danmm7

Hi all!
Car info: 2005 Gx470, 128k miles, very well maintained. Stock suspension. No leaks. No visually worn or broken suspension items. Runs very smooth with no vibrations or weird shaking, at any speed.

As the title says, i have a front end clunk, coming from driver side, when i am turning the steering wheels to the right (towards the passenger) at very slow speeds.
It does not happen all the time, but i would say, it happens at least 80% of the time. It's pretty loud and obvious, especially if i have the windows rolled down.
Every time i am slowly backing out of my driveway and i happen to turn my steering wheels to the right, the clunk happens. If i am doing just a partial turn(less than 1/2), there is NO clunk. It happens only when i am doing a FULL or almost full turn.

Here are a couple of videos i captured with my phone so you can get a better idea. Clunk is very obvious around 0:12 on the first video.


I did replace the sway bar end links about 500miles ago and it did NOT make any difference. Clunk is still there.
The rest of the suspension is stock and the only thing replaced was one of the adjustable shocks, at around 60k miles. Everything looks tight and healthy.

Where can this clunk be coming from? I am aware that at close to 130k miles, there could be worn out bushings, links and who knows what else, but i don't want to just start swapping parts until i find the worn out one.


Thanks in advance!

danmm7

Just to add a bit more color....

This does not sound like a bad CV joint, 'clicking' sound. It does not click.

The clunk happens just once, when the steering is at full right position. Once you hear the clunk/knock ...then i can continue to drive the truck in circles with the steering at full right and there are no more noises/knocks/clunks/clicks, etc.

BlackCat81

Pull the front skid shield off and see if it goes away. Mine will occasionally make a popping noise and it's the front skid.

BradTank

I agree that you don't want to just start swapping out parts. It gets very expensive.

If you can safely jack and secure the front of the car up, sometimes you can find this stuff by putting pressure on different parts and seeing if this noise comes out. Like grabbing a sway bar, grabbing the tire on each side and moving side to side or up and down, etc.

I would check first with maybe the front sway bar links.

Something sounds really loose though and should be able to identify pretty easily.

chiph9

Agree. Put it on some jack stands, remove the wheel and start looking for wear marks, bulging bushings, and loose parts. Sway bar would be the first thing I look at. But also look at the shock & spring mounts, steering rack, and so on.

Chip H.

SkeetShoot

Definitely check the skid plate. That was a pretty loud "clunk".

If its not that it is one of the ball joints

danmm7

I just fixed the problem.

After some very valuable advice i got on the ih8mud forum, i decided to check the bolts on the lower control arms. They should be tight at 100 ft/lb torque.

So I lifted the truck, grabbed my torque wrench, adjusted to 103 ft/lbs and went after the lower control arm bolts. On the driver side, the rear facing bolt was not tight enough. It took good 3-4 rounds with the wrench to get it to click. The front facing bolt was almost perfect. A bit adjustment only needed.
Did the same thing on the passenger side. One of the bolts was not tight enough.

Test drove the truck - no more clunk!! Gone! Everything is quiet and smooth, like new. It was loose bolt(s) on the lower control arms.

chiph9

If those are loose, I'd look at some of the related fasteners to see if they've either become loose, or were left loose by a mechanic.

Chip H.

toyo

Whoever did the last alignment on it did not tighten them up properly.

SOTF

I have this exact same problem. When backing up and to the right with the wheel sharply turned I get one initially "THUNK" that sounds like a gunshot from the front left. I've changed all sway bar bushings, replaced all diff mounts. The previous mechanic that looked at it was questionable as it had zero grease in the lower control arm ball joint. I am hoping OPs fix remedies my issue. I'd rather change out control arms and axels than have an issue with the KDSS.