Front clunk/pop/bind noise *solved*

Edit - turned out to be a worn front body mount (by the radiator). Body misaligned on frame from factory causing premature wear on mounts. Known issue according to the dealership.

I recently started having weird noises coming from my front driver side suspension. It was almost always while turning right under compression. It made a very metallic clunk/pop/binding kind of noise.

With words of wisdom from @Bertw192 and @msgs350 I loosened everything and re-torqued with the truck on the ground, no fix. I removed the sway bar, no fix. I ripped out my total chaos UCA and replaced with the OEM unit, no fix. So then I focused on the shock/coilover (Bilstein 6112) and I found this...


I ordered a replacement and had it pressed in and the noise was gone. I am shocked that this bushing was able to cause such a ruckus. Anyways, if you are having a similar noise under similar conditions, inspect this bushing. Gotta love a $10 fix.

 

Sorry to dig up an older thread, has the noise stayed away? I have a VERY similar noise on my truck

 

I should have updated this....

The noise came back and it turned out to be bad front body mounts (by the radiator). Lots of tacos are misaligned from the factory (known issue) and cause the front mounts to wear out very quick. If you have a noise like this have the dealership look at it. The front mounts have to be replaced and all body mounts have to be loosened and the cab re-aligned or it will happen again.

Good luck!

 

AH HA! thats what i thought, I have replaced the front radiator support mounts long ago but still have a metal pop coming from somewhere, i suspect cab mounts. Thanks for the update!

 

I'm tracking down the same noise... @crashnburn80 - ever think about the lower shock bushing and/or cab/radiator body mounts? It has got worse and every compression/droop driving out in Canyonlands last week had me annoyed at the popping just driving slowly 1 mile off the road to get to some rock climbing areas.

 

Have a link to new bushings?

 

It's all in here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...all-now-with-pictures-and-a-video-too.432885/

Summary: you can use just the

$153 Energy Suspension 8.4109G Body Mount Set-Reg, Access & Dbl Cab

Energy Suspension 8.4109G kit which covers 4 cab mounts and the 2 radiator support bushings, but some have discarded the included 2 radiator support bushings and bought the "Universal Mount"

$34 Energy Suspension 9.4101G UNIVERSAL MOUNT

Energy Suspension 9.4101G to use since it's much thicker and stiffer.

I'll probably just do the regular kit since I don't wheel hard and don't think the minor difference between the supplied radiator support bushings and the thicker universal ones matter in my case.

 

I hadn't considered those. The shock bushing would be very easy to check. I replaced the full LCAs with new OEM units and the UCA ball joints on the SPCs. My thought was that it was the UCA SPC bushings but that is difficult to confirm without swapping them.

 

I think I'll find a loading dock ramp and drive up/down it with the driver front wheel on/off the ramp for easy noise reproduction and then have someone creep in 4-lo back and forth while I have a mechanics stethoscope to isolate if it's the lower shock bushings (parts ordered) or body mounts or something else. I'd like to isolate it down a little bit before throwing all new parts at it.

 

Agreed that sounds like a good approach. The trick is finding an environment where it is easily reproducible to be able to do that.

 

So it wasn’t the lower shock bolt after all? Can you describe when the “clunk” would occur?

 

Correct.

Slow right hand turns esp off camber. Had a failed left side front body mount.

 

Related:

The lowered spherical bearing on my OME BP-51 shock ‘failed’ (rusted, crusted, seized). It made a gawdawful noise and was sort of tricky to isolate. They sent me a new one. I greased an anti-seized the crap out of it when replacing.


All the crud, mud and water runs down the shock and ends up in that nice pocket where it moves in and consumes the metal.

 

Interesting. My 2008 makes an awful crunch/clunk when I perform a sharp right or left turn at speeds higher than 5-8 MPH. Doesn’t always happen but the angle in which to truck is positioned does not matter. Sometimes it’ll do it while going up or down a hill while other times it’ll do it on flat roads. I too have 6112’s set at 2” using stock UCA’s.

 

Damn, I thought I had fixed this clunk/noise/sound on mine with a sway bar relocation kit and new sway bar bushings, took the skid plate off…..it’s back and I’m likely going to try this next. Maybe new top hats too.

I am almost certain my bushings look like that too, shit I may go check right now in the dark.

 

I rebuilt my the majority of my front end ( 6112s, inner/outer tie rods, cam bolts, stock LCA, and all new bolts and other hardware. So it isnt any of the bolt hardware on mine. I did this in May and I started getting a similar "clunk" as y'all have been talking about. I notice it when going over speed bumps or enter parking lots with an uneven entrance. I have my 6112 set on the first notch.

 

Sway bar still on? I’m 100% certain it’s my sway bar even though I haven’t really checked thoroughly. Might just yank it out.

 

I brought my taco into the dealer for a loud clank in the front left (50k, I was surprised because it was pretty early). They said the body mounts were bad and replaced them but the clank is still there. Are you saying if they don't loosen and re align the cab the problem will persist? Or that the mounts will just wear out quicker?

 

I've been having this clunk too for a while and I've been driving myself crazy trying to figure out what it is! Guess I'll look at this body mounts tomorrow!

 

It should temporarily fix the issue but it will happen again if all mounts aren’t loosened and the cab aligned.