Tacoma front end clanks, clunks, and rides horrible over potholes

Ok, new to the forum. Have learned a lot and have found great knowledge here! Thank you all for posting. my problem, Tacoma clunks over any pot hole or just about anything. Replaced upper ball joints hoping it’d fix it. Nope.
Replaced front suspension with ome, nope nothing changed.
Cv axles have a lot of play and are pretty worn but can’t imagine those making clunk noises and causing suspension to feel horrible.
Tie rods are torn... do those cause clunks ?
Lower ball joints seem fine. just at loss. Post video if anyone responds.

 

Just tried to post this in another thread, but OP was unresponsive. I recently checked the slip joint in my Taco and found it to be loose. A quick tack weld mod made my truck feel like new again. Video and troubleshooting can be found here...

 

Post the video, recommend posting it on youtube and linking it here. Assuming this clunk is coming from the front end?

 

My steering feels fine... no clunks in the wheel.. I’ll post video today

 

https://youtu.be/UFl2KlAc8X8

Here’s the video. I’ll try and get a better one.

 

sway bar bushings, Holmes

 

Removed sway bar. Still there

 

control arm bushings. upper and lower

 

Could that potentially make the truck feel horrible off road and super clunky?

 

When my LCA bushings were seized I definitely felt a clunk in the front end going over bumps and potholes. Once they were replaced it seemed like I got more movement out of the LCA which allowed the shocks to absorb bumps better.

Did you get an alignment after changing your suspension out? The alignment guys were the ones who told me I had seized bushings.

 

The lower control arms have about 40k on them, I’ll take a look. No one has said anything about them being seized. Yes truck was aligned.

 

if that's the case then not sure

 

This weekend I’m replacing cv axles, I’ll update later

 

I had this problem too. I replaced the sway bar bushings and sway bar end links. No more clank.

 

Update: replaced cv axles, helped alittle but still clunks over many bumps and pot holes. Upper ball joints and cvs are now brand new. I guess I’ll have to do lower ball joints. Hopefully that’s it

 

I wouldn't throw money at parts until you diagnose what it is. It could be steering rack bushings. Put the truck on a lift and check the front suspension for play.

 

bumping an old post

did you ever resolve this. i cant replicate it, but im lost.

 

Welcome aboard @TatonkaII , this could be almost anything up front. I'd have then done tests as mentioned on the rack and bushings, then check the ball joints (lots of posts here on that.) Similar to ball joint tests, test the lower control arm bushings for excessive wear. There could even be problems with the coilovers/shocks, it could be anything up front.

 

I completely agree. Mines an 01 w 222k miles. It's a farm truck.

It just started about a month ago and has gotten worse. Everything ($) I've put in to it I'm ok with because of its age. I had the LCAs replaced, I did the upper and lower ball joints, new brakes and rotors, and no sway bar.

My ICON coilovers are 5 years old with very few miles (not a DD). I took the passenger side off and didn't see any wear from it collapsing on itself.

I've checked engine mounts, body mounts, etc. It drives like a dream on pavement: no steering or anything. It's not until I hit a pothole or go on a dirt road and it almost sounds like the rotor is clanking around. It's loud. I can't believe it's this difficult to pin point.

Thanks again

 

Id jack it up and do the typical tests, wiggle the wheel side to side aggressively, back and forth. And put a prying tool of some sort (2x4 will work) under the tire and move it up and down to check for ball joints. Definitely coming from the front not the rear?