SOLVED: another clunk diagnosis thread.

Got front shocks and shock assemblies replaced under warranty. All good and rides great, with no more clanks clinch or suspension noise.

 

everything is tight, so i give up. on with the clunking..

 

my truck stopped clunking recently. now it's popping and creaking. aka, cv joints. specifically the inner ones. they were dry rotted and torn when i got the truck and i'm guessing there was some moisture in there causing the joint to get stuck and suddenly release with a loud thud. i will be replacing them with napa cvs soon and hopefully have a nice quiet truck agian.

 

i recently looked at my LCA bolts again to check for tightness, both were loose. i tightened them up again back to spec. and now my clunking is gone....again. I'm not sure why they keep loosening up, is it worth getting another nut on each one of those LCA bolts and crank it down to the other factory nut so it prevents them from backing out again?

 

Thread locker might be easier.

 

True, but i would have to remove the nut most of the way to get the locker on there. i dont want to throw my alignment out of whack.

 

Can't you just mark the setting and then install it so the marks line up after you apply the locker?

 

I had the same clunk on my truck. LCA bolts where not tighten properly at last alignment. It only took a few days after alignment to start making the clunk when changing directions and wheels turned ( backing up turning right then going forward turning left). I got a new free alignment and watched the tech torque the cam bolts. My son's Tacoma had a similar clunk but only when the suspension articulated ( going onto the driveway or coming off the driveway). It was the sway bar link bolt. Double nutted it and problem solved.

 

Should be able to remove the nut without turning the bolt or losing alignment. Just mark your cam tabs before if you are unsure. Also if you have room to double nut it that should work too. Most likely coming loose because you need new cam bolts. Threads may be damaged from driving while loose. Contrary to what many people think, bolts are a wear item that occasionally need to be replaced

 

Does anyone know if the cam bolts were to be replaced during the frame recall?

 

I'm almost positive they were.

 

Interesting. I'm going to see what the dealership's take is on this. The frame recall was done right before i purchased the truck, so i'm not even sure which dealer did the work.

 

I called the dealership i go to, they said the control arm bolts are replaced during the frame recall. I had to get off the phone to take another call, but i will call them back and ask them if they care what dealership did the recall work.

 

I just did a lift on my 2015 trd 4wd today and the only thing I'm a tad uncomfortable with is the 100 lb torque spec on those LCA bolts. At 100 lbs I swear it was going to strip so I backed off to 90 and it still wasn't clicking at what I felt was well into the danger zone. So again I backed off to 85, got it to click, then re-upped to 90 and got it to click there, but I was not willing to go beyond that.
I might add that I'm no stranger to wrenching. Worked on cars and motorcycles all my life and I'm 56 now. I can't help but question that spec. Everything else torqued to spec with no doubts, including the 118 lb bolts on each side of the lower ball joints. Any thoughts on this? I'm wondering if this spec is wrong and perhaps it relates to loosening down the road due to over-tightening/thread damage, etc..

 

i felt the same way when i was checking these bolts the first time. With how much i was cranking on them, i thought for sure with my next turn of the wrench i would have a broken lca bolt to deal with.

 

I felt the they would strip rather than break. 100 lbs is a lot for a nut that size. I left mine at 90 lbs. It'll be loosened and re-torqued by the alignment fellers anyway, so it surely isn't hurting if I'm a tad light for minute. I was reading another post here that said there was a typo (incorrect value) on one of the torque settings on the front end but I don't recall which bolt was in question or the source of the values. That's why I brought up the possibility.

 

The manual states 37 ftlbs and it is actually 73 ftlbs on the rear leaf spring u bolt nuts. The value is correct for the cam bolts. Everytime I get my truck back from the alignment shop they are under torqued.

 

I installed my add-a-leafs today and when I was ready to torque the u-bolts I had to look that up and I saw that. I'm sure that's what I remembered seeing, something I was going to have to deal with during my lift rather than a value specifically on the front end.
So I assume you re-torque your cam bolts to spec after your alignments or just observing the shops values? Way under is not good but close counts. Hoping to get it aligned tomorrow but no appt. yet.

 

Anyone know if the total chaos cam tab gussets would prevent them from coming loose? My 15' makes the same clunk. I removed the sway bar since it happened after wheeling and I thought I bent it, then I added ORI Struts, so there are no coils now. Still have clunk

 

Your Lower Control Arm bolts were 20 to 40ft/lb?
Did you tighten both sides LCA bolts to 100 ft./lb?