Another Suspension Clunk Thread

Hi all,

With the weather going cold in the Northeast I've noticed a new clunk in my truck, so I've been working through diagnosing / troubleshooting it and wanted some additional input.

Symptoms:

First thing in the morning if I hit a bump straight on with bolt wheels I get a clunk. It's similar to a dead strut feel, or a binding, but very subtle. I feel it most right underneath my feet on the driver's side. If I hit a bump on either wheel it sounds 100% normal, or if I hit a bump straight on at speed it's less noticeable. Sometimes it will do it multiple times down a bumpy road, sometimes it's not. The intermittent nature is tough. I will note the colder the day, the more noticeable it is. It was a bit warmer today, so the clunking was a bit less noticeable.

My truck:

- 2G TRD Pro front suspension, no top plate spacers
- 2G TRD Pro rear shocks
- Headstrong Off-Road 3-leaf AAL
- TRD Pro Skid Plate

Everything was installed and torqued to FSM specifications with the exception of the sway bar mounts and the three (3) top strut nuts which I snugged down as tight as I could reasonably do without getting a torque wrench in there. In addition, the rear TRD Pro skid plate bolts were not torqued to specification but to 22 ft-lbs as members on here reported torquing the rear bolts to specification resulted in breaking the captive nut in the frame off the weld.

Diagnosing thus far:

- Checked torque on nuts on the alignment cam bolts. With my torque wrench at 100 ft-lbs, it clicked
- No interference between shock or coil and sway bar
- Front uprights were factory assembled, but I verified the rubber isolator was in place
- I verified the sway bar mounts were tight to the frame and the (3) nuts on top of the uprights were tight.
- I rechecked the skid plate bolts

Areas I should investigate further
- I have not done the LCA bolt on the upright, although it was torqued to FSM settings during install.
- I have not removed wheels to look around.
- I have not looked at body mounts

I had a similar issue with my 2013 prior to doing any suspension work and the dealer had it for 3-4 days and eventually retorqued every bolt on the truck and it went away, but my suspicions there was that I had an alignment done and the cam bolts weren't tight. Thus that was my first stop in diagnosing.

I've read a lot about the body mounts, but I haven't really torn into that yet, but feeling it on the bottom of the cab makes me wonder. I need to take a look at how to better diagnose those.

With that being said, outside of assuming it's the shocks not liking the cold weather, where else should I look? Members on here that have had issues in the past seemed to have problems with the factory suspension, but given that it's not the OEM 3G stuff, I can't compare apples to apples.

 

Mine does the same thing when I hit this one dip coming out of my neighborhood where my suspension nearly bottoms. It sounds more of like “click” than a clunk. I have a 2017 with the 2nd gen pro suspension. I retorqued everything and it’s still there. I think it’s the shock valving.

 

I have a clinch as well when turning into my driveway over the curb entrance when the rear suspension articulated. Sounds like shock related like it is topping out, or something else. Metallic in nature and definitely not the rear diff. I’m clueless after checking everything meticulously

 

Trucks with suspension make noise, as in not silent

 

Did yours come on when temps dropped? I have probably put 4,000 to 5,000 miles on mine when it appeared.

Hmm, maybe it’s worth giving the rear suspension a once over. It feels in the front but I had an issue with the last truck I swore was in the front and it was actually in back.

Sure, but this didn’t exist and then did. My 2013 was lifted and didn’t make this sound. Something has changed and I’m trying to run down the source.

While I know I likely can live with it, it’s going to eat at me until I figure out why it’s happening.

 

I have a clunk when I pull out of my parking space and turn the wheel. Pull out left or right and still get a clunk. Had it at the service dept. for 2 hours and they could hear it but could not pin point where it was coming from.

 

Yep. 5k miles and when the temps dropped. It typically only does it once before it warms up. After the shock cycles and warms up, it takes a bit more speed on that dip to make it make that noise.

 

Hmm. That makes it seem like it's a function of the suspension itself and not necessarily something wrong. I can at least live with that compared to the alternative.

 

Mine clunks when rolling to a stop. Feels like a dead body is being dropped in the bed.

 

Yeah mine does that too, but that’s a different problem, but considered “normal.” There’s a thread on that somewhere.

 

It’s definitly the rear. The only thing I think it could be is my rear OME shocks, the leafs slapping the holding brackets, or for some weird reason the shackles are popping. Only happens while turning moving while there is body roll.

I suppose it could be the rear body mounts, but I’ve tightened those and it sounds like metal on metal when it clunks

 

Not like this they don’t. First Tacoma that’s ever done this noise to me. New shocks in the mail. After I put those on we will see. You can only really deduce the problem one point at a time...right?

 

Mine clunks really bad under 20mph going straight slowing down for a stop sign or something. Squeaks too. Mine sounds like passenger side front. I noticed it last about a week after off-roading and when it’s cold out but ends up going away?

I also check some stuff but can’t think of what it could be. I figure the squeaking is dust but the clunking is really bad sounding.

 

Mine had a clunk in the floor board ish area and it only happened below 30 degrees. It was a body mount.