Help: Suspension Making Noises (with video)

Just got the truck back from the dealership. They said that the axle movement is normal. They are saying it is the aftermarket suspension that is making the noise.

While waiting for my truck, i crawled under a new FJ Cruiser 4x4 and checked the axle. It does have some movement in it like mine, but not as much. I was surprised that there was movement and that it wasn't completely solid like I expected.

Can someone with a 2nd gen grab the inner CV of their front axle and see if there's movement to confirm?

I just checked the torque of the 1 foot long upper control arm bolt again and it is at 85.0. I'm starting to suspect that it might be the lower control arm bushings again. I may end up getting an aftermarket lower control arm but I'm not looking forward to the bill.

 

I'm a Tacoma noob, but have you checked that there's no play in the sway bar end links?

 

Yes, I have gone as far as removing the sway bar and the end links completely.

 

I took it to another shop. The mechanic went over everything he could to try and find the noise. he couldn't replicate it while the truck was on the lift but can hear it when he drove it over speed bumps. He's saying the axle movement is normal and the LCA bushings look fine.

He's thinking that the noise is coming from within the shocks. He speculates that it may be low on nitrogen. I called a few local shops to get the shocks topped off with nitrogen, but I'm finding this hard because of the higher pressure and the special tools required to fill them. I spoke to Icon directly and they referred me to another shop because they can't work on the shock attached to my truck. They require me to remove the shock so they can check it out.

 

The noise is now gone (knock on wood).

I had the factory lower control arms replaced with Dirt King Fabrication stock length lower arms. Apparently the lower control arm bushings (alignment bolts) were seized. The truck only has about 57k miles and I do most of my driving on the street (very little offroading). I'm surprised the bolts seized this soon. I do live pretty close to the beach, this probably contributed to the accelerated rusting/corrosion of the lower control arm bolts.

The guys at Dirt King were super helpful. They came in on the weekend to work on my truck and were very knowledgeable. I highly recommend them to anyone looking to do any suspension work or need parts.

 

congrats.