Well... my 4Runner was hit in the rear while parked about a month and a half ago, because of that the axle housing and lower links were replaced.

Now that I've been driving it for about a week I've noticed that upon braking (drifting to a stop doesn't produce the same result) there is a clunk from the mid to rear underside of the vehicle. I searched a few different things and the possible culprits seem to range from rear brakes to u-joints. Does anyone have any ideas as to what it may be? It could be entirely unrelated to the recent work that was done, I just have my suspicions.

Also... Monday morning I have a 6:30 flight them I'm gone for a week, I'm hoping to drop this off to the shop the work was done at and just ask them to fix it in the time I'm gone. To those of you more knowledgeable with insurance, is this something insurance would pick up without a fight (assuming it stems from the accident) or am I going to get shafted?

Thanks.

 

did you check the spare tire mount? if its mounted under the truck, ill bet you thats your noise. mine did the same thing, checked the spare, and it was jumpin around bangin stuff.

 

I'll check that first thing tomorrow, hopefully it's something as simple as that. Thanks

 

not a prob hope it helps

 

Might be a broken shock (broke where it mounts up top). Maybe when you were rear ended it sheared the bolt off. This happened to a friend of mine, couldn't ever figure out where the clunking noise was until he put on a new set of shocks and springs.

 

Clunk when braking often is a result of a driveshaft in need of lube.

 

yea id say driveshaft or u-joint is a good bet. Just do a quick inspection to be sure though, check the obvious things- shocks, shock mounts, shackles, spare tire, and check the mounts for the transmission/transfercase and make sure they arent broken.

 

I had the same clunk but mine was a pain to find. I had replaced shocks and ujoints had no play and drive shaft was well lubed...

It was the damn pan-hard rod bushing(the one on the axle.) was dry and it made a clunk when I braked hard. I unbolted it and gave it a bath of silicone lubricant and that was that!

 

Thanks again to everyone who replied, unfortunately the sound/feeling wasn't the due to the spare tire being loose. I'm leaving tomorrow am and dropping the 4Runner off at the shop that was supposed to have fixed it after the accident. Thank you for giving me a place to start...

Btw... the sound seems to be dependent on temperature, today for the first time in a long time it was about 50 or so degrees (F) and there was no clunking, but this morning when it was about 30 degrees (F) the clunking was there. It doesn't seem to matter if the vehicle has been driven for a while or not, it's been happening when the outside temp is lower regardless of whether or not I've driven all day or not.

Thanks again everyone.