Loud snapping sound coming from the passenger side tire area

I had Moog lowers in mine. Threw them out when the recall notice was released and replaced with OEM 'Yota lowers.

 

This seems to be the consensus. I will probably replace the LBJ with OEM.

I took the wheel off to get a better look, checked the sway bar linkage, all relevant bolts for tightness, did another test with crowbar and LBJ, checked brakes and rotor etc. Didn't find anything:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HJ33PJTxso

I think someone here recommended I take the brakes and rotor off and inspect the hub area. Any good videos on removing the brake and rotor and not damaging the metal brake line?

 

You don't have to remove the brake lines to remove the caliper, just leave it connected.

 

Sue does a good job of replacing the bearing which shows you how to remove the entire knuckle. Here you go.

https://youtu.be/_Yy9-VLahbA

 

The LBJs on our '00 looked fine, but after reading up on LBJ failures here and elsewhere, plus encouragement from the experts here, I went ahead and replaced ours with Toyota OEMs and ARP hardened bolts and washers. Peace of mind. More here:

Lower ball joints/part numbers

 

Update:
Things I am beginning to notice about the snapping/knocking sound.

1. Only after the vehicle warms up will it start to make the snapping/knocking sound on the right side near wheel. Once I park it overnight and drive it again on the morning the sound will not happen when the truck is cold until it warms up again.

2. If I drive at low speed, like 15mph, ansd tap the brakes it is louder and more constant.

3. When I lightly tap the brakes at low speed I can get it to recreate the noise now. But only after the car has been warmed up and driven for about 20 minutes.

I tried making some video but it doesn’t convey the severity of the noise.

The "good" news is that its becoming more prevalent and constant now. I wish it would just break outright during my low speed tests so I can see it then fix it.

Anyone have a brake that made a knocking/snapping/clunking sound? It only happens now after it has been warmed up. My theory is that if it only happens when the truck is warm then it points to a component that get hot: Brakes and rotor mostly. Shocks, ball joints, sway bars/link, control arms, don't really get hot. And since the sound is only happening when the truck is hot and driven then that point to brakes and rotor.

So, if it only happens when the truck has been driven for awhile and when I apply the brakes then I’m thinking I need to pull the rotor and brake assembly and see if there is damaged in that area as well(?) Can brakes get so grabby that they grip too hard?

It’s going back in the shop on Monday.

Btw, I have a large empty parking lot nearby that I use to test on so I'm not risking anyone's safety.

thanks,

 

It could be the lower BJ castle nut isn’t torqued properly, you’d need to remove the cotter pin to check. I watched your pry bar video on the LBJ and didn’t see any big movement

 

That's a super astute, but very bizarre observation. Heat playing a factor, I'd be tempted to pop the wheel off while things are hot, toss a couple of extra jackstands under just in case, engine running, and have someone tap the brakes on and off and swing the steering wheel while you jiggle stuff. But I'm also totally crazy, so I would do something this stupid.

 

I too would be stupid enough to try something like that. That's actually not a bad idea. I think I have an extra set of jack stands and it might give me just enough information to move forward. Obviously I wouldn't get under the truck or in front of it. But with the wheels removed I might be able to see something happening from a few feet away. It's times like this I wish I had a lift.

Thanks!

 

The only thing I had that sounded remotely similar was a loose exhaust manifold heat shield. Once I removed it, the noise was gone.

 

The mystery continues.

 

Indeed. I need this mystery like a hole in the head...

 

Have you popped off the brake assembly and rotor to check those 4 bolts that hold the dust/brake shield to the knuckle? When you do, give those slide pins in the brake assembly a good clean and some grease since you are there already.

 

Will do. I'm going to have some time so this tomorrow and will update.

thanks!

 

So what was it?!

 

Sounds like a lower balljoint to me but this user hasn’t signed on again in over a year so they’re not gonna tell you, I bet.

And lower ballpoint is one of those parts where you MUST use OEM, or regret it later. This is a very well known issue, Moog and Napa have had recalls, Toyota had recalls, and OEM are the only ones made stout enough. And when they fail, it’s often catastrophic.

Have you done a basic push/pull test for balljoint/tie rods/wheel bearings?

 

Haha, yeah I found out about the lower ball joint issue the hard way when the driver side failed on me going 75mph. I’ve replaced the lbj’s with Toyota ones, no sway bar, new upper control arms, new lower control arm bushings, new tie rod ends, steering rack, coil overs (old man emu 3 inch lift), axels, diff drop, all new brakes.

 

And you have an access cab? That OME lift wasn’t designed for our access cab trucks. Look no further than this guy for proof: https://www.tundras.com/threads/ome-3-1-kit-goes-full-extension-with-a-bang-too-fast-why.109151/

Reg and acc cab trucks aren’t engineered the same as the double cab and Sequoia, suspension wise. OME kits aren’t made for our trucks as it is, they’re made for 4Runners or Tacos, and considered “potentially compatible” by some sources. They translate pretty well to the double cabs and Sequoia. It doesn’t translate to the reg and acc cab Tundras. You’ll get too much lift and bad shit happens.

 

If you had a Ouija board he could tell you.

OP kept performing diagnostics in the form of driving around, after @Spraynard said to knock that sh*t off, and ended up loosing control of his truck... veered off the road, took out 16 mailboxes, and plummeted off a cliff.

Recovery efforts of OP's corpse yielded a light snapping sound: his nipple was caught in the seatbelt.

 

Well if that’s the case I guess I’ll just live with it for a while. Mines not as extreme as that guys sounded. Kinda just makes a bit of noise while turning and going over bumps.

 

Hopefully doesn't damage anything else, I guess

Have you checked for grease sling? Is it possible you slung all the grease out of your CVs from lifting so tall, and now your CVs are failing from running dry? Or maybe the CVs are binding due to excess lift?

Did you take before/after measures to confirm how much lift you got? I've only got 2" lift based on before/after measures and I was slinging grease from the CV inner boot, at the large clamp neearest the diff. Ultimately will need to apply more grease.

Seems like people have the most problems when they exceed 2.5" lift.

Push/pull test done on each side to verify the joints? LCA bushings OK?

 

No grease loss so far, it does have a diff drop installed, no idea if that has any real affect. Cv’s are both pretty new. I didn’t take any measurements but it now looks like it has settled a bit. All bushings are brand new, lbj’s are brand new Toyota ones. I’ve pushed and pulled on everything I can put my hands on but of course I can’t simulate thousands of pounds rocking around. Next I think I’m gonna look at all the body mounts. Maybe they’re just clunking around.

 

That's a common one, especially the rear cab mounts.

Best bet is to do what I did: Rock the truck, or work with someoen to rock the truck. Like, you get under the truck and ...

If you still have the OEM nerf bars/side steps installed, have them stand on a step and rock the truck. If not, have them open the driver's door, stand on the door sill, and hop up and down to make the truck rock back/forth while you listen where the sound is coming from.

Have them move to the rear bumper, on passenger side, then driver side and repeat that hopping while you listen. You can also put your body under the spare tire, with your head under the driver tire. Tuck your knees up under the spare tire and push up/down on the truck at the spare tire with your knees to listen for noise arount the axle/leaf springs. Repeat on the driver's side. You can also bench-press the spring at the cup under the rear shackle on each side.

One of these should help you track down at least the vicinity of the noises.

You may also want to jack up the truck at the center and lay under it while someone else steers lock-to-lock (with engine running) to listen for noise. While it's in the air, I'd take the OEM bottle jack under one of the LCAs to jack it up, then repeat with the wheel roughly at ride height.

I suspect you're lifted more than you should be, and you'll find you're actually making early contact somewhere, metal-to-metal, or your CV axles can't handle the higher-than-normal lift.

Or something is bottoming out, swaybar links or something else.

Hopefully it's not looming LBJ failure.