pop, lock, and lift it.

[wake_rider]

I installed 99 talls on my 2000 4x4 Limited with 135k about 3 months ago, but recently I've been getting a consistent POP in the rear end when fast droop occurs, or when there is a fast lateral shift, and then again a few more times but not as loudly when the rear suspension settles back to normal. I can hear and feel the pop, and it seems to mostly be coming from the drivers side and not as common when the rear passenger hits quick or abrupt droop.

I've pushed the rear of the Runner side to side pretty strongly whenever it's parked to see if I can initiate the sound, but it's not recreating the pop. I'm wondering if I did not completely torque, or I possibly over torqued, some bolts wile putting the back end back together after the install and I'm getting slop in a bushing or similar.

Any suggestions on how to better diagnose the problem, or if I should just bite the bullet and do a complete bushing swap for some fresh one's, then retorque everything to factory specs? I'm also wondering if it's happening at the panhard since it's mostly sounding off with droop and lateral shifts, but not as much with upward compressions. IDK. Kindof just brainstorming right now. However, all zirks are greased and this is not the infamous slip yoke, driveline thud question that pollutes the 3rd gen forums. That is definitely counted out of the fix prognosis for this problem.

Also, does anyone have a way to list all of the torque specs for the all of the rear suspension components and links?

I appreciate any input or guidance.

 

[wake_rider]

Oh, one more thing. Can bolt direction be a problem? I got hasty (read "excited") when tearing down and didn't list bolt directions for the reinstall. So, I question if I reversed the direction on a bolt and nut setup, putting the head of the bolt on the wrong side. I wouldn't assume that it would much matter, but I'm just attempting to get all things back to how those brilliant engineers over at Toyota decided things should be.

 

[snivilous]

If my rear sway bar has one side disconnected the other side will run into the lower link and pop as the nut slides over it. Not sure if this is applicable at all, but might be worth a shot to see if your lower links have contact marks.

 

[Jc12]

every noise i've had associted with a lift came from my sway bars.. as mentioned take a look make sure nothing is rubbing, you can get a weird popping noise from the metal on metal.

 

[wake_rider]

Checked the sway bar links, and I'm not seeing or able to feel any obvious play. The popping has gotten worse by the day, and I started noticing it earlier this week. It really makes me think that it has something to do with a loose bolt-up point somewhere, but I'm just not finding that location.

I backed it up onto lifts and grabbed the sway bar at every link point, the pan-hard, the trailing arm and the UCA, but I can't seem to wiggle anything to the point it pops or makes noise. I even drove it up with a lift under drivers front, then passengers rear to flex it and see if it made a difference, then flipped it and put the drives rear/passengers front up on the ramps and couldn't recreate the pop with any pulling around on parts. Not really sure where to go from here, but I don't like the sound at all, and I want to get it fixed.

 

[wake_rider]

I took a torque wrench to the first spot I thought I was the problem area, the pan-hard. The lower mount on the drivers side spun with only 25 foot lbs of torque. I dialed it up to 75 foot lbs and gave it a bunch of turns until I got a click, then backed off the ramps and took it for a spin. I flexed it out in ditches and hit some sharp crests while turning hard, got the back end to feel that lateral shift, and....No more popping! :reddance:

I feel like a bit of a dolt that I just under torqued a bolt, but I'm glad that this was the only issue. I honestly feel like I could probably dial up the torque wrench even higher, but I have no idea what the torque spec is for that lower pan-hard mount so I didn't want to push my luck since I was blindly guessing. I did first dial it up to 75 and try the upper mount on the passengers side, and it didn't budge that bolt at all before clicking, so I figured that it was a safe setting for the lower.

Anyone know what that torque spec actually is? If it's actually up in the 100 range, I want to get back in there and hit the right spec...

 

[txbonds]

These are from the 97 runner FSM someone gave me a while back, so double check for your specific vehicle as yours might be different:

These are in foot pounds

Rear sway link - upper nut 14
Rear sway link - lower nut 51
Rear sway bar brackets - upper and lower bolts 14
Rear upper control arm - frame and axle bolts 64
Rear lower control arm - frame and axle bolts 107
Rear lower shock bolt 47
Rear upper shock nut 14
Rear panhard bar - frame and axle bolts 64
Rear parking brake bracket bolts 9
Rear lug nuts 83

I took a torque wrench to the first spot I thought I was the problem area, the pan-hard. The lower mount on the drivers side spun with only 25 foot lbs of torque. I dialed it up to 75 foot lbs and gave it a bunch of turns until I got a click, then backed off the ramps and took it for a spin. I flexed it out in ditches and hit some sharp crests while turning hard, got the back end to feel that lateral shift, and....No more popping! :reddance:

I feel like a bit of a dolt that I just under torqued a bolt, but I'm glad that this was the only issue. I honestly feel like I could probably dial up the torque wrench even higher, but I have no idea what the torque spec is for that lower pan-hard mount so I didn't want to push my luck since I was blindly guessing. I did first dial it up to 75 and try the upper mount on the passengers side, and it didn't budge that bolt at all before clicking, so I figured that it was a safe setting for the lower.

Anyone know what that torque spec actually is? If it's actually up in the 100 range, I want to get back in there and hit the right spec...