Fink

I know this is long but I really need some advice on this, I'm kind of stuck as to what is going on and it's really starting to bug the crap out of me. Thanks.

Here is what's going on. A long time ago, my 4runner started having a clank coming from the rear anytime I would hit a speed bump or something similar. I left it alone cause it didn't bother me very much and everything was working fine.

Recently, within the past few weeks I have noticed a new, louder more obnoxious noise coming from the rear.

Anytime I would drive between 10-20mph and coast, I would hear a very repetative metal-on-metal buzzing/clanking/clunking. It's hard to describe. Now this noise would happen whether I was on smooth pavement or bad pavement...didn't matter, nothing was worse, nothing was better.

I originally thought it had something to do with my rollbar, since that was the most recent thing I had changed. I did all kinds of tests and things to silence it and then finally realized there is no way the rollbar could make this kind of noise.

After further investigation I resorted to me, in the garage, with a worklight and a rubber mallet at 2 in the morning, lol.

I started bangin on things (rear axle, panhard bar, trailer hitch, bumper, super soft bump stops, etc.), nothing. But then I hit the top of right rear wheel fairly hard and voila. The same type of noise that I had been hearing on the road, I hit it again...same thing. Obviously, it wasn't as loud as it had been on the road but it was the same kind of noise. After further investigation I found that it is coming from somewhere behind the wheel but before the axle, (i.e., brake drum). Actually, my buddy Anthony (ADH8796) figured that out, lol. So...I resort to taking it to the dealer to have them give me their opinion about it.

Long story short, well...kind of. We have two issues here, and here they are:

PROBLEM #1 - Clank in rear when hitting speed bumps or similarly sized bumps

Possible cause - Rear coils could have been installed wrong. We notice that there is possibly a small height difference in the two coils. We notice this because the top coils of each spring have different spacing.

Possible fix #1 - Swap coils and see if that does it. This is under the assumption that they could have possibly been installed wrong and the driver side coil (supposed to be longer due to the weight of the gas tank) was put on the passenger side and the passenger side coil was put on the driver side.

Possible fix #2 - If the above does not solve it, get a new coil for whichever side the "short" coil is on at this point and replace it to see if that works.

PROBLEM #2 - Loud metal-on-metal repetative clanking/clunking, similar to buzz or rattle.

Possible cause - A wheel bearing that is on it's way out. We are assuming this option because there is some play in the wheel and three of the lead techs at my local dealership think that for one, I do have a bad wheel bearing and two, that this could cause the noise described above. Another reason this might be a legit reason is that the noise is not coming from BOTH wheels, only one. This could possibly be due to the fact that I have already had my driver side wheel bearing replaced not too long ago (3-4 months).

Possible fix - Replace passenger side wheel bearing if for no other reason than to have peace of mind in knowing, one, it won't go out on me for another 130k or so. But mainly because this could be the root of the noise.

Given those situations and information, could somebody, anybody give me some guidance on this? I don't want to drop all kinds of money into this if it's not going to solve my problem.

If anybody has experienced this before, has an idea of what else it could be, whether or not a wheel bearing on it's way out could make a noise as described, etc...

Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it!

Fink

KyleT

usually the coil on the drivers side is taller to account for the weight of the gas tank.

Fink

Right...that is what I am hoping happened. The coils were not marked in any way when I received them so the guys at the shop may not have thought about it, as it was a dealership and not a 4x4 place.

Fink

Fink

Bump...anybody?

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MudHippy

Man I tell ya, replacin' them bearings can be rough on your own, if you don't got some of kind press or puller of some sort. Can be done with hand tools if your good. I did it. ANY play=NO way, sooner done the better.

Fink

Yeah I'll end up getting them done at my dealer when the time comes.

My main concern right now is whether or not a bearing on its way out could be causing the noise I am talking about.

Thanks for the input man!

Fink

rimpainter.com

Usually when wheel bearings go it's more of a constant droaning sound vs a clank. With the wheel bolts on and the side jacked up, is there any play when you push and pull on the tire/wheel at 9 and 3 o'clock and 12 and 6 o'clock? It can also be easier to test if you pull the wheel off and do the same test on the drum.

Fink

96,

Yes there is. That is how we first found it. The noise that I brought it in for was being made by hitting the top the wheel, doing this would cause a metal-on-metal clank. We jacked up the rear and we found out there was some play in it by pushing/pulling the wheel itself.

Still wondering what might be causing the noise. I'm going over to ADH8796's place tomorrow to do some stuff with my coils so we will check it out some more.

Any other ideas would be great!

Thanks,

Fink

TRDatVT

Check your universal joints closest to the pinion... They tend to make a rattling/metal-metal noise when they go bad. Just did one yesterday on a 93 toy pickup and man that bia was seized up like you wouldnt believe and thats the sound it made!

Fink

I guess I don't know what a universal joint is. Is this something I can check on my own without any knowledge of it?

Thanks for the idea man!

Well since nobody is chiming in I am going to assume that nobody else has had this problem. I am going to take the Runner in this week to get the wheel bearing replaced since that will need to be done sometime soon anyway and if the noise goes away then great if not...that's gonna suck, lol.

Fink

Fink

Alright well...I got the wheel bearing replaced this morning. Took the guys about 2 hours or so.

Knock on wood...I haven't heard the noise that I was hearing but it's been too cold to roll the windows down, I used to be able to hear it at times with the windows up...cross your fingers.

If this solved that noise I would be absolutely thrilled...if not...it'll be more diagnosis.

As far as the coils go, Anthony (ADH8796) and I are hopefully gonna tear into those tomorrow night, unless we actually get the snow we're supposed to then we'll probably postpone.

Anywho, just wanted to update this thing and give it a bump.

If anybody has any idea what might be causing a loud repetative metal-on-metal clank in the rear only when going about 10-20mph and more exaggerated around corners let me know!

Fink

MudHippy

I believe he was talkin' about your carrier bearings (inside your 3rd member), not sure of what "universal" he means on your axle(aren't any I know of), if one is worn or somethin' it might make a chattering ,loose bearing type noise. Worse on corners, probably. Check your spring bushings,too, if you ain't gotter worked out yet. Wait , he means the universal joint on your driveshaft, closest to your rear axle. You can do those pretty easy, and cheap, 'course you gotta be good, without a press. I can do these ,too, without one. If you twist my arm I'll tell ya how.

rimpainter.com

How much to get the bearing replaced? The dealer quoted me $700 here.

MudHippy

GOOD GOD!, the bearing is around $50 for the part. You do the math on that labor. Is alotta labor, though. Drain axle, pull brake lines, remove axle and bearing from brake assembly, install new bearing, reinstall axle and bearing to brake assembly and install back into axle housing, connect lines and bleed brakes, refill axle oil. Unless I forgot something. Sorry 'bout callin' on the lord there, no offense meant.

Fink

Well...I'd rather not say because they give me a pretty good discount. But for a full price service that seems a bit high. Full price labor here is $85/hr., if that were the case where you are then it would come out to something like 8.2 hrs...thats a hella long time to replace a bearing.

I would say don't spend more than maybe $500...but thats just a guess.

Fink

rimpainter.com

Just to clarify the $700 was to replace the brake shoes and inner axle seal as well (big whoop huh?) on one side. They said they would not let the vehicle leave the lot without new rear shoes since they were soaked in gear oil. This is back when I thought I had a bad wheel bearing (which I guess I still might).

Long story short: I replaced both axle seals, the shoes, and did a brake adjustment myself for under $60 (the dealer wanted $1000 for all that).

Fink

They don't just replace the bearing man, they replace a lot of stuff:

As per my service invoice (estimated full prices):

Seal, Type K Oil - ~$8
Seal, Type S Oil - ~$9
Bearing, Bal, 40, 90 - ~$60
Retainer, RR Axle - ~$18
Rotor, Skid Contr - ~$50

Approx Price for parts: $145
Approx price for labor: $425

TOTAL = $570

Fink

Fink

Luckily my brake shoes were fine...nothing had started to leak yet.

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MudHippy

You might, if that bearings' seal let any of that gear oil in, it would dilute it's lubricant(grease), leading to failure, eventualy.

Fink

The reason I went ahead and did it now was because I caught it before the seal had gone...I just noticed some play in it and the guys at the dealer verified it for me. So no grease problems thankfully.

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