2014 sr5 clunking noise while braking? 100k miles

Hello, everyone. I hope to get some help from the experts here.

This is my first time posting. I’ve noticed a strange noise coming from the front end of my vehicle. It usually occurs after the vehicle has been parked. When I drive forward or backward and apply the brakes, there’s a clunking sound, but only at low speeds in Driveor Reverse. The noise doesn’t happen when driving above 10 miles per hour and then stopping hard. I’ve checked my brake pads and rotors, and everything seems tight with all the shims and springs in place. I also greased the drive shaft. The clunking sound appears about 70-80% of the time.

 

Dude, this is my 2nd favorite game on this site. "Name that sound!"

It's pretty close behind my 1st fav game on this site: "Biggest tire size I can fit without a lift?"


I'm not here to guess what the sound is. But you should upload that file to YouTube and post it here. Downloading random files from strangers on the internet is not safe at all.

 

I know, I know. But this is driving me nuts, and I don’t know if it’s safe. The shop looked at it and has no idea what it could be. You are right about the file. Here is the link. And thank you. I promise my next question will be if I can fit 33 inch tires on stock 4Runner

 

When were the pads changed? Recently? By whom? Are they the correct pads? Sounds like smaller pads sliding up and down in the caliper to me.

 

I had a similar issue and it was because I didn't torque the new skids down properly and they were shifting a bit. Another known issue is the hood latch - that one is quick and easy to grease to see if the noise goes away

 

https://toyota.oempartsonline.com/oem-parts/toyota-brake-pads-rear-446660140 I changed rotors and pads about three years ago my self. Got all the OEM parts from Toyota. Didn’t have that noise until last year. The part number for the rotors are 0446660140

 

It may or may not have any bearing, but the year and model you have may jog someone's mind with the same year. There's good reason to have this information in your profile.

 

I wouldn’t rule out the suspension.

 

Yeesh! Have you checked your ball joints?

 

ye, I had suspension done. New kit included new UCA. It only pops like that when approaching to a complete stop or going from R to D. I do think it might be pads shifting, I just don’t know how they can shift with the pins.

 

Have you had an alignment recently? Or any other suspension work done? Is the sound once per movement direction i.e. make the sound once when moving forward until you back up and get the sound again?

Does it make the sound when you go over a bump or just when you stop / hit the brakes?


If you had suspension work / alignment done lately it would most likely be a loose bolt and the parts are moving when you stop.

 

Something has not been completely tighten up or the parts are bad. I have seen this before and it was from not all the bolts being tight and the parts moving. Go back to who did the work and have them check.

 

The noise was there before the kit was installed. It started to happen out of nowhere. No alignment had been done previously to the noise or any other work that I can think of. I brought it to the shop last week. They said they went over each nut and each nut was tight. I think it’s the pads because the sound occurs immediately after brake application, not even going to a full stop. Also, if I brake hard, there is no noise, only when coming to a stop sign or applying brakes softly, but never at highway speeds or around town. I might just get the new pads and see if that would do anything.

 

If they checked all the bolts on the suspension the next area would be to look at the pads. Possible pad separation from the backing plate. Do you know if all the brake hardware was used i.e. anti rattle clips?

 

I don’t think shifting brake pads would make a sound quite that loud. But maybe the microphone exagerates the sound.

First, verify all upper and lower ball joints are tight. Even if you have new upper control arms with new ball joints, some aftermarket ball joints can fail within a year (especially defective SPC UCAs). If you have the original lower ball joints, they could be worn out by now. You can find vids out there where you can learn how to verify yourself if ball joints are bad. If it’s that loud, you’ll probably be able to see the movement easily.

I’ve had clicking pads and pad slap on other vehicles, but it didn’t sound like that. I’ve had bad ball joints before…which did sound like that video.

The only reason I’m encouraging you to at least verify they aren't bad, is because if it is a bad LCA or UCA ball joint, it sounds like it’s pretty close to failure. And complete ball joint failures, at best, will cause very expensive mechanical and body/frame damage. At worst, it will also lead to loss of vehicle control.

 

Its way to loud to be pads if you ask me.

I'd jack up the front and start shaking things.

 

Greased shafts lately?

 

Make sure your uca and lca are torqued to spec

 

Honestly it sounds like a bad ujoint. You said you greased it. Have you jacked the truck up & spun the driveshaft?

Does this noise happen in 4 low too? Are you getting vibes like a bad needle bearing?

 

unless this 2014 is beat to piss the yjoint should be fine. I have a 2011 SR5 with 168,000 miles on all original ujoints front to back. No issues greased every 5K.

 

The upper is brand new. The pop was there before, and nothing changed after. I inspected it the lower and it doesn’t seem like I have a bad one but who knows. I lifted the car and shook the wheel; everything is sturdy. There is no noise when turning or going over bumps, and it drives pretty nicely with no shake or pull on the highway. The pop only occurs when going from P to D or P to R, and then after brake application, it pops. If I continue in D after the first pop, it doesn’t do it anymore, as if something goes into place and stays there. But once the pressure point changes, it pops again, for example, when going into R. I will get the new pads as they are cheap and see if it will do anything. I guess I would have to go part by part. Thanks for advice!

 

I had the shop grease it for me. Now the U join at the front of the drive shaft the one that going into the transfer case ? It spins and does have some backslash I haven’t tried the 4 LOW

 

Ye,

UCA is brand new by the IronMan pop was there before and still there. I told shop to torque everting and they said everything was good.

 

Are you sure it's not just the exhaust components expanding as they heat? The association with gear changes and brake application might be coincidental, since those are all happening at about the same time after startup.

 

If ball joints are verified good, then I would suspect something is loose in the suspension, as mentioned by a few others. Lower control arm bolts for example, need to be properly torqued to spec (not just good and tight).

edit: you might need to find another shop if they can’t figure out a concerning noise that can be reproduced on command. You’ll pay for diagnostic time, but that’s fair.

 

I don’t know, I can go back and forth between the gears and as long as I apply brakes it will continue to make the same sound.

 

is this backslash normal on the driveshaft ?

https://youtube.com/shorts/KqR22V4OnBs?si=rS114YqiFBwXwKpQ

 

Dude those zerk fittings have no grease on them. Grease all zerks, they have no grease. You need to grease them every oil change, all 3 on the propeller shaft. Aka drive shaft

https://www.4runners.com/threads/propeller-shaft.7601/