HCurphy
New member
How 'bout this ****. So, some of you guys may remember my "lift" adventure.(http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/104717-bilstein-hd-order-help.html) Skip to the bottom of the post for the gist
I upgraded my old worn out springs and monroe sensatracs to some brand spankin new 99 tall coils and Billstein HD 4600 series on all 4 corners. Well, this was a couple weeks and about 2000 miles ago. Needless to say the improvement was night and day, I have been loving every minute of it. Well last weekend I took ~900 mile trip up to Hot Springs, Arkansas to quickly renew my passport(long story). Great trip, had tons of fun-brought a buddy with me so the ~14 hour adventure went by quick.
When I got off the interstate in my home town I heard this subtle hard to describe noise. Something between a "clunk" and a "rattle". I was cussing like a sailor for a while because I just got done saying how proud I was of my old girl, after all these years she still never lets me down, blah blah on and on I was going. I turned a few more corners and the noise was much worse taking turns at city speeds. (still cussing at this point)
Anyway, got home climbed all under the 'runner (this is at about 9 at night, I'd been up since 3am after being up till midnight the night before) and couldn't find the source of the noise. ( I sure was reminded of how badly I need to change my VC gaskets though--lost quite a bit of oil after running that long) So, I went to bed for the night(after many beers) and got up the next morning and started again. I spent 6 hours under my runner, stuck a wrench on every bolt I could find, tore the steering rack apart, greased everything, checked heat shields, check dust shields, checked drums, checked calipers, check engine mounts, tranny mounts, etc., etc. I checked it all and still couldn't find ****.
Still laying under the 4runner, 'bout whipped. I lit a ciggarette and just laid there for a minute. While I was on this smoke break a buddy of mine(same buddy that took the road trip with me) pulled up and walked in the garage and asked what I was doing. I started hollering and cussing explaining myself and how much bull **** this was, and while I was *****ing my buddy jumped on my back bumper and BAM. I remembered the only thing I didn't check. I blame toyota honestly. I didn't check the top shock mounts. This is partly because I looked at the rear shocks and all seemed good. Sure enough, my passenger side rear shock ate **** on me and sheared the **** off at the top mount. So, I got back to cussing and *****ing again all the way to Orilley's to buy the cheapest piece of **** shock I could find to get me by till I can get a replacement. (hopefully under warranty)
After I figured out what the noise was I had it fixed in about 30 minutes. Lesson learned-lazy buddies that spectate more then help are still good for something.
Anyways, thought you guys would get a kick out of this. I know billsteins are nearly coveted around here and I still love mine--but **** can happen at any time, no matter how respectable the brand.
Here's the Pics that I know you guys have to have.
I upgraded my old worn out springs and monroe sensatracs to some brand spankin new 99 tall coils and Billstein HD 4600 series on all 4 corners. Well, this was a couple weeks and about 2000 miles ago. Needless to say the improvement was night and day, I have been loving every minute of it. Well last weekend I took ~900 mile trip up to Hot Springs, Arkansas to quickly renew my passport(long story). Great trip, had tons of fun-brought a buddy with me so the ~14 hour adventure went by quick.
When I got off the interstate in my home town I heard this subtle hard to describe noise. Something between a "clunk" and a "rattle". I was cussing like a sailor for a while because I just got done saying how proud I was of my old girl, after all these years she still never lets me down, blah blah on and on I was going. I turned a few more corners and the noise was much worse taking turns at city speeds. (still cussing at this point)
Anyway, got home climbed all under the 'runner (this is at about 9 at night, I'd been up since 3am after being up till midnight the night before) and couldn't find the source of the noise. ( I sure was reminded of how badly I need to change my VC gaskets though--lost quite a bit of oil after running that long) So, I went to bed for the night(after many beers) and got up the next morning and started again. I spent 6 hours under my runner, stuck a wrench on every bolt I could find, tore the steering rack apart, greased everything, checked heat shields, check dust shields, checked drums, checked calipers, check engine mounts, tranny mounts, etc., etc. I checked it all and still couldn't find ****.
Still laying under the 4runner, 'bout whipped. I lit a ciggarette and just laid there for a minute. While I was on this smoke break a buddy of mine(same buddy that took the road trip with me) pulled up and walked in the garage and asked what I was doing. I started hollering and cussing explaining myself and how much bull **** this was, and while I was *****ing my buddy jumped on my back bumper and BAM. I remembered the only thing I didn't check. I blame toyota honestly. I didn't check the top shock mounts. This is partly because I looked at the rear shocks and all seemed good. Sure enough, my passenger side rear shock ate **** on me and sheared the **** off at the top mount. So, I got back to cussing and *****ing again all the way to Orilley's to buy the cheapest piece of **** shock I could find to get me by till I can get a replacement. (hopefully under warranty)
After I figured out what the noise was I had it fixed in about 30 minutes. Lesson learned-lazy buddies that spectate more then help are still good for something.
Anyways, thought you guys would get a kick out of this. I know billsteins are nearly coveted around here and I still love mine--but **** can happen at any time, no matter how respectable the brand.
Here's the Pics that I know you guys have to have.
