loose noise at front wheel

With the wheel in the air and wiggling the driver side tire at 12 and 6, I'm hearing the thunking of something loose. It's slight but it's there. Here's a video of my UBJ, LBJ and tie rod end. All three are moving just a tad, but I'm only hearing one. I don't think the sound is coming from the tie rod end. It's definitely coming from the wheel area, not in towards the steering rack or anything. Lug nuts tight.

Edit: I held the brake pedal down and same behavior. I read that this means it's not the bearings?

Second, the UBJ and LBJ boots are torn. The passenger side that a shop did a while back looks good on both and no thunking. Worth having the shop do the UBJ and LBJ, or just the LBJ? No record of ever having done it on the driver side. Should a shop be able to determine for sure which one is loose?

I already had two shops check this issue this year. Neither shop could reproduce the thunk sound. Maybe it got worse and it's noticeable enough that they'll catch it next time.




Below are pics of my upper and lower ball joints from another angle.

 

Since the first post I tested more, and I feel it in the coil spring the most. Given where that attaches, I believe I have narrowed it down to the LBJ, lower suspension arm, or coil spring areas. I don't feel it in the UBJ or tie rod ends.

I checked nuts for tightness as best I could. I did not remove the cotter pins to test the ball joint nuts. I can't tell what the nut on top of the strut does. It just rotates the top half of the strut.

Two shops checked it out several months ago when I first complained about the issue. One checked the bearings, and the other shop said they couldn't replicate the issue. Both were doing other work on it too so I guess they didn't spend much time on that. Front shocks were replaced 35k miles ago.

What is the best course of action? I'm leaning towards having the shop replace the LBJ but it doesn't seem urgent, mainly a possible source of minor vibration while driving that I'd like to get rid of.

 

Check the lower ball joints for play, if you see any up/down movement at all they need replaced. Typically it's a 100k mile more or less maintenance item on these trucks depending on use.

Check like this, or put a pry bar between the arm and joint to see if there's play

The ones in this video are super bad

https://youtu.be/tzi_FNC5hJw

 

The nut on top of your Coil Over is what holds the spring tension!!

Don`t mess with that nut unless the spring is caged and that nut is no longer under tension.

People get injured and killed that way.

I would replace the Lower Ball joints with Toyota parts .

You should be able to find what is moving.

 

I tried the test with a prybar under the tire with it a couple inches in the air like that, and I was not able to find any play.

 

Check lower control arm bushings......it looks like in that video the whole arm moves with lbj fixture.....

With a v6 thats a lot of weight/stress there...

 

Looking at your 2nd video I can see the lower part of the UPPER ball joint move when the upper part remains still.

Looking at your 3rd video I can see where the boot on the lower ball joint is torn. Torn boot = imminent failure due to dirt and moisture.

I would replace all four ball joints with Genuine Toyota Parts.

 

You have the 5 lug so this actually might be different, I don't know - sorry. @Sperrunner - same or different way to test?

If this were the 6 lug, you don't want to put it under the tire. You would follow this example on how to test (jack up the front of the vehicle w/wheel off the ground and frame supported first) -

https://youtu.be/bu2rQMxXV2M

 

Its the same test. Alot easier to replace ball joints on a 5lug though.