Slow speed "clunk" in steering wheel : FIXED

Hoping to get some feedback on this because I'm stumped. 2018 SR5P with 78k miles. Start vehicle, put it in reverse, let off of brakes, and feel a 'thump' in the steering wheel as soon as vehicle moves. Then every so often while driving, at low speeds over small bumps I get the same sensation. I've replace both outer tie rod ends (inners seemed nice and tight) I've checked every bolt and nut under the vehicle and all are tight to spec. Bushings and ball joints all look good. I just don't get it. Only mods are 5100s (.85) and stock size C load KO2s. Anyone ever experience anything like this and where I might start looking?

EDIT: I should point out there are no noises at all with this 'thump'.

 

Could it be some developing lash or play in the driveline? Maybe the ujoints are getting worn. Have you greased the zirks regularly?

 

Driveshaft

 

Zerks are greased every 20k miles. I will check the drivetrain tomorrow. Thanks.

 

Might also be worth lifting wheels off ground and checking for play. A wheel bearing might be starting to go bad

 

Can be many things, something that's overlooked when hearing a thump without even turning is a bad wheel joint or bearing. Maybe a damaged strut, because you are saying when driving over small bumps it makes that noise.

 

Checked front wheel bearings. Grabbing tire at 12 and 6 position and solid. I mean absolutely no play at all.

 

Hmm, sounds like a proper mystery. Do you have a garage where you can maybe hear reflected sounds. Roll your windows down when you back up to see if you can hear any clues.

Otherwise, Id say your senses caught a problem on the early side. A bit more time might make the problem more apparent.

edit: when did you install the bilsteins?

 

I'm kinda leaning towards strut or possibly ball joint at this point. The thing is there is no noise involved at all. Just a 'thump' feeling in the steering wheel. Looks like I'm going to have to make an appointment and maybe somebody can see what I'm not seeing.

 

Bilsteins have approx. 70k on them. Everyone seems to have a different opinion on how long they should last. Could have got a bad one, who knows. But this thing has been absolutely babied never being off asphalt. Sometimes I wish this s&*t would just break so at least I would know what it is. Just not at 70mph.

 

I know it's an old thread but did you get this figured out? I'm having a similar issue with my '19 SR5. my noises arent regular enough for the mechanic to catch in the act though. driving me nuts

 

Never solved the issue but have noticed an interesting quirk about it over the last year. It only does it in warmer weather, particularly above 70+ degrees. It never did it once in the colder months. Now the weather has warmed up it's starting to do it again. I'm baffled. I don't think anything is going to break though. Really don't care if it does at this point. At least I'll know what it is.

 

Just following up with a final fix post. It ended up being the LCA cam bolts. Replaced with the SPC 25440 cam bolt kit. So far so good. I've been running them a couple of months now and wanted to make sure it did finally fix it. Was underneath it today and retorqued front and back to SPCs recommendation(157ft lb front, 149ft lb rear) Both nuts moved but slightly. I think it's good. Just wanted to thank everyone for their input!

 

Thanks for the update. What was wrong with the cam boltd. Torque or another problem?

 

When I had a set of 5100s installed at approx 2K miles, the installer didn't get the bolts torqued properly. After 70K miles, the bolt threads where the nut was torqued at were actually worn down. No amount of additional torquing was going to fix it. I fault myself for not checking the torque after install. Lesson learned.

 

Useful info, thanks. When I installed my shocks, it was a bit of a bear to torque down those bolts. I should probably add that to my to-do list

 

Driver side CV axle. Climb under there and move that axle with your hands and you'll see it. Fix? ECGS bearing sleeve because stock needle bearing is poorly designed and short allowing axle slop not to mention cyclical groaning down the road at about 20K miles.