(SOLVED)Help identifying knocking noise coming from driver side UCA

[LC4point6GXR]

I have the king 2.5 lift kit installed on my LC with the Baja Kits UCA and recently I have been experiencing a loud knocking noise coming from the driver side UCA when the suspension compresses in certain scenarios. For example when I'm going relatively fast on large bumps or I when attempting to jump and catch air on dirt roads (nothing crazy, tires barely leaving the ground). The knocking also happens when i go over a pothole and only comes from the front passenger side. I can actually feel the knocking on my feet through the floor of the car.

I checked the issue at 4 different garage shops, none of them were able to find what's causing the clunking/knocking. The bolts connecting the UCA have been checked and have been tightened properly. One of the technicians believes the problem is in the UCA ball joint itself which has worn down, however the UCA itself is not even a year old so I'm not sure if that is possible. I even had to the tires rebalanced and realigned with no success.

Any of you with similar setups experience anything like this?

 

[nwfl4runner]

I'd be surprised if the uniball was making that noise, but you chould hit it with Tri-Flow just in case. Have you jacked the car up to full droop and seen if there is anything hitting (coil on arm)? Is the knuckle bolt torqued right?

 

[linuxgod]

I'd look around for any contact spots, since you feel it and not just hear it. Does the UCA hit the top of the wheel well/fender during full compression? Somewhere around here there was a thread with someone who had that issue and they put the top of their UCA through the fender

 

[indycole]

Maybe snap some more photos that include other suspension components with the tire at full lock in both directions? A recording of the noise would help as well.

 

[LC4point6GXR]

I'd be surprised if the uniball was making that noise, but you chould hit it with Tri-Flow just in case. Have you jacked the car up to full droop and seen if there is anything hitting (coil on arm)? Is the knuckle bolt torqued right?

Tried lubing the ball joint itself but sound still persisted. I was at the shop yesterday with car fully jacked up, shook the car violently as well as the tire itself but everything seemed completely normal.

I'd look around for any contact spots, since you feel it and not just hear it. Does the UCA hit the top of the wheel well/fender during full compression? Somewhere around here there was a thread with someone who had that issue and they put the top of their UCA through the fender

No traces of contact on the wheel well itself. I’ll post more photos soon of the wheel well.

Maybe snap some more photos that include other suspension components with the tire at full lock in both directions? A recording of the noise would help as well.

As soon as I’m off work I’ll snap some photos of the wheel at full lock in both directions. Any idea how to post/link a video on a thread?

 

[Markuson]

I have the king 2.5 lift kit installed on my LC with the Baja Kits UCA and recently I have been experiencing a loud knocking noise coming from the driver side UCA when the suspension compresses in certain scenarios. For example when I'm going relatively fast on large bumps or I when attempting to jump and catch air on dirt roads (nothing crazy, tires barely leaving the ground). The knocking also happens when i go over a pothole and only comes from the front passenger side. I can actually feel the knocking on my feet through the floor of the car.

I checked the issue at 4 different garage shops, none of them were able to find what's causing the clunking/knocking. The bolts connecting the UCA have been checked and have been tightened properly. One of the technicians believes the problem is in the UCA ball joint itself which has worn down, however the UCA itself is not even a year old so I'm not sure if that is possible. I even had to the tires rebalanced and realigned with no success.

Any of you with similar setups experience anything like this? View attachment 2416738

Are you sure the knock is under compression?

If it’s happening on pot-holes or when “catching a bit of air” are you sure it’s not your shocks extending too far? One way to check might be to really crank up your rebound suppression of your shock settings to control this. Could be that your rebound settings are way too light...and it’s snapping to full extension too hard.

How much lift did your suspension add in front? If a lot... you could be cranked too high as neutral right height so that your available down-travel is mostly gone already....to a poi t that when you catch air or it tries to extend lower for a pot-hole, it has run out of available downtravel.

I don’t know your lift or shock settings...so just thinkin...

 

[TheGrrrrr]

Are you sure the knock is under compression?

If it’s happening on lot-holes or when “catching a bit of air” are you sure it’s not your shocks extending too far? One way to check might be to really crank up your rebound suppression of your shock settings allow this. Could be that your rebound settings are way too light...and it’s snapping to full extension too hard.

How much lift did your suspension add in front? If a lot... you could be cranked too high as neutral right height so that your available down-travel is mostly gone already....to a poi t that when you catch air or it tries to extend lower for a pot-hole, it has run out of available downtravel.

I don’t know your lift or shock settings...so just thinkin...

Based on the conditions and scenarios as described, the shock seems like a likely candidate. Especially if there is no sign of impact in the area. The impact would be internal to the shock, so there would be nothing to see.

 

[LC4point6GXR]

Are you sure the knock is under compression?

If it’s happening on pot-holes or when “catching a bit of air” are you sure it’s not your shocks extending too far? One way to check might be to really crank up your rebound suppression of your shock settings to control this. Could be that your rebound settings are way too light...and it’s snapping to full extension too hard.

How much lift did your suspension add in front? If a lot... you could be cranked too high as neutral right height so that your available down-travel is mostly gone already....to a poi t that when you catch air or it tries to extend lower for a pot-hole, it has run out of available downtravel.

I don’t know your lift or shock settings...so just thinkin...

I’m positive the sound happens under compression right before taking off a small jump.

I tried testing if it was a rebound issue by speeding over speedbumps to allow the front wheels to jump and snap back quickly to full extension. The resulting thud coming from the rebound maxing out is very sturdy and comforting and is completely unlike the sound im getting under compression which I can best describe as clunky as if something is not tightened down properly.

 

[LC4point6GXR]

Not sure what route to take next, should I rebuild my shocks/check the internals or should I replace my UCA (go back to stock?) and see if that resolves it?

 

[Markuson]

I’m positive the sound happens under compression right before taking off a small jump.

I tried testing if it was a rebound issue by speeding over speedbumps to allow the front wheels to jump and snap back quickly to full extension. The resulting thud coming from the rebound maxing out is very sturdy and comforting and is completely unlike the sound im getting under compression which I can best describe as clunky as if something is not tightened down properly.

OK.
Good that you’ve been able to rule that out...

Under severe compression? or any compression?(speed bumps certainly don’t sound severe, but asking anyway...)

 

[LC4point6GXR]

OK.
Good that you’ve been able to rule that out...

Under severe compression? or any compression?(speed bumps certainly don’t sound severe, but asking anyway...)

I wouldn’t say severe compression, more like mild compression. I’m posting a gif where I was able to replicate the sound showing the compression that causes the knocking. Sorry for the rotated gif I’m on my phone and couldn’t figure out how to rotate it.

 

[Markuson]

I wouldn’t say severe compression, more like mild compression. I’m posting a gif where I was able to consistently replicate the sound showing the mild compression that causes the sound. Sorry for the rotated gif I’m on my phone and couldn’t figure out how to rotate it.
View attachment 2417623

Hmm...
I don’t know, but IMHO, compression that is strong enough to literally bounce you into the air is pretty strong compression. At speed like that, it doesn’t take a huge or visually obvious bump to fully and violently compress.

Might have nothing to do with your bump stops, but you are definitely compressing pretty hard at speed in that gif.

PS. 1.5 cent comment—
In my experience, it’s harder to feel/judge serious compression at higher speeds because your 7000 pound truck has less chance to bounce YOU (the driver) as hard...because you suspension is forced upward and absorb the hit more quickly that your truck’s weight can move up where you would fully feel it. So unlike an obstacle or bump at lower speed where you move up and over the bump, and feel every bit of it...high speed hits like that aren’t always felt in proportion to the hit what suspension takes. Way easier to break/strain stuff at speed like that without feeling it.

Again...I don’t claim to have the answer, but knowing this is at speeds like your gif adds to things that could be contributing.

 

[LC4point6GXR]

Hmm...
IMHO, compression that is strong enough to literally bounce you into the air is pretty strong compression. At speed like that, it doesn’t take a huge bump to fully compress.

Might have nothing to do with your bump stops, but you are definitely compressing pretty hard at speed in that gif.

I guess you are right. Looking back, the compression definetely is on the hard side. But like I said, knocking sound also happens over pot holes on slow speeds, hearing that clunking noise over measley pot holes makes me cringe real bad.

One thing I wanted to add is after driving on corrugations, the adjustment knob on the shock bypass cylinder is noticebly cooler on the driver side where the knock is from. Might be related to the knocking noise?

 

[Markuson]

I guess you are right. Looking back, the compression definetely is on the hard side. But like I said, knocking sound also happens over pot holes on slow speeds, hearing that clunking noise over measley pot holes makes me cringe real bad.

One thing I wanted to add is after driving on corrugations, the adjustment knob on the shock bypass cylinder is noticebly cooler on the driver side where the knock is from. Might be related to the knocking noise?

That bit about lack of heat could be a major clue.
If it’s not heating up the same as the passenger side...then compression or rebound suppression might not be happening. Not good. That oil heats up as it’s forced through valves for suppression. No heat (compared to passenger side) sounds like bad valving.

**There are others here FAR more expert re shock internals. Hopefully they’ll chime in.

 

[4gotalot]

I have the king 2.5 lift kit installed on my LC with the Baja Kits UCA and recently I have been experiencing a loud knocking noise coming from the driver side UCA when the suspension compresses in certain scenarios. For example when I'm going relatively fast on large bumps or I when attempting to jump and catch air on dirt roads (nothing crazy, tires barely leaving the ground). The knocking also happens when i go over a pothole and only comes from the front passenger side. I can actually feel the knocking on my feet through the floor of the car.

I checked the issue at 4 different garage shops, none of them were able to find what's causing the clunking/knocking. The bolts connecting the UCA have been checked and have been tightened properly. One of the technicians believes the problem is in the UCA ball joint itself which has worn down, however the UCA itself is not even a year old so I'm not sure if that is possible. I even had to the tires rebalanced and realigned with no success.

Any of you with similar setups experience anything like this? View attachment 2416738

I am not a suspension guy but I do like pictures. Is your upper shock assy supposed to be making contact with mounting plate? Just to the left of were the hydro line comes out of shock.

 

[bloc]

I am not a suspension guy but I do like pictures. Is your upper shock assy supposed to be making contact with mounting plate? Just to the left of were the hydro line comes out of shock.

I think that’s just the angle of the photo.
The top of the king around the ball mount is only roughly an inch and a half across, whereas the plate with the slot it fits into is four or five. I think with that photo not in line with the slot the ball mount is behind the corner of the plate/slot and looks like it’s hitting.
Or at least that’s my take from lots and lots of browsing king photos while I wait for mine to show up.

 

[LC4point6GXR]

Maybe snap some more photos that include other suspension components with the tire at full lock in both directions? A recording of the noise would help as well.

 

[nwfl4runner]

might be a stupid question on my part, but is your reservoir hose drooping close to the tie rod?

 

[CharlieS]

Did you rotate or grind your bump stops for clearance with the coils? I had to do that on both sides. You might get away with indexing them but i had to grind when I installed my king 2.5s.

 

[bloc]

On your second to last picture it looks a bit like the silver lower rod end might be hitting the arm at full droop.. but it's hard to tell for sure.

Off-topic but I'm curious.. there is a texture applied to nearly everything under that truck. Is that done aftermarket or from the factory? And I assume for corrosion protection?