i took out the entire spindle for my coils =\

 

geez, that might be overkill. heh.

It may not though, depending on your tools. Fought pretty hard to get the strut free from the carrier when I did my wheel bearing, didn't have my stretcher tool then. Had I removed the strut and carrier, and THEN tried to separate them, I probably would have had more room with the pry bar. live and learn.

 

so did anyone find out what it was that made the OP's popping sound?

 

well im gonna joing the popping noise club... mine does the same like when backing up and steering at the same time. at low speeds. can it be the barings??

 

probably not the bearings. bearings 'growl', and if they're the front ones, which are the ones more likely to go bad, you'll feel a slight vibration in the steering wheel usually.

Look to CV's, or strut tower bearings first.

 

^ i can confirm the strut tower bearings.

mine have knocked on rare occassions with the new strut tower bearings in. maybe the break in period? well i havent heard it knock in awhile... gonna do the sway bar bushings, see if that helps any

 

I had the same problem and it ended up being my guibo/flex disk and driveshaft.

 

Just some advice. Before you go spend money, make sure everything is still as it should be in the wheel well. I had a popping noise after coilovers were put on and turns out one of my sway bar link was loose.

 

all of the fixes to correct this so far, have been under warranty. I think replacing the subframe has to help. They have all ready replaced strut bearings/bushings, lower sway bar, still fukin pops! Should get it done this week. I'll keep you guys posted on what happens.

 

^ try tightening your swaybar links?