(Another) Front suspension noise/steering rack question

[MCtree]

@linuxgod
I too have a random “clunk” or “sproing” when turning sharply up to my driveway. It’s random so i can’t put my finger on when, exactly it happens.

But let me ask you; do you hit the breaks a bit as you turn onto your driveway?
I think I do most of the the time and I’m starting to wonder if the clunk isn’t somehow connected to me turning sharply on an incline while hitting the brakes.

 

[linuxgod]

@linuxgod
I too have a random “clunk” or “sproing” when turning sharply up to my driveway. It’s random so i can’t put my finger on when, exactly it happens.

But let me ask you; do you hit the breaks a bit as you turn onto your driveway?
I think I do most of the the time and I’m starting to wonder if the clunk isn’t somehow connected to me turning sharply on an incline while hitting the brakes.

Mine does it off the brakes. Interestingly I pulled my camping trailer this weekend and anecdotally there were no noises up front. (I do get a lot of noises from the rear right now but I'm attributing that to a misaligned rear bumper). It does make me think it's the front body mount bushings since taking some stress off the front end seemed to have quieted it down.

 

[deepseaskydiver]

Mine does it off the brakes. Interestingly I pulled my camping trailer this weekend and anecdotally there were no noises up front. (I do get a lot of noises from the rear right now but I'm attributing that to a misaligned rear bumper). It does make me think it's the front body mount bushings since taking some stress off the front end seemed to have quieted it down.

 

[deepseaskydiver]

Is it any chance it’s your wheel stops? They are both metal and after putting a light coat of grease on mine (rusted), my noises stopped.

 

[linuxgod]

Is it any chance it’s your wheel stops? They are both metal and after putting a light coat of grease on mine (rusted), my noises stopped.

I doubt it. The noise can happen even when stopping/starting in a straight line if I hit the gas or brake hard

 

[linuxgod]

Finally had the front body mount bushings swapped out. The old one expanded quite a bit when it was removed… on the vehicle all 3 rings were touching each other on the drivers side too mount, now the new bushing installed has the gaps of the old bushing removed. New mounts raised my front about 1/2”.

I suspect the wear is related to exposure to various elements given my front bumper is really high cut.

 

[TeCKis300]

New mounts raised my front about 1/2”.

Wow, that's pretty dramatic for the mounts to restore 1/2". Hopefully this fixes the noise issue.

Did you only change the most forward mounts?

 

[bloc]

Wow, that's pretty dramatic for the mounts to restore 1/2". Hopefully this fixes the noise issue.

Did you only change the most forward mounts?

I’d love to see some in-situ measurements of a well-worn early build vs a newer 2020 or 21..

 

[linuxgod]

Wow, that's pretty dramatic for the mounts to restore 1/2". Hopefully this fixes the noise issue.

Did you only change the most forward mounts?

Yeah just the front ones. The others are different, more like a single big rubber bushing, not the stacked donut style.

No I still have noise. There was a slight noise up front and this might have fixed that. Sadly over the last month or two I’ve developed either a new noise or the original has gotten more pronounced, to the point that I can recreate it in demand by hitting the gas hard from a stop or braking hard as I stop. Multiple shops have check the suspension and all says that’s not it. I’m going to remove the ASFIR trans skid this weekend and see if it goes away.

 

[linuxgod]

Pulled all 3 skids and the noise persists. So it’s definitely not the skids, which doesn’t surprise me.

ChiTown 4x4 thought the noise was coming from the transmission area. I’m not convinced… to me from the inside of the truck with the windows open it sounds like it comes from further forward, more like from the body mount, though that mount looks good and I have no reason to believe it is the cause.

Tightened the transmission crossmember bolts, the ones passengers side were well below the 81 ft lbs the FSM states. I’m assuming that’s the dealer’s doing as they replaced my transfer case actuator and I presume would have dropped the crossmember for easy access. Tightening to 81 ft/lbs didn’t make any difference though.

FWIW I’m pretty sure this noise is different and unrelated to the original popping I was getting as I was getting that on any incline or turn and replacing the steering rack made that noise go away for a while. It’s easy to re-create now - if I hit the gas hard from a dead stop i hear a loud metallic “pop”. I won’t hear the noise again no matter how many times I accelerate until I come to a hard stop at low speed.

Suspension components seem tight, put a iPhone pointed at them and there are no signs of play. Sadly the iPhone doesn’t do a great job picking up the sound, but everyone at the LCDC will get to hear it…

 

[bloc]

Double checked the lower ball joint "bridge" bolts? UCA pivot bolts?

 

[TeCKis300]

I haven't kept track of everything you've checked, but have you checked the brakes? Could be play in the tensioning clips and the pads shifting. More likely the floating calipers in the rear rather than the fixed calipers in front. Still worth checking all the calipers.

 

[linuxgod]

Double checked the lower ball joint "bridge" bolts? UCA pivot bolts?

If you mean the two big bolts on the bottom of the knuckle then yeah I confirmed they’re tight.

The UCA bolts seem tight. Phone video doesn’t show any lateral movement in them.

 

[linuxgod]

I haven't kept track of everything you've checked, but have you checked the brakes? Could be play in the tensioning clips and the pads shifting. More likely the floating calipers in the rear rather than the fixed calipers in front. Still worth checking all the calipers.

I have not. The noise is definitely in the front part of the truck, my son can confirm that standing outside.

If it’s the brakes, I’m surprised it will only make noise on a heavy gas pedal start (it’s quiet if I go very easy on accelerating), and only when I come to a stop (it doesn’t make any noise if I hit the takes hard while driving faster, as far as I can hear)

 

[linuxgod]

Figured I'd update the thread for posterity for others. So I think my issue is resolved now. Dealer spent several hours trying to track down all my noises.

1. They found some noise in the rear. Greased the back of the rear brake pads and replaced the retaining springs as they were rusting. Adjusted the rear e-brake shoes.
2. Traced the pop to the front driver's side axle. Pulled the axle nut, which apparently was chewed up a bit from being removed and reinstalled 3 or 4 times in the truck's 160k mile life. Replaced the nut and retorqued and the noise was quieted a lot but still there. Dealership thought there was probably some damage in the outer CV, but suggested leaving it and waiting for it to get worse or start clicking when turning. I decided this noise has annoyed the ever living **** out of me and given how I treat the truck I asked them to just replace the driver's side CV. That eliminated the consistent pop at start/stop.
3. There was still some other creaking/crackling noise and they also torqued down the chassis cross-member bolts around the transmission. I had done this to the torque spec (one side was low, probably from when the transfer case was dropped to swap the actuator) so I guess they tightened further.

At this point the noise appears to be gone. Whether it was worth $1300 to track it down and do all of the above, or if I should've just waited for the CV to fail more obviously for others I can't say, but I'm happy to have this behind me.

Since I'm at 160k I ordered a second CV from Serra Toyota in Decatur, AL. It feels like a decent insurance policy to have that on hand given it was $219 delivered. At some point I plan to swap the passenger's side CV as well, but it doesn't feel pressing at this point.

 

[indycole]

Figured I'd update the thread for posterity for others. So I think my issue is resolved now. Dealer spent several hours trying to track down all my noises.

1. They found some noise in the rear. Greased the back of the rear brake pads and replaced the retaining springs as they were rusting. Adjusted the rear e-brake shoes.
2. Traced the pop to the front driver's side axle. Pulled the axle nut, which apparently was chewed up a bit from being removed and reinstalled 3 or 4 times in the truck's 160k mile life. Replaced the nut and retorqued and the noise was quieted a lot but still there. Dealership thought there was probably some damage in the outer CV, but suggested leaving it and waiting for it to get worse or start clicking when turning. I decided this noise has annoyed the ever living **** out of me and given how I treat the truck I asked them to just replace the driver's side CV. That eliminated the consistent pop at start/stop.
3. There was still some other creaking/crackling noise and they also torqued down the chassis cross-member bolts around the transmission. I had done this to the torque spec (one side was low, probably from when the transfer case was dropped to swap the actuator) so I guess they tightened further.

At this point the noise appears to be gone. Whether it was worth $1300 to track it down and do all of the above, or if I should've just waited for the CV to fail more obviously for others I can't say, but I'm happy to have this behind me.

Since I'm at 160k I ordered a second CV from Serra Toyota in Decatur, AL. It feels like a decent insurance policy to have that on hand given it was $219 delivered. At some point I plan to swap the passenger's side CV as well, but it doesn't feel pressing at this point.

Glad to hear this is fully resolved. We can officially restart the clock on the number of days both of our trucks go without mystery noises. At least until the next Moab trip.

 

[linuxgod]

Glad to hear this is fully resolved. We can officially restart the clock on the number of days both of our trucks go without mystery noises. At least until the next Moab trip.

Stupid Moab. It's always an expensive trip. Every time I go I'm fixing something when I'm done.

Man I can't wait to go back.

 

[Artie]

I can relate to the noise annoyance, even if it’s something small it quickly becomes the only thing I can focus on. It sucks but it gets me under the truck or taking crap off poking around putting eyes on things that need to be seen from time to time. It probably prevents things becoming serious or issues at all.

 

[radman]

I have a similar low speed popping sound when I have my skids on, but the popping was 100% gone when I pulled my belly skid last year. I haven't cared enough to pull the plate and investigate further, but now I'm wondering if it has something to do with the chassis crossmember!?

 

[tbisaacs]

I have a similar low speed popping sound when I have my skids on, but the popping was 100% gone when I pulled my belly skid last year. I haven't cared enough to pull the plate and investigate further, but now I'm wondering if it has something to do with the chassis crossmember!?

Mine was super loose last time I checked. I didn’t have a popping but could hear a clunk.