Suspension Pop/Clink/Clunk

I know it's been talked about at great lengths, but I wanted to post up my experience.

I bought my truck new and had an 3" Ironman lift put on a few months later. After it was installed, it had a very random "clunk" noise coming from what seemed to be the mid-rear area of the truck. I chased it around but didn't have much luck solving it, so I just lived with it. It didn't happen often and only happened off road.

Fast forward to last summer... I finally got around to installing JBA UCA's (which are great BTW) to help with rub and get the caster in a better spot. A few months after the alignment It started to make a "clinking" noise that was really hard to pinpoint. After looking around for way to long, I decided to have my friends at Toyota give it a try. They said they found a few loose bolts on the suspension. It seemed a little better for a few weeks then it came back with a vengeance. It sounded like a hammer hitting a metal plate.

Now I'm pissed and decide to drop the skid plates and go to town with the torque wrench. I searched the site and found a few key things to go after but not much luck. I did find a few somewhat under-torqued bolts here and there but nothing too bad.

Until... I got to the lower control arms. The passenger rear was at around 40ft lbs (prob less). The other bolts were less than 60, 70 and 90ft lbs. Not even close to 100ft lbs. I'm not sure if having the truck up on the rack made a difference but it was certainly off sitting on the ground. Not only did this fix the "clink" but it also fixed the "clunk" that had been there from the start. Also, maybe its mental, but the truck seems much more solid at freeway speeds (not hunting around).

I've gained a lot from this site and really apricate the contributions. Hopefully this post can help somebody else chasing the same issue.

Jim

 

The loose lower control arms bolts are the most common cause of noise. The clunk is the gap between the bushings and their mounts going forward and back, even at a very small gap.

Most people don't realize that an alignment tech is low man on the totem pole and usually doesn't use a torque wrench to set those bolts right.

Glad you figured it out!!

 

2nd gen is 100ft but the 3rd is gen is more.

 

The tech was a major ass... Argued with me to no end about the JBA recommended castor/camber settings. He said "I've aligned thousands of vehicles and the castor is beyond factory spec". I told him that's the point. After a few other exchanges I had enough and asked him "do you design suspension for a living?" He didn't appreciate that comment but we were done anyway.

 

I found the same. Under torque LCA cam bolts will cause a clunk, possibly screwing up alignment as well.

 

@Crikeymike - Can you send me a DM?

 

I believe 118ft lbs for the 3rd Gen.