New to this forum. I just purchased a 96 cruiser with 225k on it and running well. Brought it back to Denver from Texas and it has just been failing miserably. Massive oil leak, power steering pump leak, bypassed hoses etc... I now hear this good awful rattle when going over road imperfections that are enough to give my suspension a good knock, like the millions of sunken man hole covers conveniently placed on the wheel side of the lanes... Also sounds like a knock, or loud click when turning and going over uneven terrain. I just spent $1,000 getting the front end rebuilt (did not have the tools or the experience to pull that one of myself) and the mechanic could not find anything that looked broken, in that's too the sound I'm taking about now... I've knocked around on some of the underside but nothing is jumping out. I'm about ready to trash this thing im so sick of putting time and money into it since day one.
Fzj80 underside front end rattle when going over bumps (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter lovehatemyfj
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
- Thread starter
- #2
Forgive the stupid spelling errors. Auto correct... Anyway the clicking is not like a cv joint click, as I just had all that rebuilt.
Check the shock bushings and be sure the nuts are tight.
Yep...give your shocks a good hand grip shake. If they move or are sloppy the bushings are shot. Easy fix...
- Thread starter
- #6
Thank y'all for the advice. I'm going to get right after it tomorrow.
I had a clunk like that. Dropping off my driveway or a curb, or pretty much anytime the front twisted a little. It was my front control arms bolts were loose. Re-torque those and see if it goes away.
x2 on retorquing those 6 nuts/bolts (three on each side). IIRC the specs are somewhere around 150 ft/lbs.
Hey man so I came across your post referencing a rattle from the drivers side suspension and I too have that. I understand you posted this years ago but this seems to be an underlying issue on my 96 landcruiser now and from all the posts i've looked through, yours seems to describe my issue almost exactly. My question is, did you ever figure out what the issue was and if so, what was the fix and the cost?
Outsane
Supporting Vendor
Lay under the rig and have some rock the body back and forth and maybe you can find the source of the noise
Trust me man i've done everything you can do yourself to replicate this issue. I thought it was my radius arm bushings, so I replaced those. Thought it was my sway bar bushings so i replaced those. Thought it was my shocks and springs so I replaced those. Thought my burfields were low on grease so I greased those but NOTHING. It' still there and it's driving me crazy especially when i'm driving down washboard roads it just feels like a rattling wobble coming from underneath my drivers side floorboard. Sounds so concerning that I can't enjoy myself when off-roading. Any help would be appreciated.
ppc
M Go Blue
Check your body mounts.
Check your sway bar end links. I had a clunking sound over bumps and occasionally when taking off from a start. Banged around underneath for an hour and didn't get anywhere. Finally yanked on the "ball joint" (or whatever it's called) and of the left sway bar end link and found the slop.
@CruiseCruise I don't believe there is, but either way, you wouldn't get a rattle from a spring unless you were fully unloading the suspension. You'd maybe get a metal-on-metal squeak.
@CruiseCruise I don't believe there is, but either way, you wouldn't get a rattle from a spring unless you were fully unloading the suspension. You'd maybe get a metal-on-metal squeak.
Actually I have had a power steering fluid leak in the last few months which I recently took care of. I will check it out and see what comes of it. Thank you!
When my 94 was stock with the stock running boards the bolts/brackets attaching those would bounce and clank like crazy at certain times. Both sides. The worst was the passenger side against the cat heat shields.
JayhawkFZJ80
95 Landcruiser, 226k miles, slowly baselining
I had the same issue. when i changed my shocks and springs it went away. as a few have said before my guess was the shocks were too old. good news is that shocks are relatively cheap. good luck
Somebody had suggested the cat heat shields but when I checked underneath the rig, that are seemed to be tight and secured in place. No issues there. Plus I don't have running boards or sliders
