New clunk

Hey all, I’ve made a few threads about past clunks with my third gen, however, just got a new one. This one only occurs when I’m straightening my wheel from turning right, it never happens when turning left, it’s only happened a few times when only turning right. I just recently had an alignment so maybe it’s the LCA bolts? Could it be the sway bar end links?

 

Sounds like you may simply be driving a clunker.. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Yes absolutely they can make a clunk. They need to be 100 lb/ft and it's easy to come up short when they're rusty and/or not using a torque wrench.

My alignment place that is very knowledgeable and reputable made the same mistake and I had to bring it back.

If the noise showed up right after the alignment you really need to look there first and make sure they are tight. It's super common

 

It’s been a few weeks since it showed up. I can tighten it and see if it goes away and if it does I’ll be bringing it back to them.

 

Not trying to send you on a goose chase but those cam bolts are notorious for getting rusty. The torque wrench can be clicking at 100 lbs but that doesn't mean the bushing is snug in the frame. The bolts freeze up inside the sleeves and nothing spins like it should. They really should be removed and greased before attempting another torque, or drpped off at the alignment shop for that matter..
But I know, it's a pain.. just my 2 cents..

 

The guy that did my alignment said he had issues with the drivers side bolts popping free… so that actually wouldn’t surprise me.

 

That's gotta be the noise

If it was me I'd pull them out and grease them before going back to the shop

 

Logically it makes the most sense, but I also did take a chunk out of a sway bar end link boot. Not super big, but it spewed some grease, so wondering if it was that… pry bar slipped unfortunately

 

Sway bar links will rattle over bumps,like a loose brake pad.

Steering left and right won't affect it. But if you're curious, remove the sway bar and see if the noise goes away. But I doubt it's related..

 

That makes sense. I thought it might be the ball joints, because I have a 3” leveling kit on stock uppers, but the ball joints seem solid so far…

 

I keep going back to the fact that the noise showed up right after an alignment..

Good luck. Let us know what you find

 

Do not ever 'grease' threads. The only thing that is acceptable to be done is anti-seize on certain bolts, and even then it throws the torque specs off so do your own research on how to correct for it. I just spent 1.25 hours removing a 2 year old tie rod end that somebody decided to put grease on for absolutely zero reason whatsoever. There was a giant glob of grease on the end of the inner, and a ton of it inside the threads on the outer. And it did absolutely nothing to prevent rust or anything.

It not only prevents penetrates like PB Blaster from doing what it's supposed to do, when you try the 'heat' method aka slight torch heat on the outside of the threads (tie rod end or bolt, regardless) the grease will burn and make it that much harder to remove. NEVER GREASE BOLTS.

If you know anything about Subaru's (mid 90s to mid 2000s) the rear main bolts on the suspension are a huge issue for most people, I put anti seize on mine and presto I can remove it when I want and it has never backed out or had any issues with it. Greasing bolts is a grandpa's tale from the 30s.

If your truck is prone to getting rusty (aka your location) you should be doing proper underspray / rust prevention/ etc , and if you're not, that's on you.

 

Welcome to TW

I meant anti-sieze. Sorry, I just use "grease" as a general term meaning "put something on it". Didn't mean to upset you

Everything gets washed off where I live anyway

I've been wrenching as a full-time tech for 20 years. i have various types of goop sitting around to deal with various situations.

 

No worries, no upsetting here. I'm in the technical world so words matter. Big difference between greasing and applying anti-seize compound. I live in an area also where regardless of whether we get rain, snow, or slush, anti-seize on main suspension components bolts/sleeves etc hasn't washed away if I maintain it within at least a 2 year window.

Underspray / anti-rust is a different convo , that should be done every year. I've been wrenching as a part-time (my own time) not amateur but not professional for over 20 years as well.

Regardless, adding a 3" lift and then wondering about clunking will forever be a guessing game online. Could be so, so many things.

Words matter. "Greasing" bolts and adding antiseize compound are two totally different things. Sorry I'm very anal about this kind of thing. In the industrial world this could mean the difference between the production line running and everything coming to a stop.

 

Thank you but I've been here since 2017 I just forgot my old username/email etc (Microsoft sucks, I don't rely on Microsoft anymore). Also on many other automotive / industrial forums.

Please refer to my previous post for the most pertinent information.

 

Well thankfully this is just a truck forum

 

True but in all honestly there isn't much difference. If you're serious about car / truck maintenance the same ideas apply. Make sure everything is greased/ oiled / properly protected. Unless you don't care and are perfectly comfortable buying a new car/truck every 5 years. If that.

 

I had a similar issue shortly after an alignment. Tightening the bolts down a bit more fixed it for a bit, but it came back. I replaced my LCA bushings + seized cam bolts in the end and that solved it for me.

 

The thing that baffles me most is the clunk only appears under a very certain set of conditions. It’s not every single time either. I had no clunk a couple times on my drive to work this morning and I had a couple times where it clunked 2 or 3 times…

 

Update, LCA bolts are all tight, clunk is still there. Didn’t even slightly go away. Not sure where to look next…