Hello,
So im new to YOTATECH so im not entirely sure if a solution was posted on similar threads.
My 1988 toyota pickup excab dlx 4x4 is starting to clunk on the drivers side when wheel is turned and the wheel is traveling upwards. This clunking is most defined when i am making a sharp right turn and hit a moderate bump. This noise is felt through floor board and makes a god awful sounding clunk.

Front end components i have replaced PRIOR to clunking noise:
Ball joints- all(uppers+lowers on both sides)
Shocks-(bilstien 4600s)
TieRods+adjusting sleeves(inner+outer both sides of centerlink)
Pitman arm
Idlerarm
CVs(both sides)
Rotors

I have completely services the entire hub assembly, wheel bearings inspected for scarring or damage(and repacked with grease), hub assembly cleaned and re greased, aisin hubs restored and properly greased.
To add, I am a toque spec freak so every single bolt removed will be, and has been torqued to manufacture spec

NOTE: This truck has 355k miles and is family heirloom so i know all the maintenance records. All repairs I have made are very recent less than 10k miles.

Clunk Present after replacing:
OME steering dampener
Brakes

*****the bottom of fender to top of 15 inch wheel rim reads to around 14 inches on both driver and passenger side (in case yall were wondering about a torsion bar adjustment, I have made sure they are within spec[well personal spec]).****

My suspicions:
Control arm bushings- no noticeable movement when truck is lifted.
Steering columm??? Took a good shake to that as well and absolutely no movement.

AGAIN: Clunking noise has been present for a few months(<4000 miles)

Hope this helps, look forward to seeing responses. Truck is my restoration project to return it to its former glory, and as much as i should care less about old vehicle clunks and noises the perfectionist in me really wants the best for the ol girl.

 

could be the steering stop on the backing plate hitting the control arm. why it would do that only after having done the front end work and not before, i don't know. perhaps with your new adjustments it's now able to do so.

control arm bushings going bad would clunk even without turning. i just replaced the ones on my suby a few months ago. i thought something was gonna fall off every time i hit any bump straight on or turning. but, after 355k it wouldn't hurt to get a really good a look at yours, anyway

 

oh, and are all joints on the relay rod in good shape?

 

Yeah. I grease them ever so often. I'd say 2-3 times a year I go over all fittings with grease. Ball joints and cvs are less than a year old and I barely even off-road. The rest of the front end replacement, such as tierods idler, pitman, and steering dampener are brand new probably less than 2k miles on them

 

you grease what? the steering stops or the relay rod points?

i wonder if someone didn't pooch a bushing during the alignment. i know you'd checked for movement, but maybe checking by hand is not strong enough to replicate movement. just throwing out a possibility.

otherwise, you sure your shocks a good and tight? what about the stabilizer/sway bar?

 

I just checked the steering stops. The caps are either missing or near destroyed. I'm going to start with that now. Definite scarring on the lower control arm. I am now near positive that's what it is. I'm just gonna slab some grease on the stops and replace caps and see if it makes a difference.

 

well, alright! report back, eh

 

My truck does this on occasion - on mine I'm 80% sure it's the LCA bushing as I've already gone through everything else like you have. Have been putting it off for like 2 years but I haven't really been driving it much either. Good luck!
Edit: FYI there used to be an eBay seller who sold an "upgrade" version of those steering stop caps. They're thicker.

 

I bought a set of them from the dealer and tossed them on and gave a nice layer of grease on the lca side. I drove it a bit and didn't hear anything so im hoping (fingers crossed) thats it. I know the dealer ones are brittle so If the noise goes away ill just order the thicker ones. Keep y'all posted still i am really hoping the noise goes away or else i am gonna go nuts!!!

 

welp, the noise still exists. The steering lock caps did help stop the god awful metal on metal noise. But my "clunk", "pop", "thunk" still exists. I took the truck on some trails a few days back and it really only made the clunk when the suspension bottomed out or topped out. I'd feel the suspension reach its limit then (only on random occurances) would feel this pop. I paid attention to when it would happen and saw that it may even happen when wheels are straight. Again I am very sure the clunk feeling is driver side only.
ive read that torsion bars on occasion have been known to make noise.
Pretty stumped at this point. would a worn centerlink cause this?

 

i assume by centerlink you mean the relay rod?

and, did you check the control arm really well? what i do is jack the vehicle up, then jack the control arm a hair to get some of the tension off. then, use a large pry bar in whatever way you can get in there with it and get leverage and see if there's any play....up/down or side/side. for my toyota, anyway, after i'd wrecked it. otoh, i really couldn't tell my suby CA bushings were bad until i had the struts off.

 

yes, relay rod. ill recheck my control arms. I shouldn't fret about it too much at the moment. I'm moving from LA to Dallas in a month or so then the old truck will be shop kept and I'll tear into it more. it's just bugging me NOW because I'm chasing it so hard hahaha. I'll try to keep updates if anything changes or whatever. With 350k I would expect most bushings I haven't replaced yet to be toast...

 

Any news?

I hate to bump a month old thread but my 92 Runner does the same thing, and I've rebuilt near everything in the front over the last few years, like you have.

I can't figure it out! It just thumps when wheeling, drivers side only, any time the front bounces up and down more than usual.

 

Old sway bar bushings and end links have made horrible clunking on high-mileage cars i have owned.

 

so far still no good. I still haven't found my solution. I threw the steering stop caps on, and (for other reasons) got new lug nuts. Still nothing. I'm fairly sure I'm bottoming out on hard turns, so I've been taking it easier and so far so good. I will add that my torsion bars were cranked for a few years til I dropped em, maybe the springs are worn. Will most likely upgrade to OME torsion bars to match my upcoming OME leafs. I'll try to remember to post here when I end up doing the upgrade

 

Mine did that when the cv axle was going out.