"Clicking" sound when slow turning - bearings?

[NLScooby]

After my off-roading trip a few weeks ago, I now notice a clicking noise at slow speed while turning (i.e. when parking).

My fear is that its the bearings - but I've only got 105K miles on her. Has anyone else experienced this sound? I have lifted the wheel and tried to move it to check for play....I don't feel any.

I did do a Tundra IFS front end conversion 6 months ago....

Any thoughts?

 

[linuxgod]

Assuming it's clicking and not rubbing, I'm thinking bad CVs

 

[Markuson]

Clicking in turns...CV.

Have a look at your CV boots & look around area for grease splatter.

Not necessarily going to be a ripped boot, but often goes along with clicking.

 

[NLScooby]

My CVs are new Tundra parts from Toyota. Could they be bad??

 

[linuxgod]

My CVs are new Tundra parts from Toyota. Could they be bad??

Could they be overextended? I know TexAz had some issues when he was pushing his caster too far positive.

 

[NLScooby]

Hmm - thanks for the suggestion- I’ll need to look at the alignment specs when I get back in town.
But have I toasted the joints then?

Ugh.

 

[mcgaskins]

Clicking is 99% likely CVs.

 

[radman]

I rotated my tires and went in for an alignment.
I'm 75% sure that this clicking wasn't there prior.
20% chance that it was there, but I only noticed it while trying to feel out the new alignment.
5% chance something coincidentally broke in the 2 days after I got aligned.
Here are before/after specs. Doesn't look like my caster changed too much.
Could anything else be the issue or definitely CV?

 

[radman]

 

[radman]

back to the top for the night crew...

 

[grinchy]

Interesting. Did you pull the wheel and tire yet? Could be something like brake shield or gravel on a pad. Is the sound there going straight? Or only in turns?

 

[linuxgod]

Unless there's something I'm not aware of with the Tundra suspension that caster number is waaaay low. Spec is something like +2 to +3.5 degrees. You're at -1.8. That means the tire is positioned too far back in the wheel well. Are you rubbing the fender liner plastic or body mount?

Clicking only when turning, particularly coming from one side, is typical of a bad CV.

Continuous clicking could be rocks stuck in the tire treads hitting the pavement, a misaligned brake shield, the tire lugs hitting something plastic, or a number of other things.

 

[bloc]

Also why is caster so far out after an alignment? Did they even try to adjust it?

In the past I had a Touareg aligned by VW and the caster was firmly in the red. When I asked why, they flat out stated "you can't adjust caster on VW's". They held their story when I showed them the caster adjusters on the vehicle. I came back with the factory procedure for adjusting caster in hand, and they were shocked. Literally had no idea you can adjust caster on ANY VW.. so every touareg that had gone through there for over a decade never had a caster adjustment.

Point is.. they might not even realize it's adjustable.

VW also didn't torque the major suspension bolts to spec. All of this is why I don't trust shops, even dealers, to keep the wheels from falling off my cars.

 

[linuxgod]

I'd actually expect negative caster like that to make the front end shake/wobble, similar to pushing a shopping cart where the front wheels shake back and forth. Positive caster, like the front forks on a bicycle, helps the vehicle track straight and true with little to no effort.

If they can't do better than -1.8 degrees with the cams fully cranked then you need adjustable UCAs. I wouldn't think negative caster would cause your clicking normally, though it technically is putting the CV in an abnormal position (relative to spec, anyway)

 

[radman]

You're at -1.8. That means the tire is positioned too far back in the wheel well. Are you rubbing the fender liner plastic or body mount?

I'm stock LX suspension with AHC lift. not sure how the "before" caster got so far out of spec to begin with...
My 35's do not rub pinch weld nor body mount, but the plastic liner got heated back long ago.

My right caster moved from -1.3 to -1.8 degree. Could that have been enough to stress out the CV joint?

If they didn't adjust caster, did it move as a result of changing something else?

 

[turbo8]

Have you checked your wheel and wheel spacer torque?

 

[radman]

Have you checked your wheel and wheel spacer torque?

Yep, checked the wheels at 97, but not spacers.
I'll also try to see if it's only when turning or straight ahead (and different heights as well).

 

[linuxgod]

I'm stock LX suspension with AHC lift. not sure how the "before" caster got so far out of spec to begin with...
My 35's do not rub pinch weld nor body mount, but the plastic liner got heated back long ago.

My right caster moved from -1.3 to -1.8 degree. Could that have been enough to stress out the CV joint?

If they didn't adjust caster, did it move as a result of changing something else?

I would think it would be unlikely to damage the CV when driving straight ahead since there's enough play in the CVs to handle full suspension and compression. It could leave your CV at a weird angle though for normal daily use which might wear it faster? I'm not an expert on alignment, I just noticed that the values were negative and thus several degrees out of spec.

Caster will adjust as they adjust for camber. It's not a linear relationship but you can kind of think of it like that

Do you find the truck wanders on the highway? I do think you want to get your caster somewhere above +2 degrees - ideally around +3 or a bit more.

Learn Camber, Caster, and Toe | Suspension Alignments

Learn about negative and postitive camber, caster, and toe.

www.comeanddriveit.com

Negative Caster
Negative caster is when the steering axis is behind the vertical. This is generally only found on older vehicles due to tire technology, chassis dynamics, and other reasons. Modern vehicles do not use negative caster. It will lighten the steering effort but also increases the tendency for the car to wander down the road. If you've ever pushed a shopping cart then you've felt the effects of negative caster on the front wheels.

 

[bloc]

I'm stock LX suspension with AHC lift. not sure how the "before" caster got so far out of spec to begin with...

Your sensor lift could easily explain the negative caster. Look at the upper arms and notice they are tilted backward. As they swing down the upper ball joint moves forward. The truck can only go so far up before caster can’t be kept in spec, which is one of the primary reasons people run aftermarket UCA’s. Those move the upper balljoint relative to the upper arm bushings thereby building in some camber and caster correction to put you closer to stock spec at new taller ride height.

That doesn’t explain it persisting nearly unchanged after an alignment though. I’m guessing they didn’t even try to adjust it.

 

[radman]

I cleared out all the rocks in the treads and stuck on my gopro. It’s definitely a metal sound, and only occurs while turning.
Coincidentally, our suburban made a similar sound last year, and the dealer notes mentioned something about re-torquing some bolts.






So bad CV joint at 65k miles or something needs to be tightened down?