Suspension clunk when turning side to side

Thought I'd poll the forum before I start firing parts at this thing. I have a clunk when turning rapidly side to side at low speed. I can also hear it to a lesser extent when I'm driving and I go over bumps. I can't tell if it's coming from the front or the rear. I have a 2004 single cab with the 2.7, 4x4, and 155K current mileage.

I disconnected the sway bar end links and it didn't seem to make a difference, so I'm ruling those out.

I rebuilt the entire front end with new LCAs, LBJs, UBJs, CVs, TREs at 130K and OME 880s + Nitrochargers+OME bushings at 112K. All the boots look good with no tears or grease leaks. The rear was redone at 112K with Dakars+AAL/Nitrochargers and Wheelers bushings/shackles. So the OEM stuff has about 20K on it and the aftermarket struts and springs have about 40K.

Front and back settle in a single rebound when I get up on the bumper and give it a bounce. I don't think that entirely rules the struts out, but it makes me less suspicious. I don't wheel super hard but it has seen a fair amount of offroad time since the rebuild.

What do ya'll think I should suspect next? Could it be bushings, or should I just replace the struts? Maybe LBJs? Is there a good way to inspect bushings without taking it all apart?

Thank you!

 

Steering rack bushings are how old and what condition are they in?

Is the truck wheeled or used hard? I’d hope OEM parts that new are still good but I’d still jack up the front and give the whole front end a shake down to be sure.

Spin the front wheels and listen for a bad wheel bearing.

 

Check your engine mounts and the transmission mount.

Noises can be tricky it might be as simple as the exhaust hitting something.

Things can fail or be worn and the boots look perfect.

Get the front on Jack stands and inspect the suspension and steering .

Steering Rack and Control Arm bushings even the front shock bushings .

Bushings can be checked by prying the component and looking for movement at the bushing.

 

I don't wheel hard - mild offroad and mixed highway miles.

Rack bushings are likely as old as the truck - I have not touched them. Planning to get under the truck tonight and check that everything is tight and check front end play.

 

Steering rack bushings.

 

My Steering Rack Bushings are fine at 250,000 miles .

The Hot Desert temperatures can be brutal on bushings all the rubber really!!

 

Maybe a long shot but the top hat nut backed out on the top of the struts and made that noise on a focus I had. It's easy enough to check and took me ages to find

 

I also have this exact issue and have replaced a good deal of front end components, including steering rack bushings. This is a common issue I've noticed in other Tacomas as well so I feel like there must be a common denominator that I have yet to figure out

 

So I took it into the speakership and they checked the whole truck. Everything checks out except the leaf packs. Turns out the packs are binding and shifting in the keepers during body roll. Nothing appears to be broken.

I'll get the truck up on stands this weekend, lube the springs and bushings and tighten all the bolts down. Other forums say this is a known issue with Dakar packs.

Thanks to everyone who responded!

 

Glad it was a simple problem

 

Good to know! I also have Dakar leaf packs, let us know if that solves it.

 

this sounds like the inner swivel joints on the end of the steering rack are shot. Reach in and grab the steering shaft as close to the steering rack and wiggle the arm. You should do this with the wheels pointing straight ahead. You can also feel this when driving over small cracks in the road at slow speed.

 

Ok, reporting back on this. I have been fighting the truck all weekend. Toyota tells me the front suspension and steering rack all look good. They confirmed side-to-side leaf movement in my Dakar packs. I checked all the torques on the leaf to frame brackets, U-bolts, shackles, and shock mounts. Everything looks fine. I hit all the shackle zerks and anti-squeak pads with grease. Still clunks. After a lot of digging I found a thread from IH8Mud about the front spring eye bush that comes press-fit in from the factory. Note the little metal sleeve sitting inside the rubber bush (these are not my spring packs, I just found this photo online):



Apparently the thin metal sleeve on the outside of this bush breaks loose over time and lets the spring "walk" back and forth, chewing up the ends of the bush. I checked my truck (these ARE photos of my spring packs):



Looks like the sleeve has broken loose on my passenger side here. I think ordinarily the rubber bush would be tight up against both sides of the frame bracket. Since it's gone, when I hit a bump, particularly when turning, I get the clunking noise. I'm guessing body roll shifts the spring slightly; since the bush is buggered up, the whole spring eye clunks against the frame bracket.

I have a set of Energy Suspension bushes on the way; will update if this finally fixes the problem.

 

Do you have this issue with a few hundred pounds of weight in the bed??

Has your truck always lived in a dry climate ?

 

I run a cap and bed platform full time, so yes. Probably 300 - 400 lbs. My spring pack has the extra leaf.

This has been a southwest truck. It's the truck's first winter in the Midwest since I did the suspension. Pardon the fluid film mess.

 

Good Luck!!

 

You're on the right path, I had the same issue with my Dakars, they would shift side to side in the front spring mount and would clank when they hit the side. Replaced with the hard poly bushings and haven't had an issue since. You might want to check out this thread if you haven't already: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/change-the-front-bushings-in-your-dakars.479071/

 

Thank you! Great thread, happened upon it like an hour ago - I think this is the problem.

I remember thinking "maybe I should replace those crappy-looking bushings" when I bought the springs and then I went "nah, let's save twenty bucks" and here we are, how do I go back and tell dummy to just do it right the first time?

 

I bought mine new and they started clanking a year, maybe year and a half after install. Just seems like a bad design to me, even rubber bushings should last longer than that.

 

Yeah, we're on the same timeline then, I'm about 1.5 years post-install.