(Another) Front suspension noise/steering rack question (1 Viewer)

[linuxgod]

I would ck with Slee for replacement parts (I'm sure they have lots) and their experience with the bushings.

When the faulty bushings are installed, they look and feel just like any other we have installed for many years but after getting compressed and rebound the bushings act more like old latex rubber tubing and may have parted ways. My rear lower ARB shock mount bushings reminded me of Silly Putty when I was trouble shooting the "clunk". Rob had some pictures of augered out frames after the bushings departed on some of the trucks he had worked on. I would inspect the frame with a mirror, replace and secure the new bushings and treat that area and the other 3 shock mount assembly's like a preventive mx inspection item.

I emailed Slee. I suspect the BP51s don't use these as the spring presses against the coilover perch and not the top of the strut tower. (Plus the ARB install doc doesn't short any sort of insulator as a part and I don't see one in any of their photos as best I can tell).

 

[bloc]

Chicago (especially) and the adjoining suburbs are just abusive. The city really beats on suspension. I mean, this kind of stuff below is NORMAL here. At least they finally milled the "speed bumps" on Lake Shore Drive - strips where the asphalt had spiked upwards because of frost upheaval pushing the pipes upward so at the 40mph speed limit your vehicle would literally leave the ground for a split second and would feel like a boxer punching you in the steering wheel over and over.

First photo is the merge lane from LSD to upper Wacker

View attachment 3543136

Note sure where this is (maybe west loop) but it's also typical. It will be "fixed" at some point by overfilling the potholes, but then it's still an uneven bumpy mess for years until they finally mill and repave.
View attachment 3543137 View attachment 3543138

Not sure whether the claim that landcruisers were designed for a service life in Africa would prepare it for a city full of the above..

And yes mine has had an easy life other than the times playing in gravel.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

Oh man this sucks to read. I've always had a weird occasional metallic sound that had almost a resonance that made it seem like a spring was involved. It happens when backing out of my driveway turning on the street coming off the curb and hwen I make a 90 degree turn on a street where the turn takes me up a bump. Rarely hear it offroad in similar scenarios/flex. I've been pretending I didn't hear it for 4 years, so it must not be too bad. Will be interesting to see if it goes away when I move to Dobinsons MRRs later this year.

 

[linuxgod]

Oh man this sucks to read. I've always had a weird occasional metallic sound that had almost a resonance that made it seem like a spring was involved. It happens when backing out of my driveway turning on the street coming off the curb and hwen I make a 90 degree turn on a street where the turn takes me up a bump. Rarely hear it offroad in similar scenarios/flex. I've been pretending I didn't hear it for 4 years, so it must not be too bad. Will be interesting to see if it goes away when I move to Dobinsons MRRs later this year.

If my steering wasn't off and wandering I probably would have lived with the noise for a while until it got worse. Mine was consistent and reproducible though. It wasn't the noise so much that bothered me, but being sure that in my case something was wearing and sooner or later something will give out and cause a MUCH more expensive (and extensive) repair.

If yours is rare and has gone on 4 years I suspect it's some very minor contact or binding only happening when there's some twisting going on and you've got enough weight being tossed sideways. And to your point I didn't hear it when we were offroading for days last summer. Entirely likely new struts/coilovers up front will resolve it, but if not I'd probably start looking at sway bar or end link bushings

 

[TeCKis300]

Not sure whether the claim that landcruisers were designed for a service life in Africa would prepare it for a city full of the above..

And yes mine has had an easy life other than the times playing in gravel.

To be fair, we use them rather differently here and perhaps push these vehicles sometimes harder? I mean, I know I like to aim for speedbumps and other things, sometime spiritedly, just for fun?

On the list of steering rack loads we like to add

1. Big tires
2. Heavy overlanding weights
3. Aggressive offsets
4. Lift with higher spring rates

Mix in all the above at once in this hobby of rocklanding.

 

[aptos]

I have a similar metallic pop; it is infrequent and hard to reproduce on my LC. It happens occasionally when turning hard and I’ve only heard it 3-4x in my year and a half of ownership. I have relatively new Dobinsons MRA, Dobinsons UCA, OEM LCA, sway bar end links, and sway bar D bushings, which maybe points to the steering rack for me. I’m not too concerned about it yet but I am interested in hearing what solves it for you

 

[linuxgod]

I have a similar metallic pop; it is infrequent and hard to reproduce on my LC. It happens occasionally when turning hard and I’ve only heard it 3-4x in my year and a half of ownership. I have relatively new Dobinsons MRA, Dobinsons UCA, OEM LCA, sway bar end links, and sway bar D bushings, which maybe points to the steering rack for me. I’m not too concerned about it yet but I am interested in hearing what solves it for you

The steering rack seems to have solved it for me. Keep in mind the rack included inner and outer tie rods, so I don’t know which of the 3 parts were bad. The dealer said the tie rods were right with no slop, and the steering rack was leaking so it needed to be replaced, but if it was just the pop I’m not 100% sure it want just a tie rod end binding in some position.

If it’s occasional I would not worry at this time. Mine was reproducible, happened every time I’d pull in and out of a garage or enter a driveway with a bit of an angle while turning. I also felt my steering was imprecise (though there wasn’t any actual slop) and the truck was wandering a bit on the highway. Sint was clear something was off

I do think I need LCA bushing as well eventually. There’s a little bit of correction required when driving which I’m sure shouldn’t be there. Just not sure I want to drop $750 on the parts plus alignment and spend the day dealing with it since it’s not subtle. And LCAs are really the only thing original in my 150k suspension.

 

[aptos]

The steering rack seems to have solved it for me. Keep in mind the rack included inner and outer tie rods, so I don’t know which of the 3 parts were bad. The dealer said the tie rods were right with no slop, and the steering rack was leaking so it needed to be replaced, but if it was just the pop I’m not 100% sure it want just a tie rod end binding in some position.

If it’s occasional I would not worry at this time. Mine was reproducible, happened every time I’d pull in and out of a garage or enter a driveway with a bit of an angle while turning. I also felt my steering was imprecise (though there wasn’t any actual slop) and the truck was wandering a bit on the highway. Sint was clear something was off

I do think I need LCA bushing as well eventually. There’s a little bit of correction required when driving which I’m sure shouldn’t be there. Just not sure I want to drop $750 on the parts plus alignment and spend the day dealing with it since it’s not subtle. And LCAs are really the only thing original in my 150k suspension.

New LCAs were a big improvement on my LC, but I had them installed while everything was disassembled getting cam tab gussets and I payed about $450 shipped for the arms during the parts sale. Steering feels really nice after the recent work but if things start to get worse, I will know where to start looking. Thanks!

 

[linuxgod]

New LCAs were a big improvement on my LC, but I had them installed while everything was disassembled getting cam tab gussets and I payed about $450 shipped for the arms during the parts sale. Steering feels really nice after the recent work but if things start to get worse, I will know where to start looking. Thanks!

Good to know. My steering is tight now, and "heavier" than it was before. I'll get a trip up the highway to Wisconsin this weekend so I'll see how it handles outside of the city. If I still have any wander they'll be next and I'll keep an eye out for a good sale. I imagine I can do the LCAs in my garage in an afternoon, and if I think I have copious free time before the summer I might try, but I have a punch list right now of about 2 dozen things to do which include tracing why my rear fuse block isn't seeing the correct voltage, installing a panhard rod relo kit, RLCA skids, and rear shock mounts, and building together a removable secondary platform for a fridge. If (when) I'm running low on time, easier to pay pretty much any shop 2 hours of labor to swap them while I'm working one weekday and don't need the truck than to have them do almost anything else on my punch list

 

[isthatalexus]

For me, the clack/click while turning/twisting going on or off driveways (or offroad) tends to be the +/- 1,000 lbs of Budbuilt steel and assorted fasteners underneath. Dissapears when skids come off. I've also had (still have) the issue of grease movement creating a clunk in the steering column (telescoping slip shaft), but that's a different deal.