Brake Issues

I currently have a 2008 4 runner with a really annoying issue I need help resolving. It doesn’t do it all the time but sometimes after braking hard or not hard doesn’t matter when you release the pedal it’s like a really hard thud like sound. I’ve replaced calipers and rubber lines thinking that after 160k miles maybe calipers are sticking some but that hasn’t helped anything. Any advice or ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

Do you grease your driveshaft yokes? Mine thuds at stops and goes off and on unless i keep the yokes full of grease.

 

I’ve only greased the yokes once since I’ve owned the vehicle. I bought it used with 125k miles a year ago and don’t remember this issue when I bought it. This vehicle is interstate driving everyday so possibly needs greased somewhat more often. How do you gauge the right amount of grease when doing the yokes ?

 

I likely put 25 pumps in the rear most yoke to stop my clunk. Obviously that sounds excessive, but i believe it was neglected, Every oil change they could be greased imo..
Poor design i suppose, this isnt something that most vehicles require, but seems many people have this annoying issue.

 

Ok thank you for the advice I’ll try this and see if it helps my issue. I only have an electric grease gun I’ll just have to do trial and error until I see what works best. This is my first 4Runner I really like that generation body style everything else works great just the annoying clunk from braking gets old .

 

Add grease until you see the yoke move a little bit and you should be good.

 

Have a look at your suspension, the control arm bushings in particular. Braking then letting off the pedal changes the forces and if anything is loose, that could be the source of the noise. Just a thought.

 

My '04 owners manual says to grease the fittings at every oil change. Put grease in the fittings until you see the old grease come out, except for the yoke. For the yoke, like AuSeeker says, add grease until you see the yoke move. Even with doing this every oil change, my '04 gives me the periodic "thud" at traffic lights since it was new. After I back out of the driveway and put it in drive it goes into gear and I go forward but in a couple feet I get a soft "thud", then I'm good the rest of the day.

 

+1 on greasing the sh*t out of the yoke joint. I pumped so much into mine the last time i did it due to a 'thunking' noise. I pumped till i saw the yoke move like a millimeter, then released the pressure from the zerk nipple. Has been good since.

 

So far adding grease until the yoke moved has solved my thud issue. Thanks again for the comments and help.