New To Offroading: Feel Like Every Noise I Hear Is A Rock Hitting The Undercarriage.

Hey all,

I'm new to offroading and to owning a Tacoma. I've got a 3rd Gen DCLB and am loving it. I go rock climbing often, and one spot in particular requires some very slow, decent-sized rock crawling for about 1.5 miles. I've been up and down this trail about 6 times now and still cannot tell what the noises are that I'm hearing. I've had at least 4-5 moments that basically sounded like a louder bang, and each time I was sure I hit something underneath. However, just yesterday I inspected the undercarriage thoroughly and cannot find any evidence of anything being hit. What am I hearing? The truck is still new, maybe I'm just paranoid.

 

You're probably hitting rocks then. Not a huge deal though as you're obviously not doing too much damage, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to invest in some skid plates (at least the front one), maybe some rock sliders because rocker panels are expansive to fix. There are tons of black friday sales going on now so it's the perfect time to buy

 

Yeah. I feel like I would see something indicating a hit though... Maybe it's just rocks shifting, idk.

 

It is probably aliens.

 

Place a go pro underneath. Don’t those 3rd gens have mounts for stuff like that?...

 

The diff?

 

If you're hearing it, you're hitting it. Definitely invest in some skids and sliders.

 

In the dash, yes. Not underneath the vehicle. But that's a good idea.

Possibly, yeah. I looked at it carefully and didn't see any signs of impact. Maybe it's just stronger than I give it credit for.

I've got a front skid, and plan on getting a skid for the transmission and transfer case very soon. Assuming I was hitting somewhere else, like maybe the diff, is that a huge no no? I try to go as slow as possible.

 

I have a full set of skids.....but after crawling under the truck I think I'll be purchasing a set of LCA skids and possibly a rear diff skid.

 

Anything damaged to the point of breaking?

 

No, but you can definitely see where I've hit both LCAs and the diff. I try to be careful when I'm out on the trails so if I do hit something it's not because I was bombing down the trail full speed ahead.

 

You sure you're not hearing your lower arms hitting the bumpstops up front? Shocks bottoming out?

 

Honestly, I'm not sure. Each time it has sounded like it came from roughly between the middle and back of the truck, so I don't think it's the LCAs. I also kind of doubt it's the shocks bottoming out just because I go extremely slow and really try not to come down hard on anything. I doubt I've applied enough force to bottom the shocks. Either way, I ordered some skids during black friday

 

Par for the course when you're offroading. Measure your lowest point of clearance on the truck and keep a tape measure with you to measure obstacles in the road while you're off-roading next time to see how close you may come to scraping on them. I grew up driving off-road for weeks at a time during the summer growing up so it's second nature, but that's essentially what's going through my mind's eye when I'm off-roading. Alternatively have someone else drive slowly and walk around the truck and see what's happening when you hear certain noises, if you spend enough time doing that you'll start to see what things cause what noises.

 

Great idea, thanks!

 

@quadcrazy

Get yourself some real armor...

Ever look under there and notice how ridiculously unprotected your transmission pan is? And while you do have a front skid, it's laughably thin and isn't even called a skid plate (look in your manual, seriously). It's only designed to deflect road debris, not to bounce it off rocks. Any actual skid plate worth anything (for offroading) is made from at least 3/16" steel plate.

IMO, don't try and rely too much on a bunch of cameras and extra technology, though. That stuff can, and does break. Use a spotter. And, the more you drive, the more familiar you'll become with what your truck can, and can't do. I still surprise myself. I swear I'm going to hit something, and.... nothing. Then I'm cruising along not paying attention and BAM! oh, that was my diff or better yet my rocker panel, lol

 

My truck came with the upgraded TRD Front Skid, it's the 1/4" aluminum. I know it isn't quite as strong as the steel but it's far better than the stock plate and it'll do for now. I just had the RCI tranny and tcase steel plates delivered and will be installing them this weekend.

 

1/4" aluminum isn't too bad. It's definitely lighter than 3/16" steel, and if you aren't making a habit of beating on it, that should be okay.

Hopefully you are hitting your bump stops BEFORE the shocks bottom out. If you bottom your shocks out, they're F'd.

 

Sometimes when my truck flexes out to the extremes of front suspension travel I hear a loud thunk sound. When I swapped the oem coils and bump stops for ORIs and Wheelers Super Bumps I noticed the thunk noise much less often. It may be the sound of the upper control arms hitting the coil spring during extreme articulation. Just an idea.