How to quiet (dead quiet) a moderately lifted 02' 4wd advice needed.

My 02' SR5 4wd 4 door Tacoma at 201,000 miles makes a fair amount of noise when driving over road imperfections. Ive figured out how to silence my squeeky ass AAl but not my front end.
Up front i originally used poly spacers for lift, BIG mistake,
It made a shit load of noise, banging, clunking, and popping.
I replaced my ball joints, chucked the spacers in a dumpster, and replaced the struts w/ Rancho "quick lift" set at 1.75".
After that it was much better but some clunking, and popping remained. Ive asked my mechanic twice to figure out where its coming from and he has told me "that is the peril of lifted trucks and theres no way to avoid it". I simply do not believe that, I feel like he just doesnt want to take the time to track it down.
What do yall think ans what would you recommend?

 

sub'd

 

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Ear Plugs !!

 

Most known front end knocks are caused by the swaybar links and steering rack bushings. At 200k id bet the steering rack bushings are shot even if they aren't the cause of noise. Its possible control arm bushings are gone to but id check those first.

 

I had a popping noise every time I turned and it progressively got worse and I also had extra play where you could move the wheels back and forth with your hands while the truck was up in the air so I got 2 new CV axles, 2 new front wheel bearings and a rack &and pinion. I had replaced the rack bushings 2 or 3 years ago and that didn't stop the popping noise. But now all the noise is gone and it's been about 6 months or so. I'm very happy with making the decision to replace all that.

 

Oh yeah, I also have 247,000 miles on the truck. It had the original rack and front bearings but since I have a 3" lift it definitely didn't have the original CV axles. Although I have Camburg UCA's since I'm running a 3" lift.

 

It could be there steering column making the clunking as well.

There are many write-ups here about the repair. Basically, the shaft needs a spot weld to eliminate that noise where the two slide over one another.

Good luck.

 

Take off your sway bar and see if the noise goes away. If it does, you need new sway bar links. I need to do this too lol

 

How did you fix your rear squeak?

 

When i installed my aal i had to remove the plastic piece in the spring alignment clamp to fit the extra leaf.
So i cut a bicycle innertube into strips, took off the clamps, then put the pieces of innertube between the alignment clamp and leaf springs.
Worked like a charm

 

How difficult would it be to replace all those parts?
Im fairly handy but would hate to find out half way through the job that its beyond my skill level.
I assume it would be time consuming therefore very expensive to hire a mechanic to do it.

 

high difficulty. without proper experience, you would NEED specialized tools to do some of them. or a hell of a lot of patience.

 

Good to know..
Tools i have (or can aquire), but patience in in fairly short supply.
Thanks for the info.

 

Can be done with a torch, bottle jack, nice big balljoint press. That being said it can be a pain in the dick getting the old stuff out.

 

Any idea how much a mechanic might charge to install this kit?

 

a lot. they will have to disassemble all of your chassis steering and suspension bushings just to replace them with this. that's a lot of work. youre probably looking at over 600 in labor alone.

 

Thats about what i figured.
Im still debating whether or not i want to "build up" my 02' 4 door 4wd w/ 200,000 mi, or sell it and buy a 2nd gen w/ low miles.
If I decide to pull the trigger on a bushing kit, what kind of ride quality difference should i expect?

 

dont go 2nd gen. youll regret it.

ride quality? more responsive. not so loose and tired. wont sway as much. possibly better handling even.

 

With 201,000 there could be lots of things popping and clicking. Like others have said, I'd start with removing the sway bar since that is free and pretty easy. If that doesn't do it. I'd just start working through parts. With that many miles most of the suspension parts have hit their lifespan anyway. Have you replaced anything before on the truck, suspension wise? (Aside from the lift). I know you mentioned ball joints. Upper and lower? Oem or aftermarket? Tie rods? Rack bushings as others mentioned. Lower control arm bushings, or the entire arm, is probably due. May also be wise to just get under the truck and look for anything loose. Then jack it up and start trying to move the tires and other parts to find anything loose. Good luck. There's always the "just drive it til it breaks" approach, too...