Popping sound on rough roads.. (cab mnt?)

First: rcfreak > your taco looks saweet! Nice job

Secondly: Here's my dilemma. After dicking around with this whole bushing issue I discovered a few things. I discovered that replacing your bushings may likely not fix your popping issues because the LCA housing (that the bushing is inserted into) may be stretched or disfigured from abuse. That being the case, a new bushing will never fit as tight as the original did the day it was pressed in.

In light of that, I thought, well maybe I can drill a shallow hole into the arm and bushing and use a set screw, rivet, etc. to prevent movement. Tried that last night and although it looked like a win win, after one half hour mild offroading, rivet sheared and I'm back to square one.

I need a screwy but effective method of getting this bushing to stay in that hole. Ideas?? I thought about JB weld but then how will I ever get that shit out if I need to replace it. Also JB weld will likely crack with the vibration and extreme impacts. Don't know what else to try that's not entirely permanent and yet will hold for as long I need.

 

dang man thats a bust, btw thanks for the compliment. i was monitoring my truck and tried some weird stuff but my noise is gone, i dont think it was ever my LCA i think it was my shock, once all the preload was off of them theres no more noise at all

 

So is the fix to get new bushings or a new lca?

 

New lower control arm. Although my buddy (madtaco) had a great idea. I think next week we're going to pop the arm off and throw a couple tach welds inside of the arm to create a tighter tolerance when the bushing is pressed in. This idea remains consistant with the original design which is that the bushing stays snug due to tight tolerances. We'll see how it works out.

 

so would it be bad if i continue to drive how it is now? its only poppin on the downstroke over speed bumps and driveways, not when turning

 

Your positive that's what it is?

Even so it's not bad to keep driving on it, atleast for awhile. The more it moves around, the more it will wear over time but it's minimal wear. I'd look and verify your suspicion next time your not busy and then go from there. My buddy thought this was his problem but when I looked you could tell the bushings had never moved. Must have been something else moving around.

 

mines popping while turning,should i just replace the bushings and see if it works or is there no hope haha

 

I dont know if you're joking or not, but i believe he has stock LCA's. arent the bushings on an LT different?

 

sig pic is my old truck,i now have a 2nd gen

 

Not necessarily. Take a look at these pictures and see if you can find something similar under your truck. You may have to make some sharp turns on your street before you'll notice this discrepancy.

No gap (The correct appearance)



With gap (Bad, indicating bushing is not fixed in place anymore)

 

It looks like the no gap when I just went outside

 

Alright. Sometimes it returns back to the "no gap" position after you've driven awhile. May have to provoke the pop sound and check immediately thereafter. I noticed by looking at the other bushings, you can sometimes tell by rust or weathering if one particular bushing is moving around while the other's or not. You have to do a real visually ciritcal comparison.

If none of those symptoms present, you may have a totally different issue all together. If you here your pop just making sharp turns or pulling into driveways, but don't hear it driving straight or over rough pavement, I'd say it is likely the same issue I'm having. Ball joints and warn parts usually cause more racket and more frequently.

 

ya i just went outside and turn the wheel back n forth all the way and it was fine,no noise...

 

I might have the same issue, clunk sounds going straight down the road over every little bump and crack in the road. When turning the sound is not there..is this the same issue you have?

 

My truck never made the noise just driving straight on a smooth paved road. Turns, speed bumps, and dips seemed to reproduce it like clock work. Just have your girl or neighbor do some manuvers in your driveway while you observe the lower control arm. It should produce the sound with out any significant speed depending on how bad it is. I'd say that's how you know it is the lower control arm. I finally fixed my bushings without replacing them and I'm happy as a clam. I pretty much had to remove the bushing and then add some metal to the inside housing with a mig welder. That made the bushing fit much tighter when I pressed it back in. Went to test drive it and voila, no more pop. I'm still thinking of an easier solution for other folks but have yet to come up with one.

 

so the welder solution seemed to work? sweet might try that. as for easier ways hmmm..... maybe jb weld? that might be to soft and where did you add the tach weld?

 

could you hear this from inside the cab with all the windows up? or did u have to listen for it to actually hear it?

 

Was very noticeable from inside the cab. Even with all the windows up because the frame seemed to allow the noise to resonate up into the cab.

 

I pulled the bushing out, made three tack welds at evenly spaced intervals like 10:00, 2:00, 6:00. I placed them halfway (depth) into the housing. As a final failsafe I welded a small amount of the bushing to the arm ( there's a little factory made hole in the housing that you can see when the arm is off). I figure when the time comes, a tiny amout of dremel work can release the bushing for replacement. An alternative though might be to use very coarse sand paper, remove all paint and oil from the contact surfaces, and then use JB weld. Good luck though if you need to pull it out for replacement one day.

 

Do you have steps or rock rails? I if so are they touching the body?