Thump when releasing brakes from a stop
Hey all, I have a 2004 sequoia limited 4wd. It bought it a few months ago with 78k miles and really like it so far. I have noticed, however, that if I come to a complete medium or hard stop then release the brakes to go again, the car will make a soft bump feeling, as if something is unbinding. Ive done a ton of research on this issue, and found things like the driveshaft yoke needing greasing or the atf being low. Im actually a mechanic and have been for close to 15 years, but this has me stuck. I put the car on a lift and checked things over. I lubricated the slip yoke (must have put about 20 pumps worth of moly and lithium based NLGI2 grease), little to no change. Checked the atf: clean and full. Checked ball joints-no play. No leaking struts. Trans support mount seems ok. There is a bit of play in the forward most bushings of the lower control arms, but doesnt seem like they'd be bad enough to cause the issues. I haven't done a lot of work on sequoias so I dont know what is considered normal. Front brakes and calipers are new. I still need to check the rear brakes, but my instincts tell me its probably not that.
Does anyone have any other suggestions on things to check? Maybe the slip yoke needs more grease? One last thing, it seems to do it more often when in 4wd. Thanks everyone for any suggestions!
Posted Nov 14, 2025, 1:56 PM UTC