Front end thud when hitting bumps

Good spot to start would be to ask if you lifted the front at all?

 

This thump happens on most lifted Tacos I have been in. Usually spacer lifts have it bad. If you are lifted it's probably you upper control arm hitting your coilover, check for rub marks, or check if the uca js hitting the top of the inner fender well.

 

I am running BP-51 but nothing else in addition to the set.

 

Ah, good ideal. I'll check them out.

 

Bushings, take them out and inspect them.

 

Bushings for the coilovers?

 

Upper arms

 

You would see oily residue on the shaft of the shock, and perhaps dirt/dust accumulation on the bottom of the shaft. My ICON 2.5 front coilover started leaking within a month (if not sooner) of being installed from brand-new. Within ~5 weeks of install the shock was empty/no oil.

Have a look at the thread I posted to see where I saw oil residue in my case. And here's a YouTube video I took showing the leaking shock vs non leaking. You can see oil buildup on the shock at around 14-25 second mark.

 

I know the early release BP51s saw some leaking issues, so this could be a thing.

 

@0210 and @DCSBFTMFW thank you both for the insight. Late last night I decided to increase the compression and rebound settings on both front coilovers and today the suspension felt much tighter. Of course I suppose that could also be due to the stiffer settings. While I was at it, I thought I would take a look at the coilovers and see if I could see any sort of leaking. This is what I saw:



Not sure if it's normal. This is just the passenger side and the driver side looks similar. I sent these photos to ARB so we will see what they say. Their customer care has always treated me right in the past.

 

I dunno if that's a leak, per se.. not my area of confidence.

I seem to recall a guy had a definite leak and they replied it was normal "weeping," even though he had like shock oil on his floor every night.

I think in the end he got taken care of but I don't remember what the username was.

 

Is your sway bar hitting the coilover?

 

It's hard to say because the rubber boots cover/hide the shock's shaft. There does seem to be some residue on these boots, but I can't say for sure. Look for greasy areas at the bottom of your shock, and even the Lower control arms. As well as drips where you normally park.

You may also be able to push down the rubber boot with your fingers to have a look at the shaft itself.

 

ARB got back to me and said they think it's assembly oil coming out after heat cycles from the strut. He suggested that I clean it and keep an eye on it. If it slows down and not so much comes out, then his theory will hold true. Otherwise, I might have an issue.

I will say that today during my commute I noticed no thuds or feelings of loose suspension after changing my compression and rebound settings. Perhaps they just did not like the setting I had them on. I had them set on the softer side for my truck setup. To be honest, I like they way it feels now too. Thank you @DCSBFTMFW, @jakebray, @0210 and @Bishop84 for all your inputs. Let's hope this fixes the issue.

 

@smitty99 and @scocar thank you to you guys too.

 

If you've stiffened the compression and the noise went away, that would suggest that the shock was bottoming out before. In normal (city) driving, that shouldn't happen even on the softest settings. If it was, and has now gone away, that almost certainly means the shock is leaking.

Cleaning it up and keeping an eye on it is a good idea. I'd suggest a very thorough clean with some sort of mild detergent to ensure everything is as clean as possible, and then do your best to stay out of rain/snow/mud/etc. for a few days of normal "daily" driving. Then get under there with a flash light and pull down/back that rubber boot to look at the shock's shaft.

 

Or this, still.

 

I will do just that...next week. They are calling for rain for the rest of this week.

 

I just started having this same problem. Grrrr.... Have look pretty closely at everything, couldn't see any rubbing/contact points. Also couldn't see any really apparent leaking on the shock. Jacked up the front corner, everything seemed to be tight, no movement. Icon Stage 4, only like 1000kms on it since install. It did go the winter of down to -35, but when i asked that wasn't an issue. Email has been sent to suppliers

Db