Front leveling kit that doesn't clunk.... is there one out there?

So I'm getting tired of the clunk I get when the shock tops out on my Kings. You would think for the price and reputation of King that they wouldn't clunk when your suspension drops out like going over a speed bump. I can only imagine how they sound if you're actually on a rough dirt road doing some off-roading. Mine's a pavement Queen so I don't really get off road too much. The manners of the kings are great with normal driving but hit anything or go over a speed bump a little bit too fast and it kind of bums me out. Are there other shocks that give me the same 2.5 lift in the front that don't have the annoying clunk? I was looking on the internet and it states that the Total Chaos arms like I have allow for 4 inches of additional droop on suspension but King actually limits their drooping on suspension to 3/4" of an inch less than stock. How does that make any sense.... I'm about to dump these Kings and get something else that isn't so noisy.... I mean really... a set of world-renowned $1,400 shocks that clunk going over speed bump you got to be kidding.....Thanks

 

5100 Billy's for 12 years with no clunks. Perfect for pavement queens. You could run a limit strap on yours......

 

I don't experience a clunk with my Kings, on or off-road.

One bad clunk I experienced before my Kings were put on was a lower control arm bushing. The bushing was very worn out and the moving parts were making noise going over speedbumps and turns. Have you ever serviced those or replaced your lower control arms?

 

They should not be clunking, there is likely some worn bushings or something somewhere- UCA, LCA, shocks, sway bar....something has too much play.

 

Well it seems like a common problem it's not hard to find all over the internet especially with the Tacoma owners as well as us. Lots of people have it. It's going to my mechanic tomorrow for an alignment I told him to look at it

 

You may be a little past this but I did a Ready Lift 3/1 leveling/lift kit which is basically just a spacer over the stock shocks along with some other spacers to even things up and the ride feels like stock with no clunks or anything. I’ve also heard great things about the billstein 5100’s as well.

 

How many miles on the kings? If you were the original purchaser, have you contacted King about the issue?

 

the kings will not clunk, do you still have stock UCA?

 

Agreed. There is something else going on.

 

the other guys are right, the clunk is coming from some bushing or ball joint, some people don't replace their UCA or the ball joint when going with a lift and because of that, their ball joint on the UCA will clunk when going over bumps or dips etc

(reasoning behind it: your ball joint wears at a certain angle with lets say your stock ride height, you then lift your truck 3 inches without replacing your UCA/ball joint, so now you've got a worn ball joint at one angle, and you're starting to wear the ball joint at the angle of the 3" lift- when you hit a bump or dip, the ball joint clunks back into that stock angle on the worn section before returning to the new unworn angle of the 3" lift.)

 

Did you post the same issue a while back? I remember the queen / speed bump part. Put them up in the marketplace, they will go. But it's either something else or the thud from quick rebound. Billies are smooth....and soft?

 

yep... and soft

 

That's why I like them so much on the 4th Gen 4R. I think @Casper421 called it a station wagon. More like a Cadillac.

 

Yeah I did have another post about it... that was my bad I forgot I had put that up there. I do have total chaos upper control arms as well

 

...

 

Seriously though. I have billies on the 4R, the front started making noise, I'll be checking brakes and other suspension. And bolt torque all around.

 

The Kings and the total chaos arms were on the truck when I got it 12 years ago. I just had the shocks serviced all the way around soup to nuts 3 months ago. Gas oil shims bearings everything

 

I really miss my old V8 station wagon.

 

So, have the bushings on the Total Chaos arms ever been serviced or changed either?

 

I made the mistake of not watching the tutorial and loosening the bolt like you're supposed to. I just pumped it in and ended up deforming a couple of them. I have a new set that need to go in

 

@AWilliams - True story -

I have an 05 with OEM Kings, TC upper control arms. I had some clunking or some noise as well. I just finished replacing [tonight], lower control arms (Moog), lower ball joints (OEM), steering rack bushings (Total Chaos) , along with some bolts and things. The test drive felt like a new truck and the front end is silent. I was going to replace that stuff anyway, but I was hoping for the results I got.

I don't know what part was the biggest offender, but all of those things are good to do at the same time, saves repetition in remove/replace and only needs one alignment.

 

Have already done new oem lbj, TC steering rack bushings, suspension maxx longer sway bar end links, fresh rebuild of shocks. Only lower control arm bushings and tie rod ends are left. Going to my mechanic tomorrow.

 

Good luck, I hope it's an easy fix.

 

That's brilliant!

A few things here. TC uppers won't give 4" of additional travel. 2" of droop tops but that doesn't matter if you don't have extended Kings or if you run a sway bar. The sway bar will limit travel before your upper arms/lower arms/anything else really. Kings I have seen in person and helped install didn't have less travel than stock.

Your clunkies are more likely the sway bar. When you lift these trucks by coilover the sway bar gets pushed halfway through its normal swing at static ride height. A small amount of droop, like bouncing off a speed bump, will quickly find the sway bar links hitting their limit and making noise until they snap. If you want to test this, with your truck on the ground unbolt both links. Unbolt the cross bar, its 2 or 3 bolts. Remove the bar and drive around trying to make it clunk. If it doesn't then you can keep your Kings and solve that problem.

If you had stock arms I would say upper ball joint, they clunk for sure, but you have TC and I doubt you are making them clunk. You can examine the top of the cup that hugs your balls on the inner part, or the underside on the outer part to see if they have been making contact with the alignment spacers. If the paint is chipping or dents are present. While you are looking, grab the arm and try to wiggle it every which way. Look for play at the bushings in case the pivot bolt is loose. Listen for clicking at the balls. Nothing? Good.

Could be lower arm bushings too. Those are more likely to squeak and moan, but potentially could clunk too. Mine sounded like some fatties getting busy on an old mattress. Your alignment guy can tell you if they're worn. When he loosens the alignment cam bolts he will have a good opportunity to check the bushings and look for play.

Your Kings are the least likely thing I can picture making any clunk noise. The only way I can picture that is a defect of some kind, or having the nut that holds the coil too loose, or the coil smacking against something. Check the coil for impact scrapes.

Good luck.

 

This single post says as much or more than the whole thread. It should be in the (waiting to be built) thread; "Things to know about your front end, especially after you lift it." Great insight @Darkness.

I forgot I put longer sway bar links on. But, before I did I found a bent OEM or replacement on there. Even with the 2" longer links, I don't try to reattach them while on jack stands.

Hugs your balls?

 

This sounds like one of those times having a gopro to look at your suspension at work while driving would be advantageous in finding the issue.

 

I'll take my sway bar off this weekend and go hit some speed bumps....albeit at 10mph...lol Did the longer Suspention Maxx end links make it worse? Maybe?

 

Yeah
This part. Hard to make out but that's the top end toward the spindle, also feel around the bottom end toward the tire. Without extended coilovers I doubt you're maxing the upper arm travel but if they did clunk you'd find evidence there.

#notquiteheather

 

Any update OP?

 

Mechanic couldn't "hear" any clunk? I still can. He took it on road, off road etc... Took my stock swaybar off. I think it's just the nature of King. They only have 3/4"-7/8th" droop over ride height. Not sure what to think...