Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Toyota clunk

I have a 97 Taco. Like it but want for more room.

I have also developed a tranny issue - I think -- Its an auto with 4x4 but when I come to a stop - I get a clunk from the driveline. Sometimes when I stop and other times when I let off the brake to leave the stop.

Dunno what it is but it is either Tranny or rear end related (IMO).

Ideas?

It really isn't so much a development but it's been there since I bought the truck 30k miles ago. It's really starting to bug me. Am thinking that it might be axle wrap. The truck came with some no name 4 inch lift (or so) pucks in the front coils and blocks under the rear. Would like to remove the lift and go stock but I believe I would have to be able to remove the front coils and I don't have the tools to do so (unless I can do it without messing with the ball joints -- I don't have air or an impact with a pickle fork).

Ideas?

That's a well known oddity of the Tacomas. Mine ('01 Double Cab 4x4) does it too, always has. I'm told its spring wrap that clinks when you let of the brakes and release the spring tension.

Whats the fix?

Teal, not sure how your spacers are installed on your front coils. The coil units themselves are easy to yank. You just undo the bolt at the bottom of the strut, and there are 3 14mm bolts on the top you undo. Then it slides right out. If you need a little more room to yank it, use a pry bar to apply a little pressure on the sway bar and it pushes the lower A-arm down. Not sure how the spacer is installed on yours though. I think some bolt right on the factory top plate, but some you need a coil compressor.

The back is easy, you just pop the ubolts on the springs and slide out the blocks by lowering the axle. You night need new shocks though if you yank the blocks, they could be too long.

I have a 99 Taco and don't have a clunk and mine is lifted, but only 2".

Teal, mine developed a clunk at about 40K IIRC (I could check my log). Long story short, my pickup left TN with a defective universal joint. The last u-joint in the driveline (next to the 3rd member) wasn't hollow in one quadrant, so every time I greased it, only three of the four needle bearing sets got new grease. It took about 40K for the factory grease to give up and the one set of bearings to frag. The u-joint still held together for a while, but I noticed a fibration at highway speed and a clunk at takeoff.

The way I checked my driveline was to park it in gear with the engine off, then have someone rock the rig while I watched the driveline. The slop was VERY obvious.

dogcatcher - the pucks are sitting between the top of the coil and my truck. - I wonder if I could get a spring compressor from NAPA - IIRC they rent specialty tools for free....

Teal, the top of your coil has a factory plate on it. Most of the time people remove this factory plate and install a thicker one which lifts the truck. For these you need a coil compressor to remove, but you also need a factory plate to swap it out with. Can you take a picture?

Neg on picture. No digi ability.

Maybe I'll just run it as it is. Truck is almost payed off and I hope to be doing better $$ wise as I progress in my new job.

Maybe keep this truck as a fun/beater/test mule and buy a new Taco with more room for daily driver.

I wanna learn how to weld and fabing a cage for the old Taco would teach me a bunch. Then of course a guy gets stupid and decides to make a mud toy or whatever outta it...... Like a rifle - never ending.

Who knows - maybe I should just trade it in on a new truck and be done .....