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2013 Chevrolet Suburban
Platform: GMT 400, 800, 900

Clunk Noise over bumps at low speeds

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Old July 16th, 2019, 5:45 PM
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Soooo...after further investigation....the sway bar mounts (1st 3 pictures) although rusted, theyre secure to the frame.

Last edited by JoeyTizzle88; July 16th, 2019 at 6:30 PM.
Old July 17th, 2019, 10:54 AM
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Everything that I did was under the dash and I didn't really think that a couple squirts of a lubricant would relieve a noise and vibration that made me think that my suspension was ready to fall apart underneath me, but it did. Yours is 4WD where mine is 2WD, but all the rust sure looks familiar, LOL. I just turned 241,000 miles, and although there's a lot more sources for clunks and vibrations in your situation the only thing that I ever had replaced was the hubs and just recently stabilizer links and inner and outer tie rods which I did myself (I'm like you, I do as much myself as I can). After four Suburbans you get pretty good at this stuff, and I've learned what to tackle myself and what to pass on, but none of that suspension work was related to the noise and vibrations. Your under dash pic shows the yoke I'm talking about but it looks spotless; wouldn't hurt to give it a blast of WD40 tho...you may be as surprised as I was. Damn rust...now you have me wondering about my brake lines.
Old July 17th, 2019, 11:59 PM
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Have you tried tie rod ends? I know you said you did the hubs and such with the control arms as well so there shouldnt be a wallowing out issue on new control arms but the tie rod ends may be worn or loose. Also check your caliper bolts. As you said seems to be less noticeable with brakes applied so the pressure may hold them more steady. Do you feel it in the wheel? Or just hear it? Does it seem to come from 1 side or the other?
Old July 18th, 2019, 12:21 AM
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[QUOTE=subfan597;431724]
Originally Posted by JoeyTizzle88
I'm at a loss right now. I have a 2007 Tahoe with 110k miles. I've been hearing a clunky noise every time I drive over a bump. If I hold the brakes, it doesn't seem to be as bad. I've replaced both upper and lower control arms, ball joints, hubs, axles, shocks (front and rear), sway bar links, rotors and calipers. I'm one of those refuse to take it to a shop kinda people, especially since I've been able to do all of this. please help!!![/QU

You have nothing to lose here and everything to gain, so do what I did...it worked, and it's free. A similar situation occurred on my '01 Suburban. It was so bad that I could actually feel the problem through the steering wheel when I hit a bump, so bad that I considered getting rid of the vehicle. There was a common problem back then with intermediate steering shafts...many shafts got replaced at considerable expense, but my original remains and I haven't heard or felt anything in the over 5 years since I did this simple trick. Look under the dash at the steering column. Mine was spotless under there except for the yoke connection between the steering column and the upper intermediate steering shaft (I think I said that right). There was so much dust on the joint that it looked like a chia pet. I cleaned it off and sprayed WD40 or silicon on it (I don't remember which spray off hand). I also noticed that the solid upper shaft entered a metal sleeve as it went through the fire wall and there was some spotty surface rust at that point, probably from cold parts meeting warm parts in summer or winter. I sprayed that as well. The clunking noise and feel were gone nearly immediately, and have not returned in the five years since. Like I said, you have nothing to lose, and hopefully this will work for you...for free.
Subfan, I believe there was a TSB concerning the intermediate steering shaft on 07 and 08 burbs. This 1 is for 2011 but they had issues with other years as well so something to look in to

Old July 18th, 2019, 8:28 AM
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Originally Posted by William Parker
Have you tried tie rod ends? I know you said you did the hubs and such with the control arms as well so there shouldnt be a wallowing out issue on new control arms but the tie rod ends may be worn or loose. Also check your caliper bolts. As you said seems to be less noticeable with brakes applied so the pressure may hold them more steady. Do you feel it in the wheel? Or just hear it? Does it seem to come from 1 side or the other?

I just have the tie rod ends, i just wanted to wait on doing them because afterwards im most likely going to have to do an alignment and that requires me taking it somewhere haha. As far as feeling anything, I dont feel it in the wheel or anything. All I hear is a terrible noise when I'm driving at non-highway speeds. If i go on the highway and hit bumps, i dont hear it. I'm going to try and upload a video and try to post it so you all can hear it.


thanks for all the possible options!
Old August 10th, 2019, 2:12 PM
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Default Update!!!!!! The noise is fixed

Soooo thank you everyone who helped out, I found the noise!!! It was the calipers. The slides were frozen which I guess caused the calipers to rattle.
Old August 10th, 2019, 9:10 PM
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Thanks for posting back the solution to your problem as it may help others in the future.
Old August 12th, 2019, 11:49 AM
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Originally Posted by JoeyTizzle88
Soooo thank you everyone who helped out, I found the noise!!! It was the calipers. The slides were frozen which I guess caused the calipers to rattle.
Well that was the other suggestion in my post after the tie rod ends. I've learned fairly quickly with both my former 04 burb and my current 08, that the caliper pin guide bolts have to be replaced pretty much every time you do something with them. They are made of a softer steel, easy to round off, notorious for getting stuck and many folks easily miss the need to lube the new pins when putting them in. Others when replacing calipers reuse the pins but use new bolts but forget to add additional lube before putting them in. The heat and friction causes them to freeze up. Glad you fixed it but as an FYI for the future anytime you have to remove those bolts buy replacements and check the pins and re grease them each time. Just to be sure. They are responsible for dealing with a lot of heat, friction and weight. This way, while a bit tedious, ensures they wont be the problem again. New bolts usually come with new pins anyway and for a set for each wheel depending on where you buy they may come in at 15 per caliper or less. Ebay is fantastic for finding cheap parts that work fine. A for example would be...well 2 actually. My 08 burb has the old driver valve cover on it with the baffling flaw for the PCV valve and that's built into it. A new 1 at a store like autozone or oreillys set you back about 120. Got mine with the updated baffling and of course the new PCV built in for 67. For my parent's 14 Cruze, needed a timing belt. Best to get in a kit as you have to replace the water pump and the crank pulley bolt and the timing idler and tensioner but autozone and the like wanted 242 for the kit. Got it from EBay for 54 plus free shipping. I'm sure most folks on here do the same but for those that dont you still get quality stuff for a fraction of the cost.
Old August 15th, 2019, 9:39 AM
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Originally Posted by William Parker
Well that was the other suggestion in my post after the tie rod ends. I've learned fairly quickly with both my former 04 burb and my current 08, that the caliper pin guide bolts have to be replaced pretty much every time you do something with them. They are made of a softer steel, easy to round off, notorious for getting stuck and many folks easily miss the need to lube the new pins when putting them in. Others when replacing calipers reuse the pins but use new bolts but forget to add additional lube before putting them in. The heat and friction causes them to freeze up. Glad you fixed it but as an FYI for the future anytime you have to remove those bolts buy replacements and check the pins and re grease them each time. Just to be sure. They are responsible for dealing with a lot of heat, friction and weight. This way, while a bit tedious, ensures they wont be the problem again. New bolts usually come with new pins anyway and for a set for each wheel depending on where you buy they may come in at 15 per caliper or less. Ebay is fantastic for finding cheap parts that work fine. A for example would be...well 2 actually. My 08 burb has the old driver valve cover on it with the baffling flaw for the PCV valve and that's built into it. A new 1 at a store like autozone or oreillys set you back about 120. Got mine with the updated baffling and of course the new PCV built in for 67. For my parent's 14 Cruze, needed a timing belt. Best to get in a kit as you have to replace the water pump and the crank pulley bolt and the timing idler and tensioner but autozone and the like wanted 242 for the kit. Got it from EBay for 54 plus free shipping. I'm sure most folks on here do the same but for those that dont you still get quality stuff for a fraction of the cost.

Thanks for the insight! I made sure to grease them and will continue to grease and keep an eye on them every time I do the brakes.
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