Popping/Knocking from Front End

My 17 TRD O/R does it from day one. Only about 1-2 times a week. Seems to be less than before. Slight turn or small bump. Nothing crazy or maxed out. I work at the dealership and the mechanic said he couldn’t find anything wrong. I’ve glanced under there and haven’t found anything. I figure it’ll be alright. I’m at 9500 Miles.
 
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No one is considering the steering column shaft? I have all the symptoms you guys have and I can feel a low rumble in the steering wheel too. Low parking lot/driveway speed, only when turning or going into a incline/decline.

2015 SR5 with bilstein 5100s. 1inch lift. 30k miles.

I hope someone has a solution.
 
Also could be your skid plates flexing. Every time I seem to bash them in on a trip this noise comes back until I loosen and reseat them.
 
Clunk

After much frustration (mines been clunking since it was aligned) I've finally figured out the source of my clunk. It was the lower control arms not being tightened nearly enough. I would say they were torqued to around 80 lbft, when they needed to be 130. After torquing to spec the pop has disappeared. Hope this can help someone!
 
qhappold said:
After much frustration (mines been clunking since it was aligned) I've finally figured out the source of my clunk. It was the lower control arms not being tightened nearly enough. I would say they were torqued to around 80 lbft, when they needed to be 130. After torquing to spec the pop has disappeared. Hope this can help someone!
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Nice. I need to check this. Are those bolts 22mm?
 
Lower Ball Joint Bolts

If you have done a lift or any work on the front end lately check your lower ball joint bolts torque.

If they are under-torqued you will hear the assembly shift when turning and make noise. It is usually an opposite effect of turn/sound location. Example: you are turning left and hear the noise on the right side and vise-versa.

Another good test like others have said is jack the front end up and start to wiggle the wheels around and try to recreate the sound. If something is loose it will be much more apparent when weight is off the components.
 
Did OP figure this out? I am in the midst of tearing apart my suspension and hoping the LCA's are loose and it's that easy.

Thanks!

vumcrab said:
Guys,

2012 4R SR5 2WD, 50K mi.

For the past several months, I've noticed a loud popping or knocking sound coming from the front end when driving at low speeds and turning the wheel and/or going over small bumps...like driving in a parking lot and making turns. I've checked heat shield, etc. Didn't know if this could be related to body mounts or the like.

If anybody has had the same problem or you have a TSB that may help, I would appreciate it.
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Sup41 said:
Did OP figure this out? I am in the midst of tearing apart my suspension and hoping the LCA's are loose and it's that easy.

Thanks!
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Check your stabilizer bar bushings for cracks or wear. I replaced mine and my low speed knock/rattle over bumps went away. Easy place to start at least.
 
I had the same problem for about a week. I finally was able to fix this clunk problem when turning wheel and backing up or going over small bumps.
So I removed sway bar unit completely and the noise was still there. I decided to remove LCA bolts individually. Before removing, I marked LCA bolts to easily install it back and got away with alignment. I still recommend alignment even with markings. I clean off rust and applied anti-seize lube on bolts and reinstalled. Torqued to specifications and it has not made clunk ever since.
Hope this helps! It worked for me.
 
MarkoPro said:
I decided to remove LCA bolts individually. Before removing, I marked LCA bolts to easily install it back and got away with alignment. I still recommend alignment even with markings. I clean off rust and applied anti-seize lube on bolts and reinstalled. Torqued to specifications and it has not made clunk ever since.
Hope this helps! It worked for me.
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I have a new LCA on the way, but maybe I'll try this before I replace the whole thing... I know the front bolt was loose (1-2 turns) for quite some time (maybe 2-3k miles) after a duo of questionable alignments... My clunk was only when it was wet and only when stopping/starting; recently it has expanded to include any weight shift (front/back) in the wet and large bumps in the wet as well as faintly in the dry.
 
Anand said:
I have a new LCA on the way, but maybe I'll try this before I replace the whole thing... I know the front bolt was loose (1-2 turns) for quite some time (maybe 2-3k miles) after a duo of questionable alignments... My clunk was only when it was wet and only when stopping/starting; recently it has expanded to include any weight shift (front/back) in the wet and large bumps in the wet as well as faintly in the dry.
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i recently started experiencing this and ended up replacing both my LCA. my bushings were DONE and i only have 38k miles on my truck. the improvement in handling with the new dirt king LCAs is significant to say the least.
 
tm965 said:
i recently started experiencing this and ended up replacing both my LCA. my bushings were DONE and i only have 38k miles on my truck.
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Well that's exciting, I'm just shy of 36k currently. I'll reply to the post when I get it definitively solved
 
So last week I replaced the drivers side LCA with a new OEM arm (came assembled w/ the inner bushings and outer ball joint), as well as replaced the front sway bar and cleaned up the alignment cam hardware.

The truck felt better, and my very faint and intermittent clunking in dry conditions seems to be gone; I've put about 1,000 miles on it including a day of trails this weekend, and heard a faint clunk but assumed it was just other off-roading related clunks from the truck.

Got home Sunday and hit the DIY Pay'n'Spray car wash to hose off all the mud. In doing so I spent maybe 3-4 minutes blasting the entire front suspension with water, and the drive home was silent.

Today it was raining/misting, and for the first 10-12 minutes of my drive it was still silent, but then it returned. It seems to be not quite as bad as before, but still audible and you can feel it. Still feels like it is coming from the driver's front suspension area.

We did notice that the ball joint boots were torn on the UCA's, so maybe it's from water intruding into the ball joint when it's raining (or driving in the rain) and causing the clunk but then the joint returns to normal operation once it dries out??? I've got a set of new ball joint boots awaiting an evening with a free lift. If that doesn't solve it I think my next step is to order a whole new set of UCA's just to rule them out completely.

I've got about 2.5 weeks to go before we leave for a 8 day trip down to GA for the GA Traverse, and I'd much rather have this solved before then.
 
Mr. Weber said:
I have a 2008 SR5. The clunking sound coming from my front end turned out to be due to the front stabilizer bushings. The sway bar is supposed to twist while seated in the rubber bushings but I think the rubber became less supple and was gripping the bar too much and allowing the bar to smoothly twist in the mount. When it finally did give, it made a clunking sound. I replaced the bushings with new ones but probably could have just taken it apart and put some silicone grease between the bar and the bushing and solved the problem. Easy cheap fix. FYI the bushing bracket clamps are marked left and right.
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I have 30mm bars up front not sure about the rear. Do you remember which bushings you got?
 
raising an old thread...

but i had similar sounds. REALLY bad creaking and popping sounds. I couldnt figure it out for the life of me. I grease the crap out of my UCA bushes and sway bar. WOuldn't go away. I just put in new coilovers too so it wasnt my old coilovers.

It was the cam bolts. They were torqued WAY under 100#s. I set my torque wrench to 100#s and i had to give it a few good turns to finally hit 100#s. The front bolts were eh... maybe 80#s, but the rear bolts were SUPER lose. I had to turn those a bunch. Sounds 100% GONE! phew.

So I have the Firestone lifetime alignment. I know, you get what you pay for... but I get alignments often and didnt want to pay each time. :(

Lesson: kinda gotta watch out for the work at Firestones. I'm going to be VERY specific with them in the future and specify for them to double check the torque specs.
 
Rookie question as I know nothing about alignment and still learning about suspensions: will adjusting the torque on the cam bolts mess with the alignment? I've been having much of the same issue as many others with front end popping/creaking. Would like to give this a go if they are under-torqued.
 
rhadam said:
Rookie question as I know nothing about alignment and still learning about suspensions: will adjusting the torque on the cam bolts mess with the alignment? I've been having much of the same issue as many others with front end popping/creaking. Would like to give this a go if they are under-torqued.
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It shouldn't move. Just mark it with a paint pen before you torque the bolt to make sure the cams didn't move.
 
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