Suspension clunk?

[Bskelton]

Guys, before and after installing my ToyTec lift my suspension exhibits a clunk when going over a decent bump. It makes the same sound front and rear. Like something is separating and coming back together. I tightened everything I could during the lift but still have the clunk. I replaced the daystar 2.5/1.5 with ToyTec front and rear with new bilstiens. Is this a normal occurance (doesn't seem like it should be)? Has anyone else dealt with this and what was the cause? In the short future I will be doing ball joint and say bar links and bushings hoping to cure this. Thanks for your help guys.

 

[aha2988]

what kind of clunk? and you say front and rear?

 

[Bskelton]

The best I can describe it would be as if the lower shock bushing was oversized from the bolt allowing it to travel up and down a small amount. It feels like a heavy clunk and does it on the front and rear. Not always together and right at the moment you hit a bump I can hear and feel the clunk. I crawled underneath and cannot find anything loose. It sounds like metal to metal. Motor mounts and tranny mounts are all good.

 

[Mytoy4]

I'm actually experiencing this as well. I too have Toytec. I notice mine when I back straight out of my driveway. The end of my drive is not level with the street, so it's a pretty sharp bump.
If I go down at an angle and very slow I don't get it. I thought maybe it was my tires hitting the curb wrong, but now that Bskelton is bringing this up, I too wonder if there is a problem.

 

[superman3043]

Um, I actually get this too on my front. Doesn't always happen, but sometimes when I go over speed bumps at slow speed and the first corner drops off (going over at an angle), I get a clunk or thump. It almost sounds like my shock is bottoming out, but I sure hope that's not the case since I have extended travel shocks. It's hasn't really concerned me enough to investigate, but I've definitely noticed it. If I get a chance to fool around with it and find the cause, I'll report back to this thread. But I didn't want you guys to think you were alone.

 

[Red]

Mine does the same thing and I am pretty sure it's my shock over extending because I have my air bags over-inflated.

I noticed the other day going over a speedbump a bit quicker than normal and my right rear suspension made a clunk sound just after going over the speedbump.

It's not surprising for my suspension set up to make this sound so I'm not sure why you guys with the Toytec lifts are experiencing this.

Do you all have the same lifts with 5100's?

 

[Mytoy4]

I have 5100s on mine.

 

[Bskelton]

Yes I have the 5100's as well. But I had this going on before I even had the ToyTec lift put on with my stock suspension with spacers?

 

[Bskelton]

Could it be possible that the sway bars are what is causing this noise? To my knowledge neither the bushings or the end links have ever been changed. I have read various opinions on removing the sway bars all together and am a little hesitant to remove them, but I may temporarily to see if the noise stops.

 

[superman3043]

Could it be possible that the sway bars are what is causing this noise? To my knowledge neither the bushings or the end links have ever been changed. I have read various opinions on removing the sway bars all together and am a little hesitant to remove them, but I may temporarily to see if the noise stops.

Good thought, but I'll go ahead and shoot that theory down right now. I'm running without a front sway bar... I see where you're coming from though.

Maybe the UCA slapping the inside of the tire at full droop?

 

[03L4RUNNER]

Good thought, but I'll go ahead and shoot that theory down right now. I'm running without a front sway bar... I see where you're coming from though.

Maybe the UCA slapping the inside of the tire at full droop?

Might be your case but most do not run without their sway bar. My money is the sway bar end links are loose where they attach to the strut.

Mine were after my lift settled and one of my buddies did the same thing, tightened them up and no more clunk

 

[superman3043]

Might be your case but most do not run without their sway bar. My money is the sway bar end links are loose where they attach to the strut.

Mine were after my lift settled and one of my buddies did the same thing, tightened them up and no more clunk

Ok then, I'll agree with what you're saying there. Could definitely be worth investigating.

My case is quite unique as I've got a very minimal gap between my wide tire and UCA... especially depending on how the side lugs line up with the arm, so yeah... Good points!

 

[Bskelton]

Okay, so against my better judgement I removed the front and rear sway bar just to eliminate those. I removed the front first and went for a test drive. The noise from the front was gone. Still noise in the rear, so I took the rear off as well. The noise from the rear is all but gone with a similar type of clunk but it is not the same noise as it is lighter and sounds like something bouncing around somewhere, not as concerning as it doesn't do it every time I hit a bump. I believe that my noise was coming from both of my sway bars. They were not loose in the sense that you could tighten the nut down but my guess is that the end links and bushing are just worn out to allow slop with 120k miles on them. I probably won't run without them once I get new bushings and end links. Surprisingly the body roll is not that bad without them, although I did not do any high speeds where I assume it would be exaggerated.

 

[superman3043]

Okay, so against my better judgement I removed the front and rear sway bar just to eliminate those. I removed the front first and went for a test drive. The noise from the front was gone. Still noise in the rear, so I took the rear off as well. The noise from the rear is all but gone with a similar type of clunk but it is not the same noise as it is lighter and sounds like something bouncing around somewhere, not as concerning as it doesn't do it every time I hit a bump. I believe that my noise was coming from both of my sway bars. They were not loose in the sense that you could tighten the nut down but my guess is that the end links and bushing are just worn out to allow slop with 120k miles on them. I probably won't run without them once I get new bushings and end links. Surprisingly the body roll is not that bad without them, although I did not do any high speeds where I assume it would be exaggerated.

I'm so glad that, even though you originally posed the question, you aren't opposed to investigating and experimenting to try to troubleshoot the issue yourself. Too many times, I read questions here that folks could probably easily solve themselves if they went outside and looked at the truck and/or spun a wrench. Good on ya man! Glad you got it figured out.

But yeah, if you've ever driven an older car, I'd say that you'd know how to drive without a sway bar. I just got back from the mountains and I can say that I don't really miss mine all that much. The only "sketchy" moments are at high speeds around a curve and the suspension is loaded on one side and then the road curves in the opposite direction, so it goes from full roll to full roll like ship, but it's manageable. I've thrown mine into pretty aggressive maneuvers testing it out and have never felt like I was putting myself at risk.

 

[Bskelton]

Thanks for the kudos superman. I am really just too impatient when it comes to stuff like this. I think about it for a couple minutes then go tinker, think, then tinker. I enjoy working on stuff I just hate turning wrenches. I am gonna run with the sway bars for a while and see what I think. I will give an opinion after about a week or so to whether they will go back on or not. I appreciate your guys help and for responding so quick!

 

[superman3043]

Yeah, do keep us posted, especially if you're going without front and rear. I can live without the front but I don't think I'd be interested in removing my rear. Maybe some new end links but definitely not gonna ditch it totally. The amount of body roll I have now is tolerable but not really ideal for me. I liked the flat turns, it's just a compromise I was willing to make for thebenifits that I gained from it.

 

[ARK_SWAMP_RIDER]

I had a similar clunk in the front, was the sway bar end links. They were tight, but not tight enough. I was able to reproduce mine just by cycling pushing on the bumper.

Also, I see you're from NW Arkansas, you should check out the Ozarks section. Several of us (mostly central AR) are trying to get local meetups planned.
Ozarks - Toyota 4Runner Forum