LCA popping

Frat_4runner

Frat_4runner

New member
2015 trail without KDSS, took it in for an alignment last week got it back and when braking, in reverse, and when the suspension is stretched, it makes a terrible popping sound from what i am sure is the lower control arms. i had the same problem less than 10k miles ago, and the dealer replaced the bushings and that solved the problem until now. so i took it back and they thought they solved the problem but they didn't. i have gone over all the cam bolts with a torque wrench at 100lbs and it didn't solve the problem. is this a common problem? looking for some outside opinions and suggestions on what to do.
 
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Frat_4runner said:
2015 trail without KDSS, took it in for an alignment last week got it back and when braking, in reverse, and when the suspension is stretched, it makes a terrible popping sound from what i am sure is the lower control arms. i had the same problem less than 10k miles ago, and the dealer replaced the bushings and that solved the problem until now. so i took it back and they thought they solved the problem but they didn't. i have gone over all the cam bolts with a torque wrench at 100lbs and it didn't solve the problem. is this a common problem? looking for some outside opinions and suggestions on what to do.
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It's not the sway bar endlinks? what about the Icon's? are the uniball/spherical bearing/ whatever you wanna call them worn out?


jack up truck, loosen cam bolts, set truck back on the ground with weight on the tires, then torque the cam bolts and set the alignment. ((((( Pro tip: mark your cam's before loosening them ;) lol) maybe the shop preloaded those bushings????
 
I also had an intermittent "pop" noise coming from my front suspension. It was seldom but when heard, it was while I was turning the wheels, flexing on a curb or turning into an incline driveway. Thought it was the LCA bushings being toast but turned out to be both endlinks being shot They looked and felt fine when they were on the vehicle but after a bit of wiggling they turned out to be the culprit. Removed the sway bar and no more noises.

I made a thread about the popping noise I had.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/236649-replacing-lca-bolts.html
 

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100 ft lb? Pffft. That's not close to tight enough. Common problem that the shops never tighten them enough after an alignment. Now you need a new alignment(because the cams moved) on their dime and they need to tighten them properly. TIGHT.
 
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thanks for the input folks, i rented the torque wrench so it looks like ill be going back up there for it ha! ill report back when i get all the suggestions covered and hopefully this can help out others that are having a similar issue.
 
Seattle206 said:
I also had an intermittent "pop" noise coming from my front suspension. It was seldom but when heard, it was while I was turning the wheels, flexing on a curb or turning into an incline driveway. Thought it was the LCA bushings being toast but turned out to be both endlinks being shot They looked and felt fine when they were on the vehicle but after a bit of wiggling they turned out to be the culprit. Removed the sway bar and no more noises.

I made a thread about the popping noise I had.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/236649-replacing-lca-bolts.html
Click to expand...

I'm going to look into that tomorrow, i re-torqued the cam bolts but it didn't eliminate the noise so tomorrow i will probably take the sway bar off and drive around and see if it changes anything. although I'm not 100% comfortable with taking the sway bar off for good because it seems dangerous
 
Antman said:
100 ft lb? Pffft. That's not close to tight enough. Common problem that the shops never tighten them enough after an alignment. Now you need a new alignment(because the cams moved) on their dime and they need to tighten them properly. TIGHT.
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what ft/lb should i tighten it to, i went back over with 130 and the sound is still there.
 
Frat_4runner said:
I'm going to look into that tomorrow, i re-torqued the cam bolts but it didn't eliminate the noise so tomorrow i will probably take the sway bar off and drive around and see if it changes anything. although I'm not 100% comfortable with taking the sway bar off for good because it seems dangerous
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The Toyota manual calls for 129ft/lbs for the 4WD version. If you tightened the LCA bolts and the noise is still there I would completely remove the sway bar next and see if that makes the noise go away.

Have you tried wiggling the endlinks with a bit of force while they are on the spindle? Any noise or grease from the boot? My links looked good but after a bit of wiggling a crap load of grease spilled out. Installed two new oem links and it eliminated the noise for me.

Did you have the popping noise before or after you installed your ICONS? Sometimes too much preload can cause binding when flexing.
 

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Thanks for posting the values. I was getting the occasional pop when starting or stopping the vehicle.

Post alignment I think the shop didn't set them back to factory. I brought them back to 129ft/lbs and the problem seems to have gone away.
 
Ever resolve this? I have the "clunk" from a start/stop as described. I also have a "clunk" on the drivers side over bumps/pot holes. When I go over bumps/holes/train tracks at a decent speed I cant hear it but at slower speeds it's very noticeable.

I have King Coil-overs set around 2.5", JBA UCA's. Sway-bars completely removed. Everything is fairly new. The truck only has 10,000 miles on it. It's getting very annoying.

I'm putting on my winter tires today so I will have them confirm the LCA bolts are torqued to 129 lbs. If that doesn't fix it then I don't know where to look.
 
Check the upper control arm bolts too. I had mine come loose after about 2000 miles after doing some work. They don't need to be crazy tight, but I think they are one location where loctite is a very good idea. Mine were totally loose on one side - but the nut was still on and all the stuff was still there. IT would clunk every time I stopped as it flexed the control arm just a little bit. And it was all but impossible to diagnose static until I noticed that the nut was backing off. Hand moving the tire wouldn't reproduce it. Not enough force.
 
Jetboy said:
Check the upper control arm bolts too. I had mine come loose after about 2000 miles after doing some work. They don't need to be crazy tight, but I think they are one location where loctite is a very good idea. Mine were totally loose on one side - but the nut was still on and all the stuff was still there. IT would clunk every time I stopped as it flexed the control arm just a little bit. And it was all but impossible to diagnose static until I noticed that the nut was backing off. Hand moving the tire wouldn't reproduce it. Not enough force.
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Thanks. I looked at that last week and tightened it with a wrench. I backed it off (it was tight), jumped up and down on bumper for everything to settle, and re-tighten, I didn't you a torque wrench but I put it pretty tight. I believe the spec is somewhere around 90 lbs.

I'm hoping getting the cam bolts torqued today solves the problem. Will put an update tonight
 
mAtTyGlaz said:
Thanks. I looked at that last week and tightened it with a wrench. I backed it off (it was tight), jumped up and down on bumper for everything to settle, and re-tighten, I didn't you a torque wrench but I put it pretty tight. I believe the spec is somewhere around 90 lbs.

I'm hoping getting the cam bolts torqued today solves the problem. Will put an update tonight
Click to expand...

LCA bolt torque spec is 129 lbs. Unless you have a lift, its pretty hard to torque them to 129. What I did was tighten them as much as I could while on jack stands, lower and drive it around for a bit, and then torque them down to 129ish with the weight on the wheels.
 
Has this been solved? My LCA wete loose and popped really bad. I tightened them to 129ft. Sound has been severely minimized, but still there. Should I replace my cam bolts? What is next?
 
osideplayer said:
Has this been solved? My LCA wete loose and popped really bad. I tightened them to 129ft. Sound has been severely minimized, but still there. Should I replace my cam bolts? What is next?
Click to expand...

Check your UCA bolt too. This was the source of the popping for me at least
 
any update on the sway bar end links?

i have the popping (slow turns, reverse, slow speed braking)

Replaced the UCA ball joints and alignment - zero popping for a couple of weeks then it has come back now.

Seems whenever I get an oil change and the suspension is "unloaded" it goes away for a day or 2 then comes back after everything settles...
 
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