Clutch/Transmission Clunk? '03 3.4L v6 Manual

How soon do you plan on fixing it?

They say that if you can visibly see any play in them, no matter how small, it's time to replace. There is an acceptable amount of play according to the FSM but you need a special tool to measure it, that's how small it is. 1/4" play is no joke so I would make it a priority

 

It's definitely a new priority for me. I'm at work now 30-45minute drive from home, then I work Tues & Wed, then I'm off for turkey day weekend. My mechanic buddy said I could limp it, just don't hit any curbs or jump the truck. Looking to get parts and do the LBJs Fri/Sat/Sun.

 

Most LBJ failures happen at low speeds when turning, due to the weight of the truck moving onto one side and the slow speed means you're probably making a tighter turn (no one in these trucks is doing high speed maneuvers lol) = pop goes the ball joint. Very rarely do you see of failures happening at high speeds, though it can happen if you hit a pothole or something and the ball joint is already hanging on by a thread

 

Babied the truck home tonight, carpooling with a mate tomorrow & borrowing the wife's subie on Wednesday. Picking up new LBJs Wednesday morning & replacing on Friday.

It's the strangest thing, now it's somewhat of a binding then clunk, happens in gear or neutral, but only when I'm attempting a quick stop, or slowing down and getting off the freeway on the exit ramp.

Anybody ever heard of that? The LBJs will help with the clunk, but what the heck is this binding clunk when braking?

ABS light is on, going to unplug at the axle, start engine, turn off, re-plug, turn back on, to see if the plugs aren't seated perfectly.

 

Do you feel the clunk when it happens coming from the rear? If so it might be axle wrap, which is another thing entirely
But the LBJs do tend to clunk and make noise when they're going bad so that could very well be it if it's coming from the front

 

I'll put air in the airbags that are paired with my Dakars + AAL to see if that cures any axle wrap. I keep them at 5-10psi when the camper isn't in the bed. But that'd be way too easy of a fix... It's so hard to pinpoint a clunk, so it's really tough to say if it's front or rear. I can feel it in the floorboards and it shakes the truck as if something is binding & letting loose when braking only. So, Friday will be the next test day, new LBJ install- which are much needed & air in the bags, and we'll see if that helps.

All much needed maintenance items are getting checked off the list, so it's all progress & I'm learning a ton, so I'll keep on the path. Thanks again everyone for the input as this develops.

 

LBJs installed, was a lot easier job than I imagined, thanks to all the threads/youtube videos. Truck had a great test run today! No shuddering/clunking so far!

So stoked.

I did look after the test drive, & there is a bit of oil where the axle enters inside the passenger brake drum (like before)- I replaced the inner seal, might not have been the source- which leaves the outer seal & wheel bearing to investigate next.

Felt great driving it around today, will continue to monitor the gear oil leak inside the shoe and assess from there.

My issues that caused this thread have been sorted out. Thanks to all who chimed in!

 

Sorry I missed your question earlier this week hermano, but so glad you had solid advice from a guy who knows these tacos pretty well(he'd never say it but whatev lol). I was just reading the thread now and I'd read your post and then mouth what I'd reply back and he pretty much covered it all.
Glad to hear the repair went smooth too. You're on Alcans and airbags? You got a nice setup man, I like the camper

 

No worries mate, thanks for dropping in here! Appreciate it, I'm running Dakars + aal with Firestone Ride Rites + Daystar Cradles. The camper has treated us quite well! The suspension setup has been perfect for our needs too.

 

Fun fact when gear oil gets into the brake drum it can catch on fire (thankfully I caught this before it did)

Driver side axle seal is now leaking & you can visibly see the seal unseated. I pulled off the road last night cause I heard a rotational friction- thought maybe I over-tightened the shoe inside the drum. Got out & the brake drum was SMOKING, gear oil dripping everywhere. I waited for it to cool down (thankfully didn't actually catch on fire) and I loosened the adjuster inside the drum a bunch. Drove another 100yds & could hear something still scraping around, loosened it again, another 100yds same sound. So I'm thinking the bearing is shot & I need new inner & outer seals.

I'm getting pretty frustrated at this point at my failed attempts. Looking into getting a new (to me) locking rear (which I've been wanting) as I'm open/open 4x4 right now. Trouble with getting a used one- is it may need the seals/bearings done too.

Thinking I'll bring the truck into the local Toyo/Lexus workshop and having them just go through the whole truck and try to find any/everything that's going on, as it's been one thing after another & while I'm learning a whole lot, I'm sick of crawling under the truck on the side of the road.

Here's the axle seal inside the drum that's letting all the grease in!

 

Ooof that blows. I'm definitely not looking forward to having to do that job one day...seems like its inevitable at some point for all of us.

I know they will fail with old age/wear and tear but might want to make sure your rear diff breather isn't clogged up...if it is then it will push the oil out of the seals again even after you replace them.

 

Good call on the breather, maybe 6mo ago I relocated it to behind the gas fuel panel, the bolt holding the panel in may have been pushing on the breather, rendering it useless. It's hard to say because that bolt has to be out in order to see what it looks like sealed up. I tried to move it last night & manipulate the breather, which seemed pretty stiff. So I adjusted the zip tie holding the hose, so it's lower than the mounting bolt. Hoping that will take care of it.

I'm starting to see the wear from having our house in the bed for so long! Darn wheel bearings/seals couldn't take it forever..

What's funny is I took the camper out two months ago, and now all these issues are happening. Just happy this is happening when we aren't actually living in it & days away from service in the middle of nowhere.

 

So I'll be dropping the truck off at the shop tomorrow morning for a detailed bumper to bumper inspection, I gave them an incident & service report dating back to 2014 of literally everything I've done to the truck including photos, dates & mileage. Thanks to my TW build it was easy to make!

Will post up what they come up with tomorrow, and if there are things I'd rather not do like wheel bearings or whatnot, I'll let them do it. But if they find things that are easy, I'll definitely save the cash and do it myself.

 

Dropped it off at the shop, driver rear wheel bearing is literally coming apart- metal shards are all over. They're on the abs sensor too-which is why the abs light is on, so they'll replace the bearing, inner/outer seal, clean the sensor & get it back out to see if they notice anything more going on- specifically the braking clunk. Will report back in about 4hrs to see what they say.

 

So the metal shavings from the bearing chewed up the wheel speed sensor. They could get one in the morning for $259+tax, same price quoted when I called the dealer, but Toyota of Cool Springs has online parts ordering- not sure why it's so much cheaper, but I'm going to pick one up at the dealership and drop it off at the shop tomorrow for $175+tax. SCORE! That softens the blow a little bit.

Once they get that in, they'll be able to shake down the front end binding/clunk.

 

Dropped off the ABS wheel speed sensor this morning, will post up once I hear anything back from the shop!

 

That's a cool shop that let's you shop your own oem parts prices. Cool for them to not wanna rape you on parts pricing

 

Right!? It's no difference to them, they would've gotten the part this morning if I let them order it, they encouraged me to save a hundred bucks- pretty cool!

 

*UPDATE*

Got the truck back from the shop last night. Feels brand new. After the driver wheel bearing/retainer, inner/outer axle seals, ABS wheel speed sensor & brake adjustment- that takes care of all the issues.

The ABS wheel speed sensor must have been locking the brake up or causing the binding clunk upon quick slow downs. Good to know!

Thanks for following along, I'll post up if any issues arise. Stoked to have my truck back.