Suspension noise

T

theliman

Member
Installed the lift in my signature this weekend. Got an alignment today.

Finally hit the highway this afternoon and had some steering wheel vibration at about 60mph - not sure if this happens with new tires or if it could mean something about the alignment.

More importantly, while driving about 45 and over a very light dip, I heard a very loud noise from the front left. After reading Spidertrax horror stories I was afraid my wheel was about to fall off, and it was so clear of a noise that I looked behind me to see if anything had dropped out.

Anyway, I drove to my destination and checked the suspension as best I could on both sides, couldn't see anything off. Any ideas for what this could have been? Has anyone had some loud noises as their suspension settled in? Kind of gave me a little scare, mainly since I did it myself so I don't have the protection of having paid someone (though I did have a shop do Spidertrax for that reason).

 
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Also, Discount Tire replaced my nice metal valve caps with the plastic black ones. When I asked them about it they said the metal can cause corrosion or that it in some way causes an issue with the TPMS. I liked the metal ones, they were easy to remove and looked nice. Anyone heard of an issue like they describe?
 
Hmm, double check all the nuts and bolts. Check the sway bar mount and links and make sure it's all connected.

Did you losen the lower control arm to replace the shocks? Are those bolts all tight? I would imagine they adjusted a few things to get re alignment in spec so maybe something was left loose?

Perhaps just a spare wrench fell out :) ?
 
Greydog said:
Perhaps just a spare wrench fell out :) ?
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Haha that's what I was hoping for but alas, I saw nothing on the road behind me.

Was only able to do a visual check - I'm not very handy and had help with the installation. I did check the sway bar mounts and everything else that I recognized us having removed for the installation. For now I'll probably just see if it happens again and not swerve around the interstate at 80 mph for a while.
 
Did you use Bilstein 5100's? If so, perhaps the clip under the lower spring perch wasn't seated and popped down to the next lowest setting?
 
Greydog said:
Did you use Bilstein 5100's? If so, perhaps the clip under the lower spring perch wasn't seated and popped down to the next lowest setting?
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If that happened you will see the difference in height while standing in front of the truck. Easy to check for!!
 
Relative to the valve stem caps: When I bought my "certified" 4runner with 67,000, one of the valve caps was corroded on & couldn't be removed. I did finally get it off with a tool BUT destroyed the valve (which meant replacement of the TPMS valve at $100) - Not sure how they could have certified it without checking tire pressure?!?!?!
You can prob. continue to use the metal ones if you check them regularly & use some type of lube on the threads.

I don't have any other suggestions aside from those above - just make sure everything in the suspension is tight.
 
nevada said:
can you describe the noise?
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Kind of like tension being released suddenly - like a pop? Almost like I would guess a spring would sound like if it suddenly decompressed. Checked tie rod ends, they're good too.

Can't remember for sure, but it might have been two pops in rapid succession.

 
What year FJ are the springs from? I've read that 2010 & newer fit with SOME grinding to be done on the front.
 
SSt4r said:
What year FJ are the springs from? I've read that 2010 & newer fit with SOME grinding to be done on the front.
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2013. They were a pain to get in (didn't realize at the time but I think we could have lowered the lower control arm further), but I believe what you've seen is referring to the shocks from the newer FJ's.
 
theliman said:
Also, Discount Tire replaced my nice metal valve caps with the plastic black ones. When I asked them about it they said the metal can cause corrosion or that it in some way causes an issue with the TPMS. I liked the metal ones, they were easy to remove and looked nice. Anyone heard of an issue like they describe?
Click to expand...

ive seen a lot of replacements due to seizing on the TPMS piece.
 
theliman said:
Kind of like tension being released suddenly - like a pop? Almost like I would guess a spring would sound like if it suddenly decompressed. Checked tie rod ends, they're good too.

Can't remember for sure, but it might have been two pops in rapid succession.

Click to expand...

Does this noise happen when you turn? If so you might have bad strut bearing plates also known as strut tops, strut mounts.. Dealer calls them strut tops. It sit s on top of the spring.
 
JoeChilll said:
Does this noise happen when you turn? If so you might have bad strut bearing plates also known as strut tops, strut mounts.. Dealer calls them strut tops. It sit s on top of the spring.
Click to expand...

Thanks, has only happened once and was during a very wide curve, probably negligible. Are you referring to the top-plate or the mount on the frame that the three bolts go into? Either way, everything looked fine there, but it was only a visual check by an untrained eye.
 
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