Help with Front end Pop-Solved! Finally.
- Thread starter Patassa
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Huh. Well that would be awesome if that was also my issue! I have torqued all of mine several times.
I am wondering if it could be the hub to rotor bolts; although I also torqued those to spec.
- Thread starter
- #44
I had just a hint a the pop left if I really tried hard to reproduce it. I re torqued all lug nuts to 130 ft-lb, now I can't reproduce it.
Edit: It came back. See first post though, finally put it to rest.
Edit: It came back. See first post though, finally put it to rest.
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Torquing above factory spec solved the issue for you? I'm a little confused.
edit: I see in your above post you went over your theory as to why this may have solved it. Interesting... are you sure you're not fixing the problem by extension and it's actually something else that's being solved by over tightening the wheels? I don't know enough about it really, I'm just spitballing.
This is why I'm bringing up potentially being brake rotor to hub bolts loose as lugs would clamp this connection - definitely agree. 500 ft/lbs of combined clamping force on the wheel to hub should be plenty
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@AlpineAccess
I had a pop turning uphill into a driveway before too. It wasn't until I had a shop start to bring my DS angle/pinion angle back into spec that we noticed that one of my Ironman UCAs had slightly elongated the mounting holes in the frame. Decided against welding on a washer to keep the same hole size since some of the UCA bolts were seized (why, no idea). I got the 80 series UCAs and drilled the mounting holes out to fit the larger diameter bolts. No more popping. YMMV.
I had a pop turning uphill into a driveway before too. It wasn't until I had a shop start to bring my DS angle/pinion angle back into spec that we noticed that one of my Ironman UCAs had slightly elongated the mounting holes in the frame. Decided against welding on a washer to keep the same hole size since some of the UCA bolts were seized (why, no idea). I got the 80 series UCAs and drilled the mounting holes out to fit the larger diameter bolts. No more popping. YMMV.
- Thread starter
- #48
Hard to say for sure, I'm in the middle of a 3700 mile road trip right now so I'm not going to dig into the problem any further. I will say the rotor to hub bolts were torqued probably 70k miles ago when I replaced the wheel bearings and this problem only started probably 7-8k miles ago.
Hi Folks, just wanted to share my experiences that may add insight or be repetitive of steps already taken. FYI I am a DIY with no real fear, so some of my efforts may be questionable 
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Owner of a 2003 LX 470 with current 160K, AHC delete to OME Medium Kit and Sway Away Torsion Bars. Rig always had the dreaded clunk, to drive/reverse and some backlash when it shifted or let off then accelerated.
Things to check:
Upper shock bushings on aftermarket shocks- needs metal washer to fill the shock tower hole, snug this down...I left mine loose and it rattled like an old Chevy truck bake caliper.
Check you calipers and pads, ensure snug fit, if not changed recently move on.
I changed my drive axles at 130k, the old ones were fine I just wanted piece of mind (use Toyota new or Toyota reman, fyi we are testing a pair of new cardones from Amazon that were $100 each, on my sons 1999 Cruiser and after 10k they are fine with no noise or problems. The one area of the drive axle that seems to be neglected are the hub flanges (not sure if right term), they get worn and a little sloppy but I did not see that as my clunk noise maker.
Greasing the driveshaft does have advantages for some models and in some cases the mfr recalled some shafts but not sure about the 100 series. Along the shaft, look for normal wear and tear on U-Joints. They are an easy fix and I have had good luck with NAPA joints.
Ball Joints will wear and each can be replaced with Sanki 555s via Amazon. Uppers are tricky but can be done or you could change the entire UCA to an SPC or a Dobinson or your choice (I still run factory UCA with new ball joints and lift my rig 2" so the shop can maintain factory alignment specs--works after 30K and no uneven tire wear).
Back to the dreaded clunk (climaxing the story). Scout Cruiser TEQ or Cruiser Outfitters (same company), look for the factory or aftermarket Diff Bushing Kit and replace them. I went cheap and pounded out my bushing (photo) and pressed in a replacement with a ball joint press from Harbor Freight. If you cant do it yourself, pay a shop. This really helped quiet mine and although the below bushing looks fine on the car, after I removed it I could see the splits. BTW there are several other threads on this so this is a list of what worked for me and yes we still need a kit for my son's 1999 Cruiser but these parts are on back order.....
.Owner of a 2003 LX 470 with current 160K, AHC delete to OME Medium Kit and Sway Away Torsion Bars. Rig always had the dreaded clunk, to drive/reverse and some backlash when it shifted or let off then accelerated.
Things to check:
Upper shock bushings on aftermarket shocks- needs metal washer to fill the shock tower hole, snug this down...I left mine loose and it rattled like an old Chevy truck bake caliper.
Check you calipers and pads, ensure snug fit, if not changed recently move on.
I changed my drive axles at 130k, the old ones were fine I just wanted piece of mind (use Toyota new or Toyota reman, fyi we are testing a pair of new cardones from Amazon that were $100 each, on my sons 1999 Cruiser and after 10k they are fine with no noise or problems. The one area of the drive axle that seems to be neglected are the hub flanges (not sure if right term), they get worn and a little sloppy but I did not see that as my clunk noise maker.
Greasing the driveshaft does have advantages for some models and in some cases the mfr recalled some shafts but not sure about the 100 series. Along the shaft, look for normal wear and tear on U-Joints. They are an easy fix and I have had good luck with NAPA joints.
Ball Joints will wear and each can be replaced with Sanki 555s via Amazon. Uppers are tricky but can be done or you could change the entire UCA to an SPC or a Dobinson or your choice (I still run factory UCA with new ball joints and lift my rig 2" so the shop can maintain factory alignment specs--works after 30K and no uneven tire wear).
Back to the dreaded clunk (climaxing the story). Scout Cruiser TEQ or Cruiser Outfitters (same company), look for the factory or aftermarket Diff Bushing Kit and replace them. I went cheap and pounded out my bushing (photo) and pressed in a replacement with a ball joint press from Harbor Freight. If you cant do it yourself, pay a shop. This really helped quiet mine and although the below bushing looks fine on the car, after I removed it I could see the splits. BTW there are several other threads on this so this is a list of what worked for me and yes we still need a kit for my son's 1999 Cruiser but these parts are on back order.....
I have been having a pop in the front left side. I have a ‘99 LC. It mostly only happens when I am off-roading on rocky or bumpy terrain. A couple of months ago I had all my front ball joints changed. I recently had them checked and was told the lower ball joint on the left side needed replacing. When they went to press the old ball joint out, it basically just fell out…..no pressing needed. Then when they went to press in the new one, it just slipped right in as well. Could this loose ball joint be causing the quite loud pop? Could it sliding up and down in the hole be the pop I’m hearing? Ideas?
- Thread starter
- #51
Update. The pop is back, so I'm gonna try the bolts between the rotor and the hub. I did replace the rotors over a year ago so maybe those bolts have worked themselves loose. Otherwise it's hard to understand why torquing the wheel studs seemed to have help it temporarily.
- Thread starter
- #52
I finally got around to retorquing these. Didn't solve the problem. I'm scratching my head again.
I'm going to go after the brake pad hardware, the front pads are wearing down anyways so I might as well replace them while doing this.
I plan to remove my front bumper and check my hidden winch mount bolts to make sure those aren't the culprits.
I haven't really dug into the body mounts yet but I'm starting to think they could be the problem.
I might install my torsion bars on opposite sides and see if the feel or sound changes incase one of them has a crack or issue that I haven't been able to detect otherwise.
The search continues.
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Lower Control Arm Bushings?
I had an occasional popping sound, only on hard braking. Now that it has gotten worse, I think I've found the culprit to be the front lower control arm bushings, both frame side and control arm side. Had a friend drive it forward and brake hard, both forward and reversing in a span of like 7ft. When viewing from the side, I can see fore and aft movement in one torsion bar and lower control arm. I have the parts on hand, waiting for a day to install them.
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Yep. This other thread is talking about the same noise. @OEMGUY0720 has a great video showing the movement of the LCA. And the original poster shows his frame side bushing pretty much destroyed. I'm planning on doing the frame side bushings one day, I'm almost certain that's my issue.
There are threads on how to pop out the frame side bushing using an ACME rod. Once you have the LCA off it is fairly straight forward! Be warned: the LCA is heavy and the steering knuckle is even heavier!
- Thread starter
- #57
I replaced mine and the NO 2 bushing in the pretty recent past. If it were those honestly I'd be pretty pissed. That's not a cheap set of control arms. I did inspect them recently and they looked new like you'd expect.
Well, we might be onto something. I also just replaced these bushings about 5k ago. If it is them, that sucks. They were a pain to install.
UPDATE:
In my case it was not the NO 2 Bushing. It was the Slee diff drop bolts loosening over 30-40k. I tightened them to 75ft lbs and the noise is gone.
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I initially thought it was the inner tie rod (i know it’s not the outer tie rod because that is still fairly new). But all the steering components are tight. Mine’s a 16 yo truck (2006) with 260k miles and I think for that LCA front/rear bushing to fail just now tells how over-engineered these LCs/LXs are.