I am pretty new to the 4Runner scene and picked up a 2002 2WD SR5 a few months ago. I have been trying to track down a dreaded metal on metal clunk that has gotten worse over the last month. Thinking it was the pan hard bar my goal was to remove it and drive it and see if it made a difference. However once I pulled the rear wheels off I saw the end link bushings. They appear to be installed from the factory this way. As you can see there seems to be an extra metal bushing washer on the lower bushing against the body. I dont believe this is correct. Upon further investigation the top shock bushings are installed the same way but I could not get a clear picture of it. The shocks are not factory as they are KYB's. Before I start pulling them apart can someone verify this is right or wrong?




Also, these cone shaped bushings in the springs. When my 4Runner is at ride height and level I can barely stick my finger inbetween the cone and the rear end contact plate. Am I suffering from rear spring sag? I ask because it seems like the cone takes away 95% of the suspension travel and you can see where the cone has made consistent contact with the little plate on the rear end. Any guidance is greatly appreciated!

That is correct. Both, the stabilizer and the shock have extra retainer (you call it washer) installed in this position, to sandwich the rubber bushing.

Bushings look right to me.... but the cone bumpstop looks like it's too low! Those coils might be tired.....

Thanks for the info guys. I went ahead and removed the retainer, seeing its easy to get to I figured if I needed to put it back in it was no big deal. With the end link retainers removed and pan hard bar off it rode super quite but the rear end was all over the place. Put the panhard bar back on, torqued it as tight as I could and now getting some noise back but not near as much as before. So my plan of attack is this since my 4Runner has 98K on it. Get new end links with poly bushings since they seem to elimnate the retainer, new SS panhard bar, and look in to new rear springs.

On the shocks, are the supposed to installed with the retainers as well? The reason I keep wondering is I have been done suspension work on cars for years but this is my 1st 4Runner and this is the first time I have seen this type of setup. On suspension pieces I never thought you should metal mounted against metal.

UPDATE: So I ordered a set of MOOG 81043 coil springs along with some K90681 sway bar end links. I am also going to order Sonoran Steel trac bar. For now I am going to keep the KYB gas-a-just shocks see how eveevrything turns out. After almost $400 of parts spend I hope the difference is significant.

In addition I bought a B&M 70264 trans cooler. With so many milkshake horror stories and my 4Runner at 98K I would rather be safe than sorry.