Ken,
Could the noise be described as a POP?
I had my car up on jacks, engine off, and had a friend turn the steering wheel back and forth. I was getting a pop noise that I thought was a sticking tie rod end. I could clearly hear it from inside the car.

It turned out to be the idler arm bushing. When that bushing starts to wear, it no longer rotates properly in relation to the axis of the idler arm housing and starts to stick. That is the noise I was hearing.

I replaced this part with a Lemforder brand (factory OEM) kit and had my front end mechanic replace it today. The idler arm bushing can sometimes be a bear to remove. He had to use his pneumatic hammer and some heat to force the upper one out. The lower one required heat, Vise Grips and a large screw driver. I suspect one could make a puller out of a auto body hammer. Based on what I observed today, the removal of the idler arm bushing could have taken me several hours on my back in the garage.

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84 300DT Puke Yellow. Totalled after 438,000
84 300DT Orient Red. 169,000 (actual mileage may vary)
2002 Explorer EB (wife's)