Annoying underbody rattle after Ironman lift install. (1 Viewer)

[TurbineTester]

After installing my Ironman lift a couple of weeks ago I now have a rattle that I hear when going over bumps like driveway entrances and speed bumps. It sounds like medium/large pieces of metal colliding gently under the body, seemingly originating from the front left/driver side of the vehicle. I have checked all the bolts of the torsion bars and everything is tightened securely and torqued to at least 100 ft lbs for the front torsion mounts and the adjustment bolts in the rear of the torsion bars are tightened to give me about 1" of rake from front to rear. I cannot find any loose components or connection under the truck. Any idea what I should check to find this rattle?

 

[FxFormat]

Metal rattle sound might be the exhaust heatshield, check that, check your skid plate, check the plastic cover panel as well. Take a rubber mallet and just hit suspicious areas under the truck and see if you can isolate the source.

 

[kz195688]

You may want to also check the shock nut torque and the stabilizer bar links.

 

[MongooseGA]

Did you pull your belly pans for any reason during the install? Both of my 100s have has a very slight heat shield rattle when cold and the 2nd belly pan section(2nd from the very front) rattle when I close the doors. Took me weeks to figure it out the first time.

 

[TurbineTester]

Metal rattle sound might be the exhaust heatshield, check that, check your skid plate, check the plastic cover panel as well. Take a rubber mallet and just hit suspicious areas under the truck and see if you can isolate the source.

That's a great idea about the rubber mallet, I'll try that.

 

[TurbineTester]

You may want to also check the shock nut torque and the stabilizer bar links.

I'll check those again, thanks for reminding me

 

[abuck99]

Front anti-sway bar may be making contact

 

[TurbineTester]

Ok the only thing I can see is that the bushings on the ends of the anti-sway bars appear to be pretty worn. Are those relatively easy to replace? Will they wear at a faster rate with the lift?

 

[MongooseGA]

They're very easy to replace. I use a floor jack to manipulate the tension on them and keep the job super simple. Check out Trail Tailor's extended links for lifted trucks. I think they run $200 for all 4.

 

[Manhattan]

This can be hard to do with truck on the ground - the thing that's rattling could feel/sound "tight" with the weight of the truck on it, e.g. suspension and steering parts.

My 100 - with an IronMan system - has an annoying rattle too. I was under there yesterday pulling, shaking, tapping... checking nuts, etc. Nothin. I only hear the rattle when the windows are down... and it's finally below 90 degrees here. The truck will be on a lift tomorrow - I'll report back if we're able to find the rattle.

 

[knewstance]

This can be hard to do with truck on the ground - the thing that's rattling could feel/sound "tight" with the weight of the truck on it, e.g. suspension and steering parts.

My 100 - with an IronMan system - has an annoying rattle too. I was under there yesterday pulling, shaking, tapping... checking nuts, etc. Nothin. I only hear the rattle when the windows are down... and it's finally below 90 degrees here. The truck will be on a lift tomorrow - I'll report back if we're able to find the rattle.

Were you able to find the rattle?

 

[Manhattan]

Admittedly, when the shop owner and tech went over the list of $hit wrong with the front end - CV, rack, pump... - I forgot to ask about the rattle.

 

[knewstance]

Admittedly, when the shop owner and tech went over the list of $hit wrong with the front end - CV, rack, pump... - I forgot to ask about the rattle.

Definitely sounds like you had more pressing issues!

 

[TurbineTester]

As I mentioned above my clunking/rattle sound started immediately after installing an Ironman 4x4 lift with the foam shocks. I replaced the front sway end link bushings and that didn't fix the problem. This last weekend I removed both foam shocks and put the old OEM shocks back on and the sound issue is completely resolved. Now I need to figure out why the shocks make noise. I'm sending emails to metaltech, US supplier and Ironman today.

 

[TurbineTester]

This can be hard to do with truck on the ground - the thing that's rattling could feel/sound "tight" with the weight of the truck on it, e.g. suspension and steering parts.

My 100 - with an IronMan system - has an annoying rattle too. I was under there yesterday pulling, shaking, tapping... checking nuts, etc. Nothin. I only hear the rattle when the windows are down... and it's finally below 90 degrees here. The truck will be on a lift tomorrow - I'll report back if we're able to find the rattle.

There might be a problem with the Ironman shocks that is causing the rattle. Try swapping them back to the OEM, if you didn't throw them away, to see if the sound goes away.

 

[Manhattan]

My rattle was ID'ed as the top bolt on a rear shock... the one that's a pain in the ass to get to.

 

[MongooseGA]

I am chasing a rattle too. It came about after my first mountain trip after the TD suspension was installed. No rattles on the new parts prior to the wheeling trip.

My mechanic said he was able to track it down to some play in the rear bumper and shoved some foam in it, but it persists. Nothing else on the truck squeaks or makes any noise at all, so it's particularly annoying. I've removed EVERYTHING from the cargo area, no dice. Removed the spare tire and cross bar/winch, no dice. I've checked every bolt under the rear of the truck, all appear tight. My next step will be to just pull off the bumper altogether to see if that's really it. As long as I know it's not something crucial, I can tolerate it until a new bumper goes on the back.

 

[TurbineTester]

My rattle was ID'ed as the top bolt on a rear shock... the one that's a pain in the ass to get to.

My goodness that bolt was a pain. In my case I've checked those bolts several times and my noise goes away when swapping out the front shocks. I have doubts that the Ironman shocks are the SOURCE of the noise, but obviously they are the cause. It seems plausible that unless the shocks are defective, the stiffer suspension response is simply revealing a rattle elsewhere on the front end that the softer OEM shocks disguise.

 

[TurbineTester]

I am chasing a rattle too. It came about after my first mountain trip after the TD suspension was installed. No rattles on the new parts prior to the wheeling trip.

My mechanic said he was able to track it down to some play in the rear bumper and shoved some foam in it, but it persists. Nothing else on the truck squeaks or makes any noise at all, so it's particularly annoying. I've removed EVERYTHING from the cargo area, no dice. Removed the spare tire and cross bar/winch, no dice. I've checked every bolt under the rear of the truck, all appear tight. My next step will be to just pull off the bumper altogether to see if that's really it. As long as I know it's not something crucial, I can tolerate it until a new bumper goes on the back.

I'm trying to envision how a rear bumper could cause that kind of noise....?

 

[MongooseGA]

I'm trying to envision how a rear bumper could cause that kind of noise....?

Hell if I know. I did smack it against a tree a few months ago but the noise didn't present itself until a few weeks later. There's some play in the horizontal portion immediately under the tail gate but I don't really think that's it..