Loud snapping sound coming from the passenger side tire area

@Hairfarm
You're new here so FYI: the above advice is coming from someone who works at a dealership service department and has probably seen more of these than all the rest of us members combined. If I were you I wouldn't drive that truck out of the driveway without changing the lower ball joints.

 

I really appreciate everyone taking the time to chime in about this. I've gotten some excellent advice on steps to take.

Right now I'm going to jack it up and yank on the wheel to check for play in the bearing using FirstGenVol's diagram then use my crowbar to check for LBJ play using Sunnier's pic. I will also post some more video/pics of the shock mount as some have suggested. Btw, the bottom shock mounts on both sides are really compressed but not failed.

As I said before its the intermittent nature of this that is pissing me off. We are a one car household so I had to drive it around yesterday (very slowly and not on the freeway) and the sound didn't happen at all. It comes and goes. Normally a failing part get worse over time, right? This morning I was trying to recreate the sound and I can't get it to. Wtf?

Think of hitting an empty gas tank with a metal object. The "tong, tong" sound is coming from the thin metal guard plate for the disc. But it is being referred from another area nearby, like the LBJ. The vibration is causing the thin metal plate to make that loud sound in the vid.

Will post back with more info today.

thanks!

 

These ball joints are loaded funky unlike most setups (hence why they fail so gloriously) the best thing to check with with a pry bar and prying up right by the joint when the trucks in the air. There should be no movement between the control arm and spindle

 

Thanks. That is my plan.

Also, I had a local shop replace both control arms, lower ball joints, front shocks and sway bar links. They did all of that 3-10-2021. I don't know if the parts were OEM or not. Those lbj are only about 1 1/2 years old. Could they fail that early?

 

Those are mevotech ball joints. Just based off the boot. My experiance with them on Tacomas has been lucky to see 10k miles

 

Actually looking back at the video I don’t know what I saw. Are the boots blue?

 

I think they are MOOG. That's what they installed for the uppers anyways.

 

Eh MOOG is slightly better. But the set I had on my Tacoma were shit by 20k miles

 

Moog had a recall on lower ball joints but only for 2004-2006 models. Still wouldn't recommend them at all.

 

You really should call up the shop and ask, specifically. That failure of wheels snapping off from people using non-OEM balljoints is rampant because people didn't go with OEM, which are over-engineered because Toyota certainly knows it's a major stress point. There are dozens of pictures pasted on this forum and probably hundreds on the Facebook group of this failure w/non-OEM LBJs. I'd actually be a little pissed at the shop if they didn't ask what I wanted to go on my truck.

Yes. Especially if they didn't use fresh, quality bolts, or used an inferior new bolt. Failures posted here were either with the joint or its fasteners.

And there's this too ^^

That's another reason you should call the shop and find out wtf they used. One of the recalls impacts (at least) the right-hand side LBJ on '04-'06 Tundras and '04-'07 Sequoias, you should check if you're impacted, maybe you can get towed to a shop and repaired for free?: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2022/RCLRPT-22E002-8048.PDF

But generally speaking, people have seen both left and right non-OEM LBJ fail, either because of replacing with shit hardware, re-using hardware, part defect, or inferior/3rd party part choice.

Former MOOG lover here, especially on my older GM vehicles. They were the go-to. "Were" is the key word there. We all get tied up in brands, but brands change. The MOOG product I knew 10, 15 years ago is NOT what you get today. Current production coming out of MOOG for a lot of parts is garbage, and the recall is one of several in the last decade. I wouldn't recommend using their stuff. At least if you buy OEM from a legitimate source (avoid scAmazon and fleaBay, too many counterfeits) you know you're most likely going to get exactly what the manufacturer intended and has 'blessed' to be a good replacement.

 

Wow, thanks for that. It is in fact the right side this is happening on.

Taken for the PDF bulletin:
Affected parts are marked with the following Lot Codes: J4, J5, J6, J7, J8, J9, JX, JZ, K1, K2, K3 or K4.
Production Dates : APR 01, 2020 - APR 29, 2021

I had the ball joint replaced on March 10th, 2021. If it is MOOG I might very well have one of those on my truck. I'm assuming it is since that is what they used on the top. I'm going to check to see if any of the codes are visible on the LBJ on the right side when I jack it up later today.

They may have asked me if I wanted OEM. I don't remember. But they stand by there warranties and have a great reputation locally.

thanks!

 

No problem at all, like everyone else here, just hoping to help you out. Be safe, whatever you do! If it is in the recall scope, you may want to tow it to the shop, or baby it if you intend to drive. The fact it's already making noise is sketchy.

At least it's a trusted local shop. If I ever need anyone to do work on my truck, I try to pick the same.

 

Do not drive truck, plz.

 

Yeah, he could wind up taking out bunch of mailboxes.

 

This is all good advice, but I am just going to say....don't get too tied up on a diagnosis before ACTUALLY finding the problem. You always need to look for problems with an open mind and not just assume you know what the problem is just because its a common or popular problem. When you actually go looking for the issue, try to forget everything and just analyze what is in front of you, rather than what you're told is the problem. You may be surprised.

 

I made this video of the ball joint, shock mounts and wheel play etc. As of now I cannot get the clunking sound to come back. I've been driving (slowly) around the neighborhood and it will not make the noise now, just like in the past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmAPO7lntcM

At this point I am stumped. I suppose I can start with the lbj and inspect it. But it "seems" ok, at least visibly from a test with the wheel lifted and a crowbar.

What type of suspension component can lie dormant for weeks then make noise, lie dormant again for weeks/day and make noise over and over again?

Also, I took a photo of the only area I could to see on the lbj for any identification to see if it was part of the MOOG recall. All I can see is an MS in the middle of an oval and some sort of pattern on it. I don't know if its a MOOG or not.


Thanks for everyone's input.

 

Even if it’s not the cause of your issue, I’d get the shocks replaced if you’ve got over 50k miles on them. That bulging shock bushing is definitely not good. If the shock isn’t that old, you may be able to replace just the shock bushing.

I replaced a split bushing on mine in the past for $30 parts cost and $25 for a shop to press out the old and put in the new by handing them the whole strut assembly.

BTW, did you take off the wheel to check the brakes and caliper to make sure nothing loose in there? Just a thought.

 

I found that logo on a Mevotech Supreme lower balljoint over on Rockauto.

 

Why do you have to bring up Elkhunter into this??? Lol

 

I didn’t. @hagrid did, up near the start of this thread. I was just giving the homie a head nod because he came back to admonish the OP to be safe.

 

Yeah, but you were the one that brought up thew mailboxes, the first thing i thought of was "ElkHuner"

 

Shit, I have to slow down, two mistakes in one post....Damn

 

Just so you're aware a lot of times the joints fail at low speeds while turning. They have the most pressure on them then. While it won't hurt you it will break a bunch of stuff. Good luck with your search.

 

I never understood why Toyota designed the front end to hang from the ball joints instead of rest on them. When I had my Tacoma (same design), I replaced them with OEMs and set a reminder to do it again after 100k.

 

I know I sound like a broken record, but you can easily check your sway bar link to see if it is loose. I have Moog sway bar links (cause they are cheap and easy to replace) every time I would bomb down desert wash board they loosen up and make a god awful racket. I thought my suspension was coming apart.

The bolt is undersized for the hole and can make the link pop up and down.

I put about 150ftlb on her and she’s been good since.

The nut to the left of where he is pointing.

 

I was planning on doing this today.

So its not a MOOG which means it won't be eligible for a replacement due to the LBJ recall. Thanks for that info!

Thanks for the pic. I'll double check the tightness of that bolt.

BTW, whatever I eventually find I'll be sure to post back and let everyone know what it was. I just have to wait for it to rear its head again.

 

Yes. artsr2002 identified it as Mevotech Supreme LBJ.

 

Ouch. Is the consensus of the group that those things are time bombs that need to come out whether they are the source of the popping or not?

 

Mevotech lower control arms aren't bad in construction themselves, but the consensus is the bushings are absolutely shit and die within a year or two.

 

Rather than replace bushings, which is a hassle and about as much in labor to have a shop do it as to buy new LBJ’s, I think the most popular vote would be to replace with OEM and OEM bolts torqued to spec, then know you’re good for at least 100k miles.