Clunking in front end after alignment

Last week I went in to the dealer for oil change. They check alignment as part of the inspection and found it was off. I agreed to the $100 alignment since it was there. They quoted about 2 hours total for LOF, alignment, and rear diff oil change.
At the 3 hour mark, I inquired about the time it was taking as I had an appointment across town in a hour and half. I was told that the tech was having some issues with it because there was some rusty bolts. About 45 min later they finally got it done. Since then I have been hearing a clunk when breaking moderately or hard.
I am thinking they did not get something torqued down in the rush to finish. I am planning on taking it back to them today.
09 5-lug access cab.

 

Just a guess, but I agree they don't have something secured correctly. Probably the bolts that go through the control arm for the Adjustment Cam they are known to rust solid, that is probably what was rusted in his comments.

"I am planning on taking it back to them today." YES do this an update us when you find out.

 

As @Jimmyh has already (correctly) noted, the alignment cam bolts that run through the control arms are prone to corroding and seizing up. In the rust belt, this can happen in as little as 2 or 3 years. Since your truck appears to be a 2009, I'd say there's a pretty good chance they were rusted solid. Once they corrode and seize, there's very little one can do to free them up to do a proper alignment. The only real fix in most cases is new bolts and new control arms. If they did that, you'd certainly see it in your bill since it's not a fun job.

I'm going to guess that they heated and horsed on one or more of those bolts and twisted the bushing they ride in. If they did this, although the alignment may show as correct on the machine, it really isn't, and the suspension is actually somewhat "pre-loaded."

I'd take it back and ask for a full explanation of what they did and did not do.

 

If the 5 lug trucks are anything like the 6 lug truck.
You have to really crank down on the lower control arm bolts.
Just tight isn’t tight enough. At least not in my case.
If you don’t get them tight enough, you’ll get a clunk from the lower control arms.
The lower control arm bolts are also the same ones that you use to adjust the alignment.

 

Ok so at the dealer, they say that it is the bushing on the driver's side lower control arm that is binding up. Thing is these control arms are about a year old.

I bought the truck last summer end of June 22. The lot I bought it from had swapped out control arms chasing a popping sound. I had it for a month or so and had a different sounding clunk. Took it to a tire and wheel place where they detemined thew worng control arms were on. I took it back to lot I bought it from. They eventually got the right control arms on. Had no issues until the alignment at the dealer last week. Though I did think it pulled a little bit.
I question the dealer's ability to fix at this point. Tempted to get a second opinion at the shop that let me know the wrong control arms were on.

 

After my most recent alignment, someone forgot to snug up the driver side. Upper and lower were loose.

 

Further update:
Dealer was able to get some of the clunk out. But claims that there is something wrong with the LCA bushing on the driver's side. As stated above the LCAs are just over a year old. Service writer says I can bring it back for free alignment once LCA is fixed. I did not hear clunks on the way home from dealer yesterday as it was storming. I also did not notice any clunks on the way to work this morning. I was more concerned with the other issue they found yesterday.

Friday when I was in for the LOF, they said my brake pads were at 6 mm. But yesterday they were suddenly down to 1mm. So they told me I needed a break job with rotors. Obviously, some shortcuts were made during the LOF inspection. Service writer tried to get service manager to give me a discount because of the missed inspection. Manager would not go for it. I was able to get a bit of a discount on parts as one of my in laws work there. I waited another 2 hours for the brake job to be completed. Then left in rush hour traffic with a thunderstorm. The first few attempts at braking were not as good as I would have hoped. Braking got better as I got closer to home. I may need to do some brake bedding.

 

I don't think I would go back there again. Locate a good independent shop and let them take care of your issues.

 

I would just love to know what their tech did during the first alignment when he (or she) ran into the corroded bolts. Based on the amount of extra time it took - and the fact that they didn't charge you - I'm thinking bad things happened.

 

There’s multiple reason a new control arm can go bad.
From bad parts, to bad installation.

You do not tighten the control arm bolts until the weight of the truck is on the control arm.
Some new techs don’t know this, and sometimes it gets over looked.
But the LCA are kind of hard to forget, since you’re doing an alignment right after they are put on.

I have lifetime tire rotation and alignment.
I have had to tell them a few times to “make sure” the control arm bolts are tight.

It may be worth asking them to back the bolts off and retorque them.

Then again, we kind of need to “what” is wrong with the bushing?