Idea for testing a bad sway bar link to find a clunk

[FiReBReTHa]

Swapped out bad 6112s for 5100s and oem springs, got new 285s and new wheels. Got alignment done. New pads rotors and slide pins.

Yesterday noticed a light pop/clunk only at slow speeds during braking and brake release. Noise does not occur over bumps nor during turns from what I've attempted.
Noise "feels" like it's coming from drivers side.

Because it's not during bumps I was skeptical on lca
Volume of clunk is like a 1-3 out of 10 and a busted bushing/slamming lca hitting during a curb rise would be a 8 out of ten for comparison.

Was thinking to disconnect sway bar link from the sway bar and zip tie it to sway to test it out.
But, now thinking about it concerned of course when unbolting it, may not be able to tighten it up etc if it doesn't have flats to grab onto.

Didn't want to play the random swap out game

 

[MikesDuneRunnerSLS]

Bilstein doesn't do a good job of advertising it but 6112's are rebuildable.

Grab yourself a hammer. For this I like my larger ball peen. Touch the hammer handle to the bottom of the stabilizer link then wrap on the head with your hand and listen. Get a second set of hands and do the same thing with someone pulling down and putting a load on the sway bar with their hands and their body weight. If the noise significantly changes you've probably found your problem. You can also try the wiggle test but you can't always get noise with that. Another option is to see if a friend has a 4-channel chassis-ear you can borrow.

Good luck!

 

[BorotHex]

I honestly know nothing of 4Runner brakes, but I had that issue with a dip **** mechanic who screwed up the springs that take up the gap where the pad can slide in the caliper on a VW many years ago.

Horrible grammar, but you get what I’m saying. If there’s something to stop the pad from rotating in the caliper, I’d check there first.

 

[Skykomish]

New pads rotors and slide pins.

Yesterday noticed a light pop/clunk only at slow speeds during braking and brake release.

Maybe something with the pins? Seems to be a recurring issue with my rig anyway but only after they've been in for a while. I've got a bit of a noise on brake release at the moment, probably at least 30k miles on em though. Pads are still good so I'm not in a hurry to fix it.