Bad Drag Link?

Super easy to replace, did mine for about $300 plus had to buy two wrenches-- nuts on old DL were metric and nuts on new one were ASE

 

Before greasing use a large pare of channel lock/water pump pliers and squeeze the ball joint (between flat surface and threaded stud) if it shows movement it is wearing out. The alignment tech showed me this years ago, works well, just like spinning the tire and feeling the brake pot for vibrations for a bad wheel bearing.

 

I think that would be one good reason to replace it yes. Mine was going through a DOT inspection at a T/A the tech grabbed it and said it twisted way too easy; he wanted to replace it for $800 bucks. I paid $60 for the failed inspection and drove over to KW and got a new DL for about $300 plus the two wrenches about $40 bucks each.

 

I don't see anything to worry about on that drag link
Before you grease it next time grab ahold of it near each end and try to shake it all directions or shake the steering wheel back and forth while watching for movement
It would be pretty much pointless to do that now after a fresh grease job because the grease will take up the space in the joint if there is any

When the front end pops it's generally the spring pins

 

With the weight on the steer tires and the engine running grab the steering shaft and jiggle it back and forth and watch both joints for movement. Any visible movement and it is time to replace. Rotational looseness by rotating the link is not necessarily an indicator that the part is worn by itself. More importantly , Inspect the Pitman arm for looseness at the Pitman shaft/steering gear, there will be signs of rust if it is loose at the splines. This is very common on the TRW gears. In fact, I would highly recommend torqueing this 3/4 pinch bolt often just to make sure it does not come loose.

Neither of these is likely to resolve the loud popping noise you are hearing. The most common source for the noise is likely from the steer axle spring pins and bushings. They are dry and or have slop or movement that is causing the noise. Both the 387 and 587 have always had issues in this area.

 

Those boots are not meant to be a total grease seal. They are just a dirt cover. Grease is suppose to come out when you grease it. I see nothing wrong there. Like Goodysnap said, you need to have a someone shake the steering wheel back and forth and check for any play at those ball joints. I highly doubt that is causing your snapping sound and would look to the front spring pins for that.

 

If you jack the front end off the ground and wobble the top/bottom of the wheel at 12 and 6 only youve got bad kingpins. Wobble while someone else looks and itll be obvious movement between the inner and outer knuckles, usually worse at the top.

Wobble only at 3 and 9 oclock indicates slop in steer linkages and wobble all the way around the clock is loose wheel bearings. Moving the steering while rig is on the ground will reveal the bad joints. Altho a lot of times you see the worst one, change it out then find the next worse one down the line which wears at an increased rate once the sloppy joint becomes the tight one and sloppy joint number 2 starts bearing the brunt of dissipating road chatter. A sloppy front end will hide a lot of tire shimmy and road imperfection from the steering wheel. New parts suddenly give your palms a lot more sensation.