I have a 92 Toyota 4x4 extended cab pickup with a 3.0 motor. When my truck tweenks or twists or I turn a tight corner I hear and incredible popping and growling noise. I have replaced everything underneath except the half shafts and torsion bars and I still have it. I often feel the popping in the seat and not in the steering but not always. I have looked for torsion bar rebuild kits and all I have found is the bars and bolts. I'm at a loss. The kid I bought the truck rodded the crap out of it and the entire under carriage was beyond shot, more like destroyed. I found the torsion bolts screwed all the way up and when I replaced the shocks I back the bolts off, still loud popping. Any help here is appreciated. Thanks

Jay

 

Just wanted to comment and say that I bought a 92 Pickup last week and have noticed the same phenomenon. So it's not just yours. I'm also curious if anyone can identify this issue.

 

Its probably your turn stops. They wear through the plastic caps, or they fall off. Put a few globs of grease on them every now and then and I bet you wont hear it any more.

 

So, here is the deal, Toyota trucks with independent front suspension have steering stops with little plastic caps on them. when the plastic wears through you get metal to metal contact when you are turning at full lock. if you then hit any kind of a bump you will get an outrageous screeching/popping noise. it is kind of like when you go to the doctor and say "it hurts when I do this" and he says "then don't do that". you should replace the plastic caps (I would put a little grease inside and out to help them last a little longer) and avoid turning hard over. The steering stop caps go on pretty easy with a socket and a hammer, turn steering left, socket over cap, lined up on the stop for left wheel front stop and a pop with the hammer, repeat for right wheel rear stop, turn wheel right, repeat for right front and left rear steering stops and you're done (4 total).