Another rattle problem

[Blazintrails03]

I turn to my friends at ORTB yet again for some help. So since I've had my TB it has made a rattle (kinda like rocks on a skid plate) when you go over a bump or rut in the road at speed. And yes I've pulled both skid plates off and nothing is on them. Going over a speed bump at normal slow pace doesn't cause it to happen. Silly me I thought I'll get the lift on and that will tighten the suspension and make it go away. Not the case, no change. Not too long ago I put a cat-back exhaust on and noticed the heat shield attached to the body above the muffler hanging down so I got all excited and fixed that. Still a rattle. I put wheel bearings and CV Axles in and didn't notice anything loose or hanging. Just crawled under there and noticed my Sway Bar Links are shot so I disconnected the sway bar and tied everything up and went for a drive. Still a rattle. Checked it in 4X4 and no change. I've checked anything I could think of and nothing was loose. What am I missing? Has this happened to anyone else?

[Trail X]

Rattles and intermittent sounds are really hard to chase down.

Sometimes hearing them in person can help you find a location, but it doesn't sound like that's the case here. Any chance you can get a video with some audio in it of the rattle?

Have you looked at the manifold heat shield? What about the brake shields? Have you yanked on your suspension at various angles to see if any of your bushings are shot? I know mine was doing odd stuff when my UCA bushings went.

[Eredin]

I've noticed, for lack of a better term, 'thunking' when the suspension is shifting, road or not. I suspect a bushing, but I do know my sway bar end links are mostly gone at this point.

I ended up trimming my lower section of dust shield on the driver side front after my last trip out, found a rusted caliper pin that ended up breaking off in the bracket and forced a replacement. Passenger side still needs to happen, but I can still hear a rock jammed in there that is catching when in reverse. May check those, if you haven't already.

[Blazintrails03]

So yeah about those control arm bushings. Pretty much completely shot. I don't think this is the problem causing the rattle cause I've heard it for about 7 years. Yeah I know terrible. But the bushings are now my #1 concern. How difficult is it to replace them? Is it special tool like a ball joint press or can they be pressed in with a 5" C Clamp?

[Moots1288]

The ball joint bushings require a press, or you burn the bushing out and then hammer and chisel the shell out. If you have access to a press you're set.

[Blazintrails03]

And of course I no longer have access to a shop

[Moots1288]

Grab a Mapp Gas or acetylene and start burning, it's going to make a mess though.

[navigator]

I think a lot of guys just buy new control arms with the bushings in them because it is such a mess.
Make sure to search because all the bushings aren't created equal.

On your rattling, have you messed with your rear shocks?
When I did my rear swap, I had a rattling when going over bumps and realized one of the shock bolts wasn't all the way tight at the top. I had one previously when I installed new shocks because I didn't have enough washers.

[Bacnbit]

I probably would just purchase new arms If uppers. Much easier to RR. And when it fails again warranty it. Should see if TrailX still has his used ones for sale that he put in the classifieds awhile ago.

As for the rattle have you figured out a general location yet. Good luck with rattles when I used to work for Buick road noises where my favorite thing to figure out. If you can find someone to loan you one, find a chassis ear system and play with that fun toy. Its a pain to set up but you if you have a general location it becomes fairly easy.

[Trail X]

On your rattling, have you messed with your rear shocks?
When I did my rear swap, I had a rattling when going over bumps and realized one of the shock bolts wasn't all the way tight at the top. I had one previously when I installed new shocks because I didn't have enough washers.

That's actually a distinct possibility. I had forgotten about that. Some of the alternative rear shock options are thinner at the top, and require actually deforming the mount a good bit (or shimming it with some washers). The steel sleeve inside the bushing hits over and over on the mounting bolt and makes a terrible racket. But for me, that distinctly sounded like it was coming from the rear. Anyways - it can't hurt hitting that bolt with an impactor for 10 seconds and see if it tightens up.

[Blazintrails03]

I will definetly check the rear shocks. I went with bds shocks with my lift and didn't seem like they needed to be shimmed. As for the sound it seems like more front to middle of the truck. As for the control arms I priced out moog upper and lowers on amazon for a little over $300. Plus the lowers have new ball joints already I think and those probably need to be replaced also.

[Trail X]

My used UCAs are factory and in good shape, if you want to potentially save a bit.

I recall Moots had a problem with some Moog bushings recently, FYI.

[Moots1288]

My used UCAs are factory and in good shape, if you want to potentially save a bit.

I recall Moots had a problem with some Moog bushings recently, FYI.

I had a problem with me votes.

Edit: mevotech

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[Trail X]

You mean Mevotechs? Gotcha. Appreciate the clarification.

[Moots1288]

You mean Mevotechs? Gotcha. Appreciate the clarification.

I kept trying to edit that and it wouldn't go through. Yes the bushings went in no time, and I had a major problem with the casting on the lca being a 1000th off on the lower outer bushing for the shock bone. Seems like they made it so only mevotech bushing would fit.

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[Eredin]

I actually went with the Dorman replacement LCAs and didn't have any problem with them. Only issue I had was snapping off one of the frame bolts that salt had annihilated. I sourced them on Amazon, cheapest I could find, after shipping.

[Blazintrails03]

My used UCAs are factory and in good shape, if you want to potentially save a bit.

I recall Moots had a problem with some Moog bushings recently, FYI.

I had that about yours but if I'm gonna have them off I might as well just replace them. And I'm going to flip them while I'm at it.

[v7guy]

I would stay away from the mevotechs too after seeing how quick Moots bushings went, bushings didn't even last a year. I changed out just the bushings with some moog bushings and they held up for a couple years and were still fine when I pulled em. Assuming moog uses their own bushings in their arms I'd probably go that route.

[Moots1288]

V7guys bushings in his lca lasted long enough that I replaced my lca bracket that was maybe just shy of a year old with his stock bracket with couple year old bushings.

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