Front end thud when hitting bumps

Good afternoon everyone,

I originally posted this is the technical chat forum but I got no love. Might not have been the right forum.

Anyways, I developed what appears to be a bit of a, for a lack of a better word, thud under my floorboard when I go over bumps. I can feel it in my foot and I can also hear it. To me, an amateur gearhead at best, it feels and sounds like a loose suspension issue. I crawled under the truck the other day and discovered the sway bar end link on my passenger side was a bit loose. I tightened it up but the thud was still there. Today I jacked up the front end, pulled both front tires off the truck and tried to tighten said end link even more but it wouldn't budge. I couldn't even loosen it so I could re-tighten it. I suppose it's on tight enough. Since I also had my skid plate off, I grabbed both say bar end links, both sides of the sway bar and both struts and tried to shake them but nothing budged. I also checked the driver side sway bar end link and it was on super tight. Checked both UCA bolts connecting them to the frame and both top strut mounts. All tight. I'm at the point now that perhaps I'm imaging everything and this slight thud is normal or maybe it's my hood, or tailgate, or mounted hi-lift jack or something along those lines.

In case I'm not totally imaging it and/or it isn't the aforementioned items, what else do you folks think I could check to rule out?

 

Do you have front mud flaps?

 

Ensure your shocks aren't leaking. I had an identical thud after my Icon shock leaked out all oil.

 

On my old 4Runner, I would start getting that when the ball joints developed some play in them. Completely different beast, obviously, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

 

My grandpa's old Taurus did this but he traded it in. It was when he hit speed bumps and especially when steering wheel was turned

 

Nah

 

What sort of bumps and what speed? Actual speed bumps, or random potholes, or driveways at curbs, or...

Might sound odd, but the long and rigid gront mud guards can come down on speed bumps and make a thunk. That's what James is getting at. If so, you can trim them, replace with aftermarket flaps that are softer and customizable, or just remove them.
The bumpstops are also very hard and thunky. They are attached under the frame just above the lower control arms. Softer aftermarket versions of these are available too.

Well beat me to it on the flaps, but still could be bumpstops.

 

Ah, interesting. Suspension barely has 5k miles but anything's possible. If this was the case, would I just see oil around the shock? My next troubleshooting step is to change the compression and rebound settings on the shock.

 

Say what.

I didn't see a mention that you weren't stock. What suspension are you using?

 

Shoot...probably would have been a good idea to mention that. ARB BP-51

 

Yeah op, you're making us fly blind here.

 

All good points however I've been running SuperBumps from Wheeler's for the last few months.

 

As for speed and type of bump, it seems to be more predominate at lower speeds around town. Speed bumps and pot holes\road imperfections seem to affect the truck the same.

 

@IronPeak4x4 any experience with this on your truck?

 

Negative, running superbumps in addition to the bp51, zero noises

 

I wonder if the BP51s have a similar internal metal bump stop like their regular shocks do, and maybe he's a preloaded a bit too high and it's bottoming out his suspension on small, lower speed bumps?

The OME clunk, as it were.

 

@IronPeak4x4 and @DCSBFTMFW thank you for chiming in. Think the cold could affect the coilovers?

 

Wouldn't imagine but how cold is cold?

 

Low 10-20 and high low 30's

 

Not sure. @IronPeak4x4 is local to me, but closer to water. We are seeing mid to low 20s at my place.