Suspension squeak driving me crazy

[JB_96LTD]

Hey guys,

I have a OME suspension lift on my 96 4Runner. I have had it installed since Jan. and all was good until a couple of months ago. I started getting a annoying squeak from up front. I took it to a shop in town and they said all looked good with the coil/strut assembly. They did however think that the upper control arm was causing the noise. They disassembled the arm and noticed a lot of rust inside the shaft. So they took care of the rust and put some good synthetic grease to lube it up good. They also put some grease on the top of the strut assembly and upper ball joints.

Anyway, this worked for a good month, but now the squeak is back. Forgot to mention that they said the bushings still looked good....I have my doubts about that. Any help would be great!

Jason

[DNAhilux]

well, have you checked the sway bar bushings? also the OME bushings are the polyurethane stuff so they would be the culprits i think. hit them up with a silicon spray or if you dissasemble put dielectric grease on everything. Most polyurethane bushing kits come with this super anti squeak lube, which is just dielectric grease.

[MTL_4runner]

Is there a specific time you hear the squeak? driving straight? turning? only over big bumps?

The three main areas to check that I can think of would be the strut top plate, the sway bar and the strut bottom bushing.

Have you at least narrowed it down to a specific side of the vehicle?

[slosurfer]

Just turn your stereo up louder,

sorry, couldn't help myself.

[JB_96LTD]

Thanks for the replys. I notice the squeak only when I hit small bumps in the road. It seems to be coming more from the drivers side. It sounds like a chirping type of noise. It is not all the time, just random. It is not too loud, just enough to be a pain. I asked the guy at the shop and he said the top strut plate looked fine even though it seems to be coming from that area. I have not checked the sway bar bushings yet though.

[91_4x4runner]

I have the same type of squeek (happens all the time) but I can't help a ton since I have torsion bars. Mine started after driving through deep water.

[SOAZ]

I HATE POLYURETHANE (sp?)
Damn squak monsters!

[MTL_4runner]

You might also look at the front bumper and fenders to make sure those bolts didn't loosen up and begin to squeak. You should also check the ball joints and make sure that the springs are clear of any other parts (including the spindle) throughout it's full range of movement.

Does the truck squeak when not moving and you just push/pull on the front bumper?
If it sounds like it's coming from the top plate, the shock nut may not be correctly tightened.

[JB_96LTD]

You might also look at the front bumper and fenders to make sure those bolts didn't loosen up and begin to squeak. You should also check the ball joints and make sure that the springs are clear of any other parts (including the spindle) throughout it's full range of movement.

Does the truck squeak when not moving and you just push/pull on the front bumper?
If it sounds like it's coming from the top plate, the shock nut may not be correctly tightened.



Now that you ask, it does squeak a little on both sides when I push down on the bumper. As for the shock nut on the center top plate, I tried to tighten down the nut by holding the shaft of the strut with a wrench and it was very tight. The only thing about that is if you take a wrench and torque the strut shaft, it will move freely even though the nut is tight (not sure if I am explaining this well).

[bamachem]

sounds to me like the strut stem and nut is the culprit. you shouldn't be able to "freely" move the stem if the nut was properly torqued down.

[JB_96LTD]

sounds to me like the strut stem and nut is the culprit. you shouldn't be able to "freely" move the stem if the nut was properly torqued down.


If this is it bamachem, wonder how I can fix the problem??

[bamachem]

put a jack under one of the lower front A-arms and jack it up. when one side of the front suspension is slightly compressed, the bushing at the top of the top plate should still be nice and tight and so should the nut. if it's not, then spray some white grease, lube, etc on it, then use two wrenches (one to hold the stem and one to turn the nut) to tighten things down as good as you can.

repeat for the other side.

[JB_96LTD]

thanks bamachem. I will try that tomorrow and go from there.

[MTL_4runner]

The other thing you can do is to take out the strut assemblies, bring them down to a shop and have them compress the springs (to take pressure off the top plate) and hit the top nut with an impact gun (that's how I did mine). It's really hard to get them tight just doing it by hand.

Sounds like you found the issue anyway. :thumbup:

[JB_96LTD]

Thanks guys. You all have been a big help. I will let you know how it all turns out.
:thumbup:

Jason

[Lee]

also take a look at your steering rack bushings.

[gpcollen]

I bet the squeak is the Sway bar bushings. Slide under and have someone puch down on the hood to eliminate that one.