Sounds like someones hitting my frame with a hammer (1 Viewer)

[toyotaboy80]

Only when freezing temps...lets say -5C or colder. 23F or colder.

'85 pick up... whenever it's -5C or colder out if I go over a pot hole or rapid bumps through a wash-boardy-non-maintained-intersection it sounds like someones rapping the frame rail with a hammer right below my driver side floor pan. Almost sounds like a hammered out ball joint in a vehicle that uses ball joints... clunk CLUNK as it drops into the hole then hammers back as it comes out of the hole.

If I rally it enough over enough wash board intersections and pot holes it doesn't make noise anymore. At non freezing temperatures there is no noise.

New wheel bearings. New knuckle bearings. New leaf spring bushings. New bilstein 5125's. High steer, all new tie rod ends. Brass bushings in the spindles are mint. New ubolts. New centerbolt. No cracked leafs. They are all pro lift springs, full military front wrap half or 3/4 rear wrap or whatever they call it. Leafs probably at least 15 years old by now. All the knuckle hardware, U bolts, shackle bolts everything all checked and tight.

If I'm in a drivethru and I pull up to the next window and lightly touch the brake I hear the slightest clunk...at any temperature.

Truck rides like a cloud of titties... Super soft and plush. When it's clunking I wouldn't say there is any loss of function of the suspension...just noise.

I dunno... only seems to be on the driver side. Do leaf springs clunk when frozen? What else can be making noise? Literally the entire front end has been re-manufactured except the 15 year old leaf packs.

I'm kinda thinking maybe the bilsteins have enough rebound pressure/gas charge it slightly unloads the leaf pack and freezes then it takes some hammering sessions to settle the pack back together? Or when I launch it to the next window at the drive through the pack unsettles a bit and when I touch the brake it settles the pack back together?

Worn out leaf springs?

Anyone have a random frozen clunk or anything like I'm describing here?

On a summer day this thing is dead silent flying through a wash board intersection. -5c sounds like the front end is about to have a yard sale of parts through the same intersection.

 

[KLF]

Busted shock?

Do you still have the front swaybar installed? If so, check the end links.

 

[ferg]

Does '85 have that stupid torque rod? Bushings on that?

 

[KLF]

Does '85 have that stupid torque rod? Bushings on that?

Oh yes, this is another good thing to check, the torque arm on the front axle.

 

[toyotaboy80]

Truck has everything delete kit on the front end as far as what would have been there factory for sway bars and torque arms and steering stabilizer....etc. only has leafs shocks and steering connecting the axle to the frame.

Not sure about a busted shock. I'd say the shock is doing its job...anyway else to diag that?

 

[KLF]

Not sure about a busted shock. I'd say the shock is doing its job...anyway else to diag that?

Unbolt one end, try cycling up and down.

 

[msahr]

He mentioned high steer so maybe no j-arm thingie?

 

[msahr]

Check the shock mount?

 

[msahr]

It sounds exactly like the noise my old jeep cherokee made took forever to diagnose the thing turned out the shock mount on the bottom of the shock were loose. It allowed the axle to drop and since the shock drops "slower" because of the oil in the shock, when the suspension would cycle up it would hit the shock, making that noise. Only happened when hitting something that caused the wheel to "drop" rather than compressing first. Maybe the shock is soft enough that anything over approx -5 degrees makes it stiffer, but above that it's fine? I dunno... Good Luck.

 

[toyotaboy80]

Well I have been convinced out of my denial that the shocks weren't the issue.... thanks for the replies!

When I re/re'd the old shocks buddy(being previous owner years back) had some weird stuff going on on the shock hoop end of the mount. One side was a 1/2" hole with a 1/2" bolt, with no bushing sleeve...so it was a 1/2" bolt thru a 5/8 bushing. When I put the new shock in I used the bushing sleeve so it was installed properly.
When I got to the other side, the hoop flange was drilled out for a 5/8" bolt, on no sleeve in the shock. Weird... so I removed the factory bushing reducer sleeve out of the new shock and ran the 5/8 bolt and tightened up to a bit of squish on bushing. That was last winter. Somehow I tolerated this clunk due to it's short lived clunking only on a cold morning...made it through the summer noise free. The truck rode 150 million times better with fresh shocks and bushings so I didn't question it any further. This winter though, first overnight freeze the noise showed up again... hmmmmmmm...which is why I posted the thread.

The bush with no sleeve is on driver side. Being -10c today and having an extra set of hands before driving the truck I rocked the front driver side hard enough till it made the clunk....was quite a bit quieter than it is when driving, but figured that's the clunk. Got buddy to rock the truck why I CSI'd where the noise was coming from.... it's coming from the upper bushing with no sleeve installed. If I grab the shock and twist it a bit while buddy is rocking the truck it goes away.

So..........guess the shock gets stiff enough when cold that it just starts hammering the semi-loose bolt/bushing squeeze method of tightening around in the shock mount.

 

[toyotaboy80]

Is it standard practice to tighten the $%@! out of the the shock mount beyond "bushing squish" to get tightness? Or run a sleeve to get a proper tightness?

In any event I'm anal retentive and made up a 1/2" i.d to 5/8" o.d bushings so I could run the sleeve in the bushing on a 1/2" bolt with the 5/8 hole in the shock hoop. As far I conclude at this point the clunk is gone. Suspension might even be tighter now that the shock is solidly fastened in place...crazy how much 1 little shock mount makes.....could be placebo. Either way shes silent and smooth sailing now!