Sway bar Clunk on passenger side.

Is it possible that my sway bar is making contact with the shocks/spring on the passenger side?

My truck has been in two accidentals. I've been driving it for a year (only 500 miles since last repair) Just recently I'm getting a clunk only when turning and going over a bump (right or left don't seem to matter) I get it when I backing out of the driveway mostly. I've only recently started hearing it. Kind sounds like something hitting the backing plate.

I jack up the front end and tried wiggling everything I could get my hands on. I tried turing the wheel from end to end and no sounds. Everything seems good. No play on the tire up and down or right and left. I engaged the 4Hi on a drive and no noises.

Drivers side (The good side)


Passenger Side - The bad side (it's not touching but its super hard to tel from the pictures)

 

I’ve got the same thing. It’s been like this for about a year. Everything seems tight. I’m going to replace sway bar bushings and see if that helps.

 

I guess my next step is to remove the sway bar and see if there's anymore sound.

I'm thinking due to my accidents that maybe my sway bar is bent out of shape slightly. I might drive without one but I'm afraid in a deer jumps out and I have to swerve sharply....so I probably replace it.

48811-04130 - Sway Bar
48810-04010 - Sway Bar Links (x2)
90178-A0057 - Link Nuts (x4)
48815-AD030 - Sway Bar Bushings (x2)
48824-04030 - Sway Bar Brackets (x2)
90119-A0168 - Bracket Screws (x4)

Looks like I could replace the whole thing OEM for about $350-$400 if I order online during one of Toyota's holiday sales. The expensive part is the OEM Links....I have a set of Mevotech Supreme's (blue greasable ones) I bought last year in case I needed them. They were cheap, I might just get OEM ones if I replace everything new. I'm gonna try to find a used sway bar too but, $160 New vs $100 Used, I might just get a new one.

I'm thinking I'll salvage the old parts off my truck and swap the better parts onto my dad's truck. My dad's brackets are rusted pretty bad. I just worry about breaking the bracket screws. Seems like that would be a big problem.

Let me know what you guys think. Thanks

 

You can just disconnect the bar and zap it up out of the way and see if it fixes the clunk.

 

If you don’t have quick discos there’s no point to have one.

 

One (of many) elusive causes of clunks when turning, especially backing out of driveways, is actually slightly loose lower control arm bolts.

Get out a breaker bar and a torque wrench and tighten them up, I think spec is 100 ft lbs but double check that because I'm not certain.

Solved one of the clunks for me at least. Worth a shot to try first, before throwing parts at it. Good luck!

 

A clunk while turning is usually a worn tie rod or loose control arm bolt. Judging from their appearance I'd speculate that your tie rods have been on there for a while and are worn out.

 

I just swapped out my sway bar to frame mount bushings and my clunk is 90% better

 

I do have a broken cam tab. I had an alignment done last fall and I took pictures of it. I compared the picture to how it's currently sitting and it looks OK. I jacked the truck up checked the tire for play. I'd say it's good....

Two years ago I did the steering rack ,refurbish OEM, Cv axles, New OEM and the shocks Bilstien 5100's. They came preassembled with OME 884's. Is there a chance the spring retainer is sitting wrong?

The only thing I can think is that the sway bar is making contact. I see a little rust on the spring retainer that might suggest rubbing....IDK

I'll probably remove the sway bar temporarily and see if the sound goes away. If it does I'll lube the sway bar and reinstall it, If not I'll look into torquing the LCA's. Either way I've got a few weekends worth of testing to do.

Thanks you guys!

 

Do you have a skid plate? I had a clunk that I thought was a mechanical issue of some sort (and well I guess it is), but me and my mechanic did a few things and 100% it is the skid plate shifting under stress.

I just live with it now.

 

I gave a good banging on the skid plate when I jacked it up. It really bounces on the drivers side cause of that bolt pattern they use. I couldn't get it to make a sound thou. Passenger side is solid. I took both guards off and checked out my oil seep. ..and it's a seepin! oh well I love this truck, more to-do's. They're both on tight anyway. I'm probably over paranoid about things...I almost always drive with the stereo off. Haha. I get no noise going over potholes going straight at neighborhood speeds. Just coming out of the driveway last couple weeks....

 

To reiterate, and with zero certainty that it's your problem... torque the LCA bolts to spec, or perhaps a bit further. No way to know without physically putting wrenches on them and tightening. So... do this first -- it's way easier than replacing parts.

They make a loud clunk when slightly loose, without losing alignment. Or at least mine did, and I wasted money on sway links and rod ends before I figured out that was my problem.

The sway bar linkage can't hit your springs unless something is broken or wildly worn out. It would be obvious.

 

I see no evidence that your sway bar is hitting anything. Someone on the board once found a worn lower strut bolt was allowing the strut to slip in certain situations. The bolt had a notch worn into it.

 

mine clunked from a rotted out frame

 

What do you mean? You don’t think that they work?

 

One of my bolts through the spindle connecting to my sway bar had backed off a bit and it was really hard for me to diagnose. Everything seemed super tight, but i finally parked just right and all tension on the swaybar was relieved and it was noticeably loose. I couldn't tighten it, since the threads were ruined, so I slapped a couple washers behind it and tightened down. All has been good so far.

I agree with @OldSchlPunk that it doesn't look like the swaybar is contacting the coilover, but you could always buy the sway bar spacer/relocate for like $25 and install that, but I'd test by just unhooking the swaybar first.

 

Just seen this post in a thread by @nd4spdbh - This sounds like it might be the issue I'm facing as well. I did get bilstien 5100's last year....

So far I failed at getting my sway bar off, but I made sure my shock bolts are torqued. Top three I could only get a torque wrench on one of the bolts. It was torqued fine the other two I put a wrench on them and they are tight. The lower shock bolt was torque'd. I jacked up the front and the steering rack turns to both sides without problems. I've got no movement up and down or side to side on the wheels and they spin fine. CV Axles were done last year with the shocks and springs. I do have a broken cam tab but from what I understand, as long as the cam bolt is torqued the broken tab shouldn't be a problem. I compared it's current state to pictures i took after the last alignment and it looks good.

I'm definitely getting a sound that sounds like the shock assembly is shifting and a few metal like pops...

I've got an appointment for a local shop to look at it on Tuesday. I'll report back when I find out anything more.

Thanks everyone.

 

The steering rack bolts tend to pop even if they feel tight.

 

I just heard back from the shop and they confirmed the sway bar is hitting the bottom spring retainer. Not sure why this is only showing up now 700 miles after my 2nd wreck but I have had two wrecks in this truck.

I'm having the shop cut the old sway bar links off and remove the sway bar. Might as well I'm paying for an hour of labor for the inspection anyway. I'm looking forward to driving my truck without the sway bar for the first time.

Thanks for the great suggestions.

 

The sway bar does its job, with factory suspension.

I have much heavier springs and the sway bar was preventing the suspension from doing its job.

point is, swaybar is unnecessary with heavy springs and tighter valves. I do not miss the swaybar and have less bodyroll than i had with the stock suspension and swaybar.