Ive noticed, that since Ive gotten my car back, whenever I pull out of my driveway after a cold night (or go over a bump), SOMETHING (i figured its my suspension), makes a crack/scrape sound, very similar to bottoming out. Loud as HELL. The weird part is that it hasn't been getting that cold lately (I live in SLC Utah, Id say no less than 10 degrees at night), AND my car is parked in my garage. Another weird thing is, usually after it warms up, the sound will go away when I hit bumps, but one time I left it out in the sun, 50 degree weather, for 6-7 hours, got back in and the sound was still there.

And I have just gotten my car back, is it possible that when the dealer left it sitting out in the freezing weather it messed up my suspension (or whatever it is.)?

I know it sounds like a dumb problem, but it makes the WORST sound everytime I hit a bump, makes me think im scraping everytime. Anyone have anything similar happen 2 them, or any solutions?

Jason

 

I get the same thing when I go over bumps and it's cold out. It's the rubber bushings in the lower A-Arm I'm told, which is swappable with poly Supra ones. Not a problem, although if it's really that loud might be worth the omproved steering and braking feel from the better bushings.

 

Rhino,

I believe I had the same kind of problem - whenever I went over a speed bump, there would be this bad metal on metal screeching sound .... like it was bottoming out on the bump. Looked at some past threads on the board, and decided the control arm bushings needed to be lubed up. This can be a do it yourself job .... By pushing the car up and down, finding the squeek area, and spraying some silicon spray in the area I believe. The dealer up here in Cleveland looked at my car, and lubricated the bushings for free. I had this done in December, and ever since then the sound has been gone. This is a common problem among SC's ... and it seems to be more pronounced in colder weather.

 

I think I have the answer to this one. Exact problem for over 6 months and 3 trips to 2 different dealers. The first don't even look at it even though they know it is a problem. Really bad altitude.
The second dealer replaced. sway bar bushings, lower control arms and finally the struct rubber mounts. It is the combination of the lower A arms and the struct mounts that fix the problem.

 

glad to find this thread, I have same problem. every morning when I get out my house gate, there're bumps and my car's making noise. I thought it's my suspension but friend of mine( works at toyota dealer) told me that suspension doesn't go bad that easy, so I'been wondering what causes this noise.
let me see in repair manual, where the lower A arms are..

 

I jus lubricated mine jus a minute ago w/ stp silicon spray. But i'm not sure if i got the right spot. Is the A-arm located right behind the rotor/brake disk? or do i have to remove that plastic plate (i'm referring to the plate in the front of the car) to get to it?

 

Thanks Skininja,

This morning I applied the silicone lubricant to the rear control arms ( I did this to all moving parts that I could find) and guess what? The knocking noise from the rear section has subsided a lot. I still get few knocking sound when hitting deep potholes but it's probably because I didn't lube the parts thoroughly.

I was kind of worried after replacing my shocks last week because of the knocking sound, I mean the ride has improved a lot and it doesn't dive anymore when braking, but I was a bit disappointed with the new shocks because of the knocking sound. I used to get this sound with the old shocks as well.

This weekend, I will apply the lubricant to front and rear section and see how it sounds.

Peter~