Strange clunking sound when hitting light bumps!!

[Biff]

Anyone else notice a clunking sound when hitting slight/light bumps on the road?? It sounds like it’s coming from the front suspension. I looked underneath and can’t see anything loose or what can be making the sound. When I brought it in for the tire rotation to the dealer I asked them to have a closer look. The dealership said everything looks fine.

I don’t hear the noise when regular driving but that sound does come back when hitting small bumps on the road like a manhole or slight rough snowy roads.

I recorded a video of the sound and you can see on my dash I’m only going 22-25km/h (15mph).

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[Crose1695]

How many miles on the truck? Could be 20 different things. I would start with having someone with you, windows down, heads out the window to try and at least kind of pinpoint what side or rough area it’s coming from. lets say I suspected it was from the front left, I would jack that side up and take the tire off. Start wiggling stuff around and tapping stuff. Ball joints lower and upper can cause clunking. worn tie rods, motor mount, worn u joint in drive shaft, and sadly the list goes on and on. Just don’t give up with the dealer if its under warranty and try your best to narrow down at least the area to start.

 

[Biff]

How many miles on the truck? Could be 20 different things. I would start with having someone with you, windows down, heads out the window to try and at least kind of pinpoint what side or rough area it’s coming from. lets say I suspected it was from the front left, I would jack that side up and take the tire off. Start wiggling stuff around and tapping stuff. Ball joints lower and upper can cause clunking. worn tie rods, motor mount, worn u joint in drive shaft, and sadly the list goes on and on. Just don’t give up with the dealer if its under warranty and try your best to narrow down at least the area to start.

At the time of the video (can see in video) there’s only 7056km (4400miles). Unfortunately it is winter now and I can’t crawl underneath to do a proper inspection. I’ll have to wait until spring. The sound sounds like it’s coming from driver side front. The dealership said they checked but who knows how thorough they were.

 

[Archer]

I noticed some clunking a couple a days ago, we got hit pretty good with snow and ice and then low temps and it was ice building up and thawing enough during the day to rattle around. Took it to a car wash and melted all the ice, good to go again.


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[6thGen1419]

Is it possible that your front air foil (if it's still on your 4R) is loose?

 

[Biff]

Is it possible that your front air foil (if it's still on your 4R) is loose?

You mean the air dam that’s underneath the bumper (part a lot of people remove for looks)? Ya, it’s still there and was the first thing I checked. Everything is nice and tight!!

 

[Rotor-RPM]

Push down on your hood just above the headlights, mine was making noise and turned out to be the hood stops, couple turns on each and it was sorted.

https://www.4runner6g.com/forum/threads/front-end-clunk-solved-adjust-the-hood-stops.7083/

 

[T_Pomp]

Double check the top of the front struts. If you’re able to, lift up the front end, so both wheels are off the ground and shake the various components. You may have to remove the tire to manipulate the strut/UCAs.
Have you had any aftermarket work done?

 

[jstrip]

Anyone else notice a clunking sound when hitting slight/light bumps on the road?? It sounds like it’s coming from the front suspension. I looked underneath and can’t see anything loose or what can be making the sound. When I brought it in for the tire rotation to the dealer I asked them to have a closer look. The dealership said everything looks fine.

I just had the exact same thing happen his morning. Did you find out what it was or did it sort itself out? My first instinct is that something is frozen and full of ice, but when I look in the wheel well I see nothing. About to pull the wheel and test bolts for tightness / check for cracks or broken components.
my 4runner only has 3300 miles so I hope it isn’t something wrong already.

 

[Joestac]

Wasn't there a thread on here about someone having the same issue and it was the steering wheel linkage that they had Toyota replace under warranty? As I was typing, I saw it down below on the "Similar Threads".

https://www.4runner6g.com/forum/thr...aft-assembly-clunking-noise-issue-fixed.4013/

 

[docxkt]

Hmm I have a similar issue after the snow storm we had in NY. Do you have the TRD skid plate? I’m assuming maybe the bolts became lose and it started rattling. Still can’t check until the show melts a bit.

 

[Biff]

I still have the cheap plastic splash guard. Bolts are still in place, nothing loose at the time of the video!!

 

[adwightm11]

I noticed some clunking a couple a days ago, we got hit pretty good with snow and ice and then low temps and it was ice building up and thawing enough during the day to rattle around. Took it to a car wash and melted all the ice, good to go again.


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I have had the same issue. We've had snow and ice on our roads now since end of November. Couple weeks ago I had rattling and clunking noise in front driver's side wheelwell. I figured it was snow or ice being stuck somewhere rattling around. I parked in a heated Garage for a few hours to give things time to thaw, and sure enough, noise went a way.

 

[docxkt]

Mine seems to be on the front driver side also.

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