NW WA Meet / BS Thread

looking at all that snow wheeling makes me jelly. almost got my 4WD back up and running just a drive line left.

 

So, this might be a stupid question but have you guys replaced your rear drum shoes?

I am trying to find the best shoes to get and there is little to no info on them.

 

Wish I would have had your monster rig, would have gone through the snow no problem

 

*cries* Jk man that's good. I'm jelly of the axle

 

Got a question for you guys, just drove my truck tonight and immediately noticed a pop/click when i turn side to side. It happens at super low speed, and I don't have to turn my wheel far to make it happen. Could it be something with the cold weather? Have never heard this noise before, keep in mind its 27* outside.

 

I have noticed a "pop/click" when I am at low speeds and apply the brakes (even lightly). I have tried to ask people but have no idea about either.

 

Last winter I drove over a huge puddle that was frozen on top but i fell through the ice up to my bumper. It was like 10 degrees so later that day I noticed whenver I turned or hit a bump Id get a pop/click. Once it warmed up past freezing she went away. I figured it was ice in my Joints

 

Think stuff could freeze up just from sitting all day today? I didn't drive it all day and then finally took a run to the store about an hour ago. It honestly sounded like it was coming from the steering rack or inner tie rod area.

 

Not turning though? Just breaking?

Hmmm, never heard of that problem. I'm really not sure what my noise is

 

Yes, even without turning. It does it warm or cold though.

 

Its late for me to type everything up but I can give you hints on most of these issues. I'll try to have it all written by 9am

 

awesome, I'm looking forward to reading it.

 

it sat out side of my shop for 3 years before I had the money to actually do anything about it.

 

Sorry for being late. Boss wanted to talk about ice storms, global domination, Windows Azure. Typical morning meeting

OK, here's my experiences with the front end:

• CV axle: when it's going bad, it will pop on command when performing certain maneuvers. This can be pulling into a parking spot, going over a bump, etc., but it is fairly easy to repeat. When it's totally trashed, it will grind or pop continuously. Might be hard to hear the smaller pops and grinds while inside. Note that there is a small bit of noise that is due to the boot compressing during regular wheel rotation, but there's a definite difference between that and popping. All my CV issues have been bad boots, which I could see easily with grease dripping or spinning out, marking the wheel well. Replace with a Toyota CV (or re-boot if you caught it fast... although rebooting is an involved process). Don't use anything but Toyota new or remans. AutoZone, etc. axles are made like crap and they can cause a leak where the diff mates to the CV. I almost dried out my diff this way from a slow leak.
• UCA ball joint: I have the Light Racing arms. When my ball joint gave out, I could hear a bit of a thunk/pop and feel a bit of weight shifting. Separate the ball joint from the spindle and inspect. I could wiggle the BJ with a tap of my finger. It should be stiff enough to require SOLID pressure. Naturally, replace it if it is bad. Make sure to grease it well.
• Inner Tie Rod: I didn't get any noise from this, but I would get some steering wheel vibration when coasting or slowing from an offramp. Rent a ball joint puller and a tie rod tool from Autozone, remove parts and inspect. If the parts are all loosey goosey, replace. The part is cheap and the job is stupid easy, easier than a CV axle replacement. I had no way of troubleshooting until the part was fully off.
• Outer Tie Rod: I haven't had to do this yet, but again there's a ball joint that can get loose. It should affect steering. You should be able to grab the arm and it will twist or wiggle easily when it's bad.
• LCA ball joint: I haven't inspected mine since I replaced my stock for Moog. If you have to change these out, them and the bushings are the worst job I've had to do. Toyota doesn't make it easy to remove or press in new ones. I used a 30 ton press and some interesting angles. If you take it to Toyota, they don't replace the bushings/bjs, they replace the whole arm. Arms are like $1k. Bushing/BJ job is about a full day of solid work and you will hate doing it. When bushings go bad, they look chewed up. When the BJ goes bad, it will be loose just like I've explained above with other parts.
• LCA cam bolt: As everyone says, these can freeze up. I don't know if they create any noise, but might be something to inspect. It might be worth checking to see if they are rotating accidentally, like a loose alignment job (do this by keeping track of the timing marks).
• Wheel bearing: this should be a grinding, roaring sound. No pops I've had one replaced (not sure if I was scammed), and never heard a noise. The old trick is to jack up the tire, grab it at 6 and 12, and see if it wiggles. Wiggle = bad. I know the test works on small cars, not sure if our trucks are big enough where regular strength is enough to test. Also, really hot rims/lugs = bad wheel bearings
• Rotors: no popping. Really bad rotors feel/sound like operating a machine gun turret.

I currently have a popping noise that is hard to repeat. I have a downward-angled driveway, and within 2 feet of rolling back slowly, I feel a small bind up, then get a loud pop (sort of a "poonk" sound) and a small shift in the steering. At the bottom of the driveway as I curve onto the street, I occasionally get a second pop (not at full lock, again moving slow). After that, I won't get any noise for the rest of the trip, sometimes not for the rest of the day. I can sometimes get the noise from quickly pulling into a parking spot, or a sharp dip in the road at ~30mph. If you guys have hints for me, that would be great. I'm thinking it's the UCA BJ...? I don't have any of the regular problems with wheel bearings, so I don't think it is that, but I haven't been able to do the regular troubleshooting for any of the problems I've found with other parts going bad. Also, the skids are removed for now.

 

Doesn't help those of us that don't have those bars anymore

 

Thanks for the info. The sound you are describing seems
to be similar to mine. On my way to class mine made the noise for the first part of my drive but then stopped. I also feel the small shift in my steering. I read something somewhere to check the bolts on the LCA at the steering knuckle. I think they are supposed to be torqued to 115 ft/lbs. I'm going to check my cam bolts too and will mark my cams to see if they are moving at all.

 

X2 Except mine happened after I put on my front bilsteins and lifted it

 

Holy Crap! This should be made a sticky by itself - great info. Mike!

Don't forget about the body mount bolts, I had some weird popping when I first got my truck and it was attributed to the body mount bolts.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/202936-first-trip-dealer-repair-warranty.html

 

Hmm... maybe I should check that. I am pretty sure it has been doing this since before I had my CMC but I don't remember.

 

It's a simple fix, if that's the case. There's a chance the heat from the CMC / plate weld may have softened the rubber and/or loosened the bolt.

I have an identical sound as you; when I first start driving, usually after sitting for a bit, when I initially apply the brakes (more noticeable at low speed) I get a small "pop" or metallic "clunk" from the DS brakes. I haven't figured that one out (yet)