I give up on the clunking
10-08-15, 01:00 PM
#1
I give up on the clunking
So the typical clunk you hear when you stop or backup and stop etc has cost me countless hours and dollars. I've replaced the lower control arms and bushings, the steering rack bushings, sway arm bushings, wheel bearings and now today the rotors and pads. I have no idea what else it could be. I have searched for months and got all of the above as possible culprits, what am I missing? I still get some vibrations in the brake pedal while braking after the new pads/rotors so maybe there's something I missed? Please help a guy out. I do all of my own work and am 100% sure everything was completed and correctly installed.
10-08-15, 01:41 PM
#2
I also have a clunk sound as well, emanating from the scenarios that you've described. I have narrowed it down to the front upper control arm ball joint, front sway bar endlinks or the front shock assembly itself. Good luck in tracking it down
10-08-15, 01:57 PM
#3
Oh that reminds me, I replaced the end links too while I replaced the lower control arms, I had to cut them off lol. So I guess it would have to be the upper control arms, it just has to be. I'll order them tonight lol.. Man, this front end is going to be brand new.
10-08-15, 03:03 PM
#7
Barely serious suggestion: Make sure you don't have something rolling around in the recesses of the trunk. I've had hard plastic water bottles make a mechanical clunking noise when rolling into hard surfaces in the trunk. As unlikely as it is, it would suck to keep replacing a bunch of unnecessary stuff if it turns out to be something that simple.
Trending Topics
10-08-15, 03:25 PM
#8
Boy am I ever glad I don't have this clunk everyone is talking about, wonder when my car will develop it though, it has 117k miles, sure don't want to lose that Lexus smoothness 
10-08-15, 03:45 PM
#9
Thats possible but I feel like very rare, I'm about to install coilovers so that'll check that box off.
Funny you say, I had a glass SOBE bottle lodged under the passenger seat for the longest time and it would tap on the seat rail randomly. I always thought it was a broken exhaust hanger or something until I found it lol. I would LOVE for this issue to be that easy!
Hard to say. It's a wearable part so I feel like every SC owner will go through that issue at some point. If you're ever bored and wanting to throw some money at your car grab some new Supra control arms, its a great upgrade and will solve the problem before it happens or in my case maybe not lol. That being said yes, the clunk itself is very loud when braking hard in an emergency or something. It's as if the whole car drops an inch or the brakes just let go for a split second. You absolutely cannot miss it.
Barely serious suggestion: Make sure you don't have something rolling around in the recesses of the trunk. I've had hard plastic water bottles make a mechanical clunking noise when rolling into hard surfaces in the trunk. As unlikely as it is, it would suck to keep replacing a bunch of unnecessary stuff if it turns out to be something that simple.
Hard to say. It's a wearable part so I feel like every SC owner will go through that issue at some point. If you're ever bored and wanting to throw some money at your car grab some new Supra control arms, its a great upgrade and will solve the problem before it happens or in my case maybe not lol. That being said yes, the clunk itself is very loud when braking hard in an emergency or something. It's as if the whole car drops an inch or the brakes just let go for a split second. You absolutely cannot miss it.
10-08-15, 04:09 PM
#10
The LCA bolts on to the sub frame, so it can sound just like a bad LCA bushing. I remember the torque specs being around 100 or something high, but you should look for the actual specs.
I bought my car with around the same miles. On my car the mechanical parts started to show their age around 140-150k miles. I spent thousands ordering parts from the dealer to restore everything. Then around 160k my interior started to show its age from having untinted windows and being parked outside for years before I bought it, so I gave up on having a showroom condition car and started modifying it.
I bought my car with around the same miles. On my car the mechanical parts started to show their age around 140-150k miles. I spent thousands ordering parts from the dealer to restore everything. Then around 160k my interior started to show its age from having untinted windows and being parked outside for years before I bought it, so I gave up on having a showroom condition car and started modifying it.
10-09-15, 09:25 AM
#15
Man, there's a ton of parts that can contribute to clunking. When I had my old SC400, I almost replaced every single suspension part trying to find a clunking sound. Get ready for this one;
Front lower control arm bushings can clunk if it's that bad, very hard to troubleshoot unless you take it off the car and see how the bushing looks.
Steering rack bushings can also cause clunking when the bushing completely disintegrates.
Loose end links nuts can also clunk under any circumstances. And if you only jack up one side at a time, the sway bar puts tension on it and won't budge at all which will look like it's not the problem, so jack up both sides, or trouble shoot while on the ground by turning your wheel all the way on each side to reach it.
Loose crossmember bolts can also clunk when braking heavily, but not noticeable when driving.
Rear upper control arms bushings can also clunk very mildly, it's more of a squeaky sound actually.
Bad motor or tranny mounts can also clunk when shifting gears.
Miscellaneous items can sound like clunking sound, might sound stupid but have happened to me several times. Loose items in the trunk, jack, seats, stuff in the door panel pocket. With my SC right now, what I thought since I owned it was clunking was actually just the spoiler missing one bolt.
I never encountered any problem with the driveline, so not sure if that can cause clunking too.
But the last and not the least that I never got around to solving, was the clunk or thump the differential made when put into gear. The rear differential mount bushings were shot, and causes the differential to jerk when put into gear. I literally saw it budging when somebody shifted it into Drive.
Good luck, I'll post more if I think of anything.
Front lower control arm bushings can clunk if it's that bad, very hard to troubleshoot unless you take it off the car and see how the bushing looks.
Steering rack bushings can also cause clunking when the bushing completely disintegrates.
Loose end links nuts can also clunk under any circumstances. And if you only jack up one side at a time, the sway bar puts tension on it and won't budge at all which will look like it's not the problem, so jack up both sides, or trouble shoot while on the ground by turning your wheel all the way on each side to reach it.
Loose crossmember bolts can also clunk when braking heavily, but not noticeable when driving.
Rear upper control arms bushings can also clunk very mildly, it's more of a squeaky sound actually.
Bad motor or tranny mounts can also clunk when shifting gears.
Miscellaneous items can sound like clunking sound, might sound stupid but have happened to me several times. Loose items in the trunk, jack, seats, stuff in the door panel pocket. With my SC right now, what I thought since I owned it was clunking was actually just the spoiler missing one bolt.
I never encountered any problem with the driveline, so not sure if that can cause clunking too.
But the last and not the least that I never got around to solving, was the clunk or thump the differential made when put into gear. The rear differential mount bushings were shot, and causes the differential to jerk when put into gear. I literally saw it budging when somebody shifted it into Drive.
Good luck, I'll post more if I think of anything.