I've got a 91' 4Runner 22RE that's making a rattling and clunking sound. I wouldn't ask for help if it wasn't driving me completely nuts. It's a metal on metal sound coming from the front driver's side. Today I walked next to the car as my friend drove it on a bumpy road and could not hear the sound from the outside, but strangely, my friend could hear it clearly. I've raised the front and tugged at everything, but it all feels solid. I can't feel any play in the wheel or the CV axle. I just replaced the sway bar bushings and the front shock bushings with no improvement. Over the last year I put in new spindle axle bushings, wheel bearings, CV axle, front shocks, upper and lower control arms, tie rod ends, control arm...the works. The sound started as a clunk when going over larger bumps or braking hard, but now it's developed into a rattle in rough spots of the road and clunking with smaller bumps. It even rattles with the vibration of starting in first gear from a stop.

Symptoms:
- Rattling when starting in first gear from a stopped position (often)
- Rattling when going over rough pavement (almost always)
- Rattling or clunking when going over bumps or potholes (almost always)
- Single clunk when hitting the brakes (almost always)

Any and all ideas are welcome!

 

check your catalytic converter and exhaust clamps

 

Thanks for the suggestion. The holder by the catalytic converter is broken, but I gave the whole thing a good shake and only heard some squeaking. I should probably get that fixed though. The rattling really seems to be coming from the front.

 

SOLVED! It was worn bushings on the driver's side lower door hinge, presumably causing the pin to shift with bumps and braking.

 

Good find. IIRC you can still buy those bushings in brass

 

Thanks! I couldn't find a suitable pin and bushing kit at the local parts store and the OEM hinge assembly was $60 at the dealership. I ended up fashioning a replacement out of steel spacers, washers, and a bolt (~$10). Not the perfect fix, but after 6 months of frustration the clunk is finally gone.

 

eBay is where I've seen them for like $20

 

Not to hijack the thread, but I am looking into this as well and looks like when removing body bolts like this (and the fender) Toyota says to add rust inhibitor on the body bolts. Is this any old rust inhibitor? I am probably going to replace the hinge on mine (which means replacing the fender since I don't have a fancy SST) which is where I saw the Rust prevention mentioned.

 

I'll add to this as I've seen some similar problems before. We had a 90s f150 come into work once. It would have a loud pop come from the rear when you hit the brakes. wouldn't do it again unless you accelerated a bit first. We had somebody ride in the bed and listen for it and he couldn't hear it but I could. It wound up being a loos body mount bolt behind the back seat. I'd imagine something similar could happen on these with a front body mount.

881stgen, to answer your question I would imagine any old anti seize would work just fine.