I just got the 3" revtek kit installed on my 2003 Tacoma and now when I hit bumps, holes, etc it makes a loud clunking noise. I was told it was because of the metal spacers hitting the metal coils. Is there a way to silence this? I was considering some NWOR front coil spring isolators. Is this a good idea?

 

there shouldn't be any movement there ... and definitely not enough movement to cause a loud clunking noise when you hit a bump ...

make sure everything is tightened down as much as possible, because in order to produce a "loud clunk" the spacer would have to have enough room to be slammed against the coil ... and that should not, at all, be the case - everything should fit together with no room or movement between.

 

not completly sure on the spacers..... but if its a 4x4 it might be binding of the cv halfshafts/joints spreading out... ot when the lift was instally the strut may not have been installed properly...

 

whatever it is, definitely go over the suspension and make sure everything looks alright and is seated correctly, mounted correctly, and tightened ... if you can, take a picture of the front coil area and post it here ... maybe we'll be better able to picture things, or to see what might be going on. i have the 3" revtek on my 4runner and know for sure that you should not be having any loud clunking between spacer and coil ... there should be no room for movement between any of those parts ...

 

Check to make sure that you have all of the bushings on the struts and it is tightened all the way. I left one out once somehow and it made a loud clunking sound.

 

Clunk Noise???

First and foremost make sure everything is tightened!!!

If you had an alignment done, make sure all those bolts are tightened. When I had my truck aligned after lifting, my suspension creaked everytime it was loaded/unloaded. I thought it was the coil/spacer too. But it turned out to be the lower control arm bolt being completely loose.

 

sounds l like maybe you left out the top bushing. or you put the top spacer in the wrong place.

http://www.revtek.com/docs/Toyota/INSTAL4R.PDF

 

Here are some pictures of the coil spacers. All of them in full size are located here:

http://community.webshots.com/user/03trdblack

 

Another one:

 

I don't understand how the coil spacer could be rattling with all the force of the coil pushing against it. It could be the top out spacer if those 3 bolts on the top aren't tightened down. Otherwise, like someone else mentioned, check the bushings in the bottom of the shocks where they bolt to the lower control arms.

 

It looks like the spacers are set right. Does it make the noise if you push up and down on the bumper?

 

The noise seems to occur as I hit a bump. Almost like when the springs are being compressed, not really when they come back down. I'll snoop around and feel out some of the bolts. Maybe I can find something.

 

well, as far as i can see from the pictures, everything looks in order ...

double check to make sure the lower strut mount is seated correctly ... make sure the top three nuts on the housing are tight ... double check all the balljoints and tie rods to make sure the nuts there are tight ...

 

I figured out what the noise was! On top of the strut, there was a rubber grommet that the mechanics didn't put back on (since I replaced the front struts with Bilsteins). The washer moves around freely and the strut doesn't have that cushion from that rubber grommet. We are going to get that grommet back on and see if that solves everything.

 

hmm ... I hope that solves it, but I have to admit ... a lot of us are running the Revtek kit without the rubber grommet. In the install, it says to throw that piece away ... so I know a lot of us have, and have not experienced the noise issue.

I hope it solves it for you though! I still have the rubber grommets, and I guess if I ever hear any loud clunking, I could easily try those back in there.

 

Here are some pictures of the top of the strut. As you can see, there is a space between the nut and the washer (as indicated by the colored lines).

 

One more:

 

that's interesting ... are you sure the nut doesn't tighten down any farther??? and are you sure that the spring is not compressed at all? i can't imagine what would be allowing that space ... because when the spring is decompressed completely, there is a lot of pressure/force there, and that nut keeps everything together ...

that damper rod should allow the nut to be tightened enough that there is no space between it and the top plate ...

 

I agree, but we tried our best to tighten that nut tighter, it wouldn't budge anymore. It was down as far as it could go. I think we are going to take the entire thing apart and see once and for all what the deal is.

 

probably a good idea, just to be safe. good luck! maybe the nut needs some grease/oil or something. as far as i understand, there is usually enough pressure between the top bolt and the strut top plate to keep things tight and quiet...