Front suspension creaks at longer downtravel - what else should I check?
 

When I'm going over a speed hump (the longer, smoother less harsh ones compared to speed bumps), I'm getting a metallic-ish creaking noise when the suspension droops after hitting leading edge of the hump and getting ready to 'land'. The noise basically happens as the suspension hits some downtravel state.

I thought it was my swaybar hitting the rad support and grinding, which I knew it has been contact as I saw marks. Pulled skid, put a few washers on the support and bolted it back - clearance looks good now. Went for a test-ride and no noise. Great!

Bolt the skid back on and go to run an errand and the noise is back. Back to the garage - tightened all skid bolts including the skids I didn't remove. Some were a little loose. Still makes noise.

Alright, screw it. I'm due to grease the UCAs anyway. Loosened the through-bolts, greased. Greased the upper ball joint for the UCA as well. Done.

She still makes the noise. It's def a creaky/rubbing kinda noise and sort of sounds metallic, but I could be wrong. Although I will say that the noise seems to be LESS now after UCA greasing, so it's possible that the grease in the UCA bushings needs some time (suspension cycles) to work its way around the full bushing. Maybe that's why the noise seems to be less prominent.

Final theory is that the washer I added on the lower rad support wasn't enough to fully clearance the swaybar when it's moving. In this case, it will self-correct with time. There really isn't that much overlap on contact.


Here's where I'm stumped.

It seems that there's correlation with the skid being off and no noise. There is also correlation of the noise happening when suspension is at lower droop. I don't hear this noise around town unless I'm hitting a speed hump. I DO hear this noise when wheeling up an incline with suspension movement. I do NOT hear it AS MUCH when going down hill on the trail. So it seems that suspension state matters.

If ya'll think I missed a point to check, please let me know.

Setup:
King 2.5, Icon UCAs

Bumparooski. Anyone?

I would check the lower spherical bearing in the shock. I'm squeak like crazy when those wear out. The other place to look is the lower shock shaft - they can twist a little bit in the lower control arm mounting area between the two tabs, and if the aluminum of the lower shock eye area rubs against the steel of the lower control arm, that can also squeak like crazy.

Check the rubber hood supports/stops in the engine bay. Turn them to raise them up just a touch and see if the squeak goes away. I chased a mystery squeak for months and it was totally this.

I had the same problem with my 2019 SR5. That squeak was driving me crazy. I heard it just driving around town, dips in the road, speed bumps, manhole covers, etc would set it off. But rough Forest Service roads never made it squeak. Two different mechanics could not find the problem. Finally, discovered the problem was the hood latch. I oiled that up this morning and the squeak is gone!

Just want to say that I have had this creak for three years, and tried the hood supports fix, and it worked!

Just to close the loop on this, I was still getting a slight creak, so I wd40’d the hood support struts and the hood latch, and now it is completely gone.

Ah, great points, thank you. It seems to have gone for now after my UCA greasing, so it could have been that. It's been a few days and miles and the grease may have worked its way around the bushing.