Bad Shocks? Rattle-"thunk" when going over even small road imperfections?

[TomR]

Hello...ahhh the joys of 14 year old 195K LC.

First, how long can you expect shocks to last? I changed to Bilsteen shocks pretty soon after I purchased new...now has 195K miles and has rides like zI need new shocks.

Second, the problem had gotten much worse just recently and I also have a noticeable "clunk" whenever I ride over even a mild road imperfection.

Third, when I stand on the bumper and trailer hitch and jump up and down I can replicate a "clunk" but seems less noisy than what I hear when driving.

I went underneath and checked the spare tire and it seems solid...in fact it is probably locked in place as I am not sure the last time it was disturbed. Also tried to shake the shocks and they did not seem loose. One did have the cardboard sleeve that protects the shock shiny rod...fallen down on the bottom portion of the shock. Not sure that is the current problem?

I hope to take into local Toyota garage and have them check it out. It is acting bad enough that I am somewhat uncomfortable until the issue is defined and fixed.

BTW...just checked and shocks were installed 12/20/07 @ about 57K miles...ie 10 years ago.

Any thoughts? Also wonder how much trouble they would have getting off the old shocks?

Any ideas other than shocks? also, isn't 10 years a bit long for shocks?

Thanks guys...gonna have to trade up pretty soon TomR

 

[Hotrodlarry]

I replaced my shocks last week. The holes in the lower "A" arm (front shock) mount are slightly enlarged in relation to the bolt size. The slack was less than 1/8" inch. The rattle was noticeable. I have wrapped the bolt with some shim material and resolved the problem. I will need a more permanent solution. Any play in the system will cause noise.

 

[TomR]

I replaced my shocks last week. The holes in the lower "A" arm (front shock) mount are slightly enlarged in relation to the bolt size. The slack was less than 1/8" inch. The rattle was noticeable. I have wrapped the bolt with some shim material and resolved the problem. I will need a more permanent solution. Any play in the system will cause noise.

Did you replace with OEM Toyota shocks or what alternatives? I pretty much use for regular use with back end often loaded pretty full. Mostly freeway miles with a little rural and gravel. Frequent trailer pulling...under 5,000#. Thanks TMR

P.S. Likely to replace in next 12 months/15K miles.

 

[Hotrodlarry]

I installed the Ironman Pro shocks. I have stiffer springs in the rear (OME 866) and Ironman torsion bars in the front.

 

[2001LC]

I don't know if I'd call it clunk, but I've notice a kind of rattle from rear, while going over bumps. It's very common sound I hear in many 100 series. Interestingly I just did back to back R&R of stabilizer systems and new coil springs on Redbaron & Snowy. On Redbaron that rattle when away. Redbaron received 30mm spacer, Snowy didn't. I'm thinking the Redbaron's spring are not only more pack-in but insulated with spacer from spring cup in the frame.

 

[TomR]

Curious...what would useful life of Bilsteen aftermarket shocks be? I assume not 130-140K miles? If the Toyota dealer cannot find anything wrong I will replace the shocks...make sense? Thanks TMR

 

[heywood]

I have Bilsteins on my 98. Some how, the top mount on one of the rear shafts unscrewed itself and made a clunk because the top of the shock was rubbing under the truck.

 

[camino70]

I think 10 years, 138k is too long for shocks.

 

[Anthony.L]

Check your rear sway bar end bushings. I replaced my rear shocks recently and when I disconnected the rear sway bar I noticed one side the bushing was completely trashed. I have a clunk as well and I'm 99.99% sure if that bushing. Going to replace with extended sway bar links and new bushings soon.

 

[ewrk1989]

I don't know if I'd call it clunk, but I've notice a kind of rattle from rear, while going over bumps. It's very common sound I hear in many 100 series. Interestingly I just did back to back R&R of stabilizer systems and new coil springs on Redbaron & Snowy. On Redbaron that rattle when away. Redbaron received 30mm spacer, Snowy didn't. I'm thinking the Redbaron's spring are not only more pack-in but insulated with spacer from spring cup in the frame.

So, in June I took out my AHC shocks and put in regular Toyota OEM shocks. Shortly after, I noticed a rattle. I thought I had just done a poor job of securing the AHC hoses (need to take those out but have not done yet). I went a little while and got around to very snugly securing the hoses to the frame. The rattle persisted.

Just tonight I was able to spend some time under the truck and believe I have located the source of the rattle. See video here:

I seem to remember during install that the upper shock mount locations on the frame have an angle to them...so that the shock washers did not butt up exactly flush. At the time I didn't think it would be a problem, thinking that the rubber bushings would force everything into position once I tightened down.

In my case I am sure that I used the correct hardware, and that the two washers with the lip are indeed on either side of the mounting hole. So, this should keep the shock in position, right?

My driver side shock seems fine. But my passenger side shown in the video can visibly move a little bit along the slope of the mounting location.

I tried torquing a bit over spec (65 ft-lb instead of 51 ft-lb). I don't think this helped but maybe a little just by feel.

Maybe the threads are bottomed out? But this wouldn't make sense as the cause of the issue, because the rubber bushings should be forcing everything to be snug...taking up any slack.

Any idea what to do? I don't think it's something that will "damage" anything...but maybe I'm wrong. At minimum, it's annoying to hear... I believe the rotation is normal because the shock dust shields freely rotate (you need a chain wrench to tighten the shocks on), but the lateral slop is not.

 

[Austin Hot Shoe]

I had a similar noise, found that the bell cranks for the ebrake were squeaking on the tire side of the ebrake. Pull on the cable that runs along the rear axle to replicate. Report back if you can.

 

[ewrk1989]

Yea, that was my initial thought, loose cable or bracket from that system clanking around. But, everything is in good shape there. I have rebuilt the bell crank system and the parking brake cable is nice and tight.

I've essentially confirmed that it is the situation shown in my video causing the noise. On the way to work this morning I confirmed that the noise is coming from that rear-right quarter.

As I type this out, it just occurred to me that maybe the two inside washers that have the "lips" are touching. If the gap created there is too wide compared to the thickness of material at the shock mount hole, you would have a loose connection no matter how much you torqued the top nut. I don't know why this would happen, using all OEM parts. My shock mount holes aren't all rusted out or anything like that. But, a possible solution would be to take off the upper lip-washer and file down the lip somewhat to reduce the gap but maintain the locational function of the lip. Kind of a crappy thing to have to do for a washer that cost $10. Or maybe just put a hardware store washer under it to increase the gap?

Does anyone else have any thoughts?

Another thing...on these OEM shocks there is no flat milled into the threaded stud, so am I correct in that the only way to tighten is to grip the shock dust cover with a strap wrench and torque from the top? It seemed to work during my install but checking that it wasn't dumb luck. I've read that people have broken the dust cover loose before.

 

[HelthInsXpert]

I appreciate this thread as I also have a mysterious front end 'Rattle' when going over small bumps or even cracks in the road. I'm working with ICON shocks and UCA's up front. The bad news is that I've recently moved to FL and all my tools, jack, etc are in storage. So I have no way to really check things out myself.

 

[ewrk1989]

Alright I believe I have solved the issue.

Last night I took another look and identified that the lower-inner retaining washer (with the lip) is almost flush with the upper face of the shock mount. However, it does not stick out past the upper face of the shock mount (about .020 in shy--this is good). So therefore the upper-inner retaining washer (also has a lip) is causing the gap. I circled the gap in red ovals in the attached picture.

So with that, no matter how much you would tighten the top nut, the rattle is not improved.

I felt the lower-inner washer was sufficient to locate the shock in the mounting hole. Therefore, I cut off the lip of the upper-inner washer. This allowed it to be flush with the upper face of the shock mount, removing the gap. I then tightened the top nut to 60 ft-lb, a little bit more than the 51 ft-lb in the FSM.

On the way to work today, I did not detect any rattle noise.

But it does beg the question, why is this gap happening? I made sure to double check that I was using all the correct part numbers when I did my AHC delete. Maybe my schematic references were wrong.

I wouldn't think that the material thickness of the shock mounts would be double on the LC versus the LX.

There is a generous clearance hole in the shock mount, probably .050 inches larger than the retaining washer lip, but that's good practice for assembly purposes. Mine wasn't rusted out in the least.

Oh well! Hopefully useful information for the next person, at least.

 

[TomR]

Broken shock. New OEM installed and sounds much better. Still rides like a truck...but that may have something to do with running 38-40# air in the tires The Toyota garage had a fine time getting the old ones off I did just the rears but think I will have the two fronts replace also. Thanks again...TomR