Clunk and Rattle in Front End Over Bumps

2020 TRD Pro, zero suspension mods or any other mods. Stock wheels, stock Goodyear Kevlar tires.
19,000 miles.

99.99999% road driving. It's driven gently and garage stored. It is not baja'd around or bounced over curbs.

Within the last two weeks I get a clunk/clunk/clunk/clunk in the front end over sharper bumps on the road.

I took everything out of the truck and gloveboxes to make sure I wasn't hearing something else.
Even took the jack and handle out from under the back seat and drove it around, same clunk in the front end.
Checked the hood vent, not loose.
I checked the skid plate (by kicking it with my boot in various places) and it doesn't 'feel' loose.
Can't find anything hanging loose underneath.
Grabbed the red front springs on both sides and can't feel anything loose by hand, but that can be hard to do with the weight of the truck on them.
Sway bar and links seem tight by hand, but again, sitting static can fool you into thinking they are tight.

It's what a old front wheel drive car strut sounds like when the upper mount goes bad. A clunk rattle noise from a very badly worn out suspension.

Truck doesn't pull or shimmy on flat roads.
Truck is silent unless you go across a bump.
Rolling uneven roads produce no clunk. It has to be a bump or something mildly abrupt like an expansion joint in the road.

Any ideas or has anyone had this before with so few miles before I take it to the dealer?

 

Most likely the front body mounts. Known to waste themselves in early mileage like that because the rear four have way too much adjustability and allow the front ones to ride the end of their play.





You have a few options:

-- Replace with the same OEM ones. Requires very careful cab alignment for them to maybe last.
-- Replace with the Energy Suspension Universal Kit. Quality parts that are not expensive. The only problem is that they are a bit thicker than stock:

$28 Energy Suspension- 9.4101G UNIVERSAL MOUNT

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CN9BZ0​

-- Quickly jump into the group buy for the full Rogue Offroad Poly Bushing Kit:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...mount-kit-group-buy-round-two-closing.763759/​

Of course, the dealer can swap these under warranty, but you likely be back here again.

 

Oh wow, very interesting. Never considered body mounts as an issue with a newer truck.

I bought the 10 year Platinum Toyota warranty with it new so I'll let them pay to replace them over and over if that is the case.

Thanks!

 

You're welcome.

I initially thought that it was some design goof up in the locations between the cab and frame, but when I installed the poly mounts, everything just slid in place and aligned perfectly once I took it off the jack. The cab to bed and wheel poke look spot on now.

 

Thanks again, found this older thread with a great video and that sure sounds like it. I honestly would not have considered a body mount at 19,000 miles on a gently driven street truck. Ever.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-set-of-front-body-mount-bushings.701993/

I'll have them check those mounts when it's in Friday for it's O/C and an issue with the Entune voice to text problem.

 

You're welcome.

It doesn't seem related to how it is driven. Just assembly, in my mind.


There are audio updates posted here on TW also. I'm very dealer adverse.

 

Pretty common thing. We see a few dozen a year. Almost all have been under 20,000. I have replaced a set on a truck that was under 10,000 miles once.

 

I’ve noticed I get some noise from drivetrain backlash when I push in the clutch and ride over larger bumps (my driveway is bad no that’s the only place I hear it). If I have any preload on the drivetrain, it doesn't happen. Just another possibility to look into.

 

I live near a speed bump and every tacoma including mine clunks over it in the front end.

 

It had it's dealer visit today.

The tech and I rode together and he heard the clunk. He also owns a Tacoma so he was curious what I was hearing. He says his does not do it.

He checked everything else first and no suspension issues so he checked the front body mounts as I had mentioned and sure enough, torn and worn. So he's having them replaced under warranty.

According to him, this is the very first one he's seen with the issue.
The service writers claim they have not seen the issue either.
Pretty odd with how many threads are all over the internet about it, but either way they will be replaced under my Platinum 10yr service warranty through Toyota.

They also updated the audio/nav system with two TSB updates while it was there, also under the extended warranty.

Thanks again! I'm sure they would have chased that clunk for a long time without you guys on here pointing to the body mounts.

 

Good stuff.

I'm glad that you are getting it sorted. out.

 

They always say that shit. "NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE".

 

or "could not locate noise, please come back again later"

 

"Normal for (insert vehicle here)"

 

So today was the day they could get it in.

Both front body mounts replaced...same exact noise still there. Mechanic noted 'noise is still present' when he took it for a drive to test after the mounts were replaced.

The noise has gotten louder since it's initial appointment a couple weeks ago. The temps have also gotten much colder, so that may have to do with whatever is/was rattling getting worse as the parts contract in the cold.
I was hoping the body mounts were it but it seems not.

Another appointment made for next Friday to look at it again.

I'm glad I'm not paying for the time and parts, but it is annoying.

I can't find anything loose on the truck myself from underneath or above, but I haven't taken the skid plate off either and I have no way to relax the suspension to look for loose fittings and joints.

Now I'm thinking something is just plain loose, like a line or pipe that's clunking against the frame over bumps, but who knows.
I thought maybe an engine mount, but the sound is independent of acceleration and engine revving.

I'll let them pull it apart and do their job finding it.

 

Damn. Sorry to hear that.

At least they came to the same initial conclusion.

Good luck and keep us updated.

 

It went back in today and now they claim it's all 'normal' for the Fox shocks on the Pro to rattle like that. To rattle like a bad strut mount in a 1995 Lumina is normal for a $50,000+ Toyota Tacoma with 19,000 miles on it.

Two visits and they have washed their hands of it because they don't want to take the skid plate off and actually look for issues.

First time with the exact same tech and he said 'That's not normal, I'll take a look and see if I can find it" when we got back from the first visit's test ride together.
He replaced the body mounts after saying he could not find any other issues and the body mounts had tears in them.

Today, now that the noise is still there he doesn't take me along with him on the ride and now all of a sudden claims it's totally normal for the Pro models with Fox shocks.
He claims he now hears the same 'thumping' from all 4 corners. That's normal truck tire noise over bumps. Clearly not the noise we both heard the first time and the noise that stills exists.

I told them I haven't heard the same complaint from one other Pro owner and that if it was normal it would not have just started appearing at 19,000 miles. I would have heard it at least once before during the 3 years I've owned it.


Guess I'm SOL now. They don't care and play it off as normal for a truck to rattle like it has worn out struts.

The noise is getting louder and more persistent over smaller bumps. Guess that's 'normal' too.

I wonder if Fox knows Toyota says their suspensions rattle apart on all Toyotas?

 

It sounds like you got one of the bad dealer shops. All the extended warranty in the world doesn't help with that.

You're choices are down to finding an actually good dealer shop or fixing it yourself.

Good luck!

 

Mine has eibach shocks and does it on the front end, there are a lot of bushings all over the place on your body, steering rack, shocks, it could be any one of those. Also I have seen pro shocks that had dents in them from bumping against either the swaybar or the leaf springs in the rear, the owner said he drove bumpy/gravel roads at 55mph a lot.

Another thing I was wondering is if it could be an upper or lower control arm making noise.

 

It seems Toyota has recognized this problem with the 2019 and 2020 TRD Pro 4Runners and is fixing it.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10181779-9999.pdf

Don't the Tacomas and 4Runner use extremely similar shock and springs on the TRD Pros?