Steve92yota

I wheel my truck almost every weekend. Never had any issues besides bending/breaking idler arms so I bought the total chaos one. After a recent 4x4 run my truck was making some disturbing noises in the front end when I would turn. It would make a kind if thud/ping sound. I jacked it up and checked everything, found my idler arm bolts were loose. Tightened it, it was better but still made noise when I hit bumps on the road and steering sometimes. It also will squeak when turning. I can't figure it out. Wheel bearings? Any suggestions?

Steve92yota

Only on passenger side, and my woman says she can feel it in the floor. I have a trip to the desert planned this weekend and need to figure it out ASAP.

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

i would check everything you can, high speed desert stuff will not be very forgiving if something's compromised already. if you've already checked everything, then i dunno what else to check. is the rest of your IFS parts replaced when you did the TC, or original parts? repacking bearings won't hurt either way and is good PM especially if it's been a while.

since you mention it happens usually when turning, i'd inspect parts involved with the steering like tie rods, center link, even your ball joints. control arm bushings will be harder to diagnose i think. not knowing how old the parts are on your rig, i would say having backups on-hand is a good thing to carry around (like tie rod ends, BJs, CV joints) or just outright replace everything if you're really beating on the rig because it will definitely make parts sloppy.

lastly, if you're really beating on your IFS like it sounds since you needed a TC idler - then you might want to get a lifetime alignment from a good Firestone shop, and take it in after every wheeling trip or at least twice a year to get a 2nd opinion of what's wearing out from someone who tweaks suspensions every day.


Also, do you have ADD on your rig? ADD keeps the passenger side CV active all the time, so could be CV related on that side

maachine

i had a loose shock mount that did the same thing. when i cranked the wheel a certain direction it'd thump. it'd also make noise when i hit bumps. so that is something else to check.

Steve92yota

I don't do high speed anymore unless it's on the main roads. I'm going out to truck haven. I've done ball joints and outer tie rod ends. I have my 84 axle waiting to sas so I don't want to tear it all the way down. I'm going to inspect it all tonight and probably do wheel bearing this week some time. Ill check my steering again I guess. I really hate IFS, with a passion. I wish the SAS swap wasn't so costly.

Steve92yota

Building the axle first then going to swap it in. Hopefully it will be done in a few months. As of now just waiting on money.

Steve92yota

Forgot to mention that I have also broken both sides of CV's before and it doesn't seem like a CV to me...

vasinvictor

iTrader: (3)

Crawl under it and have somebody bounce on it. I'd say possibly a shock mount. Upper or lower. If the lower is loose, it won't necessarily appear to be loose. Upper should be a bit more obvious.

Steve92yota

ok. its tough to get time to work on it though because by the time i get home its dark and our toy hauler is in the way of the shop right now, which has another project in it anyways.

maachine

does it get louder or anything as you go faster?

Steve92yota

No. I took apart my hub and tightened the wheel bearing which had slop in it. It's better, but there's still some messed up sounds and I'm like 95% sure it's steering issues.

Cyberman

Does the sound follow the rotation of the wheel, or does it follow the steering?

Did you look at the wheel bearings, or just tighten down the hub nut?

I remember having an inner bearing go, so you might want to pull the hub if you haven't.

Steve92yota

pulled both hubs, checked bearings and regreased. they looked good, and dont have that many miles on them.
The sound comes from passender side only. and happens when i hit a bump at low speeds like pulling into the driveway at work and home and worse while hitting a bump while driving and turning. my steering minds up somewhere along the line and pops every once in a while. but the steering almost always creeks like an old barn door when i turn it slow. im really running out of ideas, ive replaced so much on this truck, and its thing after thing. the IFS just doest not hold up to the abuse i put it through i guess.

Steve92yota

but i NEED the ifs to work for me for atleast another 3-5 months before i am ready for my SAS

Cyberman

I had something similar when I was ifs. Loose control arm or bad bushing?

Just wait till you SAS. I'm still not used to the leafs sliding and making noises and thumping when I turn.

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

after your last description of the problem, my guess is your control arm bushings are the issue. my truck started making noise after a wheeling trip and i couldn't figure it out either - the only thing i couldn't check without complete dis-assembly is the control arm bushings. mine's on the driver's side, only makes noise when hitting a bump w/tire turned at certain angles, and when coming to a complete stop sometimes but not all the time. i even took it in for an alignment and the guy didn't find any slop in my steering parts, so last resort is the "dreaded" IFS bushing repair since it's not a simple task i guess.

BTW, when you're ready for a SAS I might be interested in that TC idler, so keep me in mind please

Steve92yota

That thing is sold already and it's months from coming off of the truck haha. Friend of mine is trading some fab work for it. I'm wondering if that bushing is the issue considering they squeak like a chihuahua getting sat on. If its that, I'm not even gonna mess with it, the SAS will be my "fix" to that. Although I just bought brand new 31's :/ what could the creeky steering be?

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

creeky steering could be dry contact points. since the OEM joints are non-greasable with sealed boots, that would be my guess. aftermarket stuff usually has a tapped hole for a zerk, but the OEM doesn't.

i wasn't going to worry about my bushings either since i hardly drive my truck anymore except to haul or wheel. if they completely fail, the bolt holding it together isn't really going to fail - it'll still get me home i'd think, just with severely sloppy steering

Steve92yota

That's what I'm saying haha. Ill check my control arm bolts after I finish up a bumper tomorrow.

houston

I had an issue identical to yours, it was the bolt on the lower control arm that connects to the ball joint at the upright, the castle nut wasn't tight enough and caused a noise/bang on the passenger floor