Ok, so odd noises from front end of my 92 Xcab 3.0... OME front shocks and stabilizer, newish steering arms, torsion bar and connectors, etc. Problem started with a "clunk" which would occur on left side, when hit bump ... but only sometimes. Often would feel a thunk through floor pan in front of left foot. Didn't occur at high speed. Then started on both sides. Now mostly occurs on right side - again mostly at low speed. Jacked the front end yesterday, tires are tight, no wobble or play, steering linkage fine, stabilizer fine, etc. Any bright ideas?

 

Mine do that too!!!! But i can't figure out what it is??

 

OK, I guess that means I am not [completely] nuts. Other things I thought of were loose hoses under skidpan (nope), worn out bumpers (no?), bad shocks (no, new), something banging on my Sonoran Steel IFS truss (no), bad cv boots (no)....

 

Bump....

...oh, and if you figure this out I'll buy you a pony...or something...

 

had the same thing on my 97. the inner cv boots we torn and they had thrown out all the grease. it has since gone away, but i'm still replacing the entire halfshaft on both sides.

 

Was thinking about something like that but don't see any grease leak

 

I had this happen on my 95 4Runner. Turned out that the bushings around the sway bar were worn out where it's attached to the frame. When I'd go over bumps, the sway bar would whack the frame. I've also had this problem with the a-arm bushings when they get shot.

 

Oooh, I like the sound of that (less expensive too!). The sway bar bushings are new ... but I will go check them again, as well as the a-arms...

 

Check your body mounts, I have seen this a few times. The front left mount might need a little bump to snug it up. If it works I want a pony named George...... yea, George the pony.

 

Almost certainly a bushing somewhere...the problem is finding which one or ones.

 

If you haven't had the steering recall work performed - you should take it in for that.. If it's not any of the linkage they replace - I'll bet the stealership will more than happy to point out anything that should be replaced cuz it is noisy.

 

I had the steering work done, and then some -- and just checked linkage and all seems OK (except for the perpetually leaky PS pump). I like the idea of body mount or bushing, since it means the front end won't fall off.

George the pony may be on the way, we'll see.

 

mine was doing something similar.

turns out:
1. torsion bars on toyotas clunk sometimes. (don't if it's true, but I was told this)
2. Ball joints were shot. replaced then and it got better
3. idler arm and pitman are were toast, idler replaced got even better, still can get the damn pitman arm off. and even if i get it off, i have no idea how to get it back on.

If anyone has a good way of getting the pitman arm off and back on, please shed your insight! I was thinking of a torch

 

double check the sway bar bushings... if they did not have any lube on them the sway bar itself can be warn down where the bushings connect to the frame, no lube = friction=warn down metal spot.
also try grabbing the front cv shafts and shaking the heck out of them and watch the back of the hub where they go into the spindle. if they shake or move either you have a loose bolt/snap ring in the hub/cv end assembly OR the brass bushings in the spindles where the cv shaft end goes through are warn down.
but i hope it is not the brass bushings (for your sake)

 

X3 on your sway bar bushings. They can clunk and the sound, I swear, travels from one side of the truck to the other. Always replace them in pairs here

 

Checked everything again tonight. Only thing I can find is a bit of wobble at the outer ends of the half shafts/CV when I shake the shafts (as suggested by Infinity) ... somehow missed this before. The sway bar and bushings were all replaced last year and seem fine.
So thinking it is the hub/CV assembly...

 

Fixed...
...turns out it was a combination of a bad shock bushing (minor) and completely fried front disc brakes (which I was planning on doing anyhow). With those fixed --> noise all gone.
...Best part was I took it to dealership to take a look at half axles, etc, and they a) said all that was fine and b) didn't try to charge me to fix them! (They are a pretty trustworthy bunch)

 

Lucky guy. My dealer would probibly try and tell me my truck might blow up if I dont get them to replace the cv's.

 

Yup. Don't I know it!

 

huh im getting a slight clunk i was thinking maybe the torsion bars are hiting the body cause it looks like the cab mounts are shot
any idea if the cab mounts are the same on an 86 4x4
oh and btw my daily driver is a 90