nut. I at least thought to put tape on the vise grips. I did not scratch the chrome finish. Why doesn't Bilstein put a hex head on the top so a person could get a socket/ratchet on it then you really tighten it. Oh well, I did a test drive and no more popping noises.