Front End Popping Noise When Turning Left?

[Gecko]

Follow up: I've had my 4Runner back for a week now and the dealer didn't find anything particularly wrong, but they did say they double checked and tightened every bolt in the front suspension and lubed every bushing. Same for checking clamps.

I've only heard a very faint pop 2-3 times over that period, so my assumption is that something was loose - to some varying degree - and has been tightened, eliminating the noise 95%.

Thanks to those who shared their thoughts here about UCA bolts and boot clamps. I showed all of it to the dealer and it definitely helped. He specifically mentioned checking those areas carefully at my request.

 

[josh_hibschman]

87K miles in and here I am, burning through this thread. Dealership has no clue. DIY time. Tightened control arm bolts to 120. I don't think its CV joints but on my radar. Next is strut towers. Happening on my wife's Sienna at 28K and my dad's Highlander at 65K. WTF is going on Toyota.

Couple things I've found:

- Can reproduce always with 4 adult passengers in the car, 30mph coast, then brake a tad bit over soft to get a good shift in the weight to the front
- Putting vehicle on the lift makes it impossible to reproduce (no load on suspension)

Next: i'm mounting some go-pros on the underbody until i can clearly find what's making the noise

 

[godawgs73]

I had a similar issue as did a buddy of mine. It was very difficult to replicate and it sounded like a clunking noise when I made a left turn or when I was coming out of a slow turn. I was convinced that something was loose or something was banging against something else.

I ended up removing the stock front skid plate to get a better look and much to my surprise, the noise stopped. I noticed that when I took the plate off it made a similar noise and seemed to come from where it butted up against the other skid plate. My skid pate is pretty banged up.

Hi all,

I know describing and diagnosing sounds is everyone’s favorite thing, but curious if anyone here has noticed or fixed a popping noise that seems to come from the front left and occur when the weight shifts - like making the rounds to exit a parking garage or making a sudden left onto uneven pavement, etc ?

I’ve noticed my truck doing it lately and it’s a popping noise that sounds a bit like a contact of some sort. It’s at the dealer now and I can’t tell if I’m being overly picky or if something might really be wrong. Of course, drove with two of their master techs and the sound was nowhere to be heard. It's more noticeable when the 4R has been sitting for a while and I first start moving, so they let it sit over the weekend and were going to try driving today but I haven't heard anything yet.

Strangely, there is no noise coming from the right side at all, even under the same circumstances.

Thanks in advance.

 

[josh_hibschman]

Finally fixed at least on of my issues -- it turns out the last brake job they didn't put brake pad spring brackets on both sides of the pad leaving some play on the pad. When reversing out of the garage the pads slide up about 1-2mm, then slowly engaging the brakes later at speed slaps the pads back down. The problem was intermittent because depending on temp/humidity the pads might not move.

Found this video -- Brake Click Noise Driving Me Crazy - How To Fix It - YouTube

 

[Jb1933]

Popping driver front

I'm following for the solution to the left front-end popping noise. It sounds like 2 pieces of iron hitting together. Happens during weight shifts and pulling boat. 2-wheel drive 2013 SR5 with 64k miles. Noise has been present since 16k miles. Dealership looked and looked, tightened everything to torque specs. I rechecked torque with 4 different torque tools. I'm at a loss.

 

[dawudih]

Same thing happening with my 2015 Trail with 140,000 miles after installing take off springs & shocks from a 2021 with 3,000 miles.
1-2 Popping sounds on hard left turn going forward, or backing out of the driveway & turning slightly left.

 

[dawudih]

Retourqued the front control arms to 140# today; no more "popping" sound. Can't remember who suggested that, but thanks! I bet I just hit them with an impact for a few chugs during install.

 

[Sonoran_Desert]

Try greasing the hood latch and raising the black rubber bumpers the hood rests on with a few turns by hand.

 

[Humble Leader]

I wanted to make a post in this thread because I too had the exact same popping/clicking/creaking/rubbing/ticking (I don't really know how I'd describe them) sounds coming from my front driver's side wheel area/ almost under my seat area

I ended up taking the vehicle to toyota since I suspected CV, tie rod, control arm or something in that area had broken. the sound came on all of a sudden the next morning and was quite loud. interestingly it seemed to get a bit better the more I drove it before bringing it in in the morning

anyways, told the tech for sure something was broken but he disagreed, said everything looked fine and was in good shape but he heard the noise too, nothing loose etc. he dropped the engine skid plate/plastic trim and chunks of ice started to fall down. cleaned it out, road tested it for a while and the noise was gone. I suspect this is when I went through some really deep dense snow in reverse. Must have lodged somewhere that rubbed when turning left because that OEM skid plate is like a big scoop if you're going in reverse

lesson 1. if youre going to wheel in deep snow in reverse probably wash the underside
lesson 2. the 4runner never ceases to amaze me at how capable it is. handled that deep dense snow like a champ

 

[VertigoPerformance]

I have roughly 3-1/2 to 4 inch lift in the front of my 03 forerunner V8 AWD (2 inch lift in the rear and levelled in the front) I installed it about 8 years ago.
About seven years ago I had all the bushings replaced in the front end and Camburg upper arms installed.

I had a clunk in my front end a few years ago and it turned out it was the swaybar bushings. Replaced and problem solved.
Two years ago there was a nasty Creek in the front end turned out to be an upper ball joint.
Now I have a clunk popping sound in the front end when turning left out of my driveway when the right front wheel goes up as the road slopes.
I replaced front swaybar bushings, swaybar links, I’ve greased and tightened everything in the front end.
It only happens when the trucks been sitting overnight and when I turn left and the front wheel has to go up on a slight bit of a transition and then for the most part it doesn’t do it through all my travels, except for when the truck has been sitting usually overnight.

It doesn’t do it going through potholes, driving on gravel roads or going over speed bumps. Just turning left if the front wheel goes on any kind of grade at all, even the smallest one which the roadway in front of our place is.

If I work on the front end requiring me to take the wheels off and the suspension hangs it won’t make the noise again for a couple of days allowing me to believe I fixed the problem and then bam it’s right back again����

It’s very possible it’s a lower ball joints. It’s the last thing it could be. I just don’t want to spend the money on parts and the time to replace them if there is another solution.

 

[Bmnorm2]

Hey team, i've been dealing with a light popping noise in the front under weight shift.

While doing an oil change today I torqued the following:
Front LCA - 130 ft-lbs (2 of 4 turned maybe 5 degrees)
Front Stabilizer Bushings (w/o KDSS) - 36 ft-lbs (all 4 at spec or above)
Front Stabilizer Bar End Links - 52 ft-lbs (all 4 at spec or above)
Front Shock Eyelet - 70 ft-lbs (both at spec or above)
Front Suspension Member Braces - 22 ft-lbs (all 6 at spec or above)

The above torques didn't fix my issue.


After finishing oil change and above torques and while removing jack stands i noticed i could actually see some thread between the frame rail and the brace/tube that goes from cross member to frame rail.

Initially I couldn't find the torque spec, so i started at 21 ft-lbs. 5 of 8 were at or above 21 ft-lbs and 3 were way below. I was able to get a full turn or so out of these 3 before hitting 21 ft-lbs.

Later, I found the torque for these 8 bolts (4 per side) listed at 24 ft-lbs in the manual. 4 of 8 were at or above spec, tightened the other 4.

"popping" noise went away after doing the brace/tubes from cross member to frame rail. These are located just behind the front wheels and have 2 bolts on each end. As I am only at 43k miles and no off-roading I highly recommend checking these next time you are under there.

Cross-member to Frame Rail Brace/Tubes - 24 ft-lbs (4 of 8 under spec and visible thread between mating surfaces on 1)