SalsaRed
New member
Hey guys, I'm hoping I can borrow a little of all of your knowledge to get my 4Runner in top shape and make me feel a little better about being able to fix my mistakes. I've been searching this forum and all over the internet and my symptoms don't seem to match up to any one cause. I know of a few things I have recently done that may be the cause, but before I get into those I will describe the symptoms.
-At highway speeds (usually 70-80 mph for me) I notice a slight shaking/vibration. This is not to an annoying level yet and is most likely just a tire needing to be balanced again, but worth noting in case it is part of a larger problem.
-When driving around 20-40 mph with the windows down (and I usually have to be next to a building, another car, trees, or something to reflect the sound) I can hear a "whish whish whish" noise. It almost sounds like a tree full of little birds chirping rhythmically. Turning and braking seem to have no effect on this sound.
-I recently started getting a pretty loud squeak when braking. When it started it was just in the mornings when I was in reverse, but now it is almost every time I break. The squeak doesn't start until I've slowed down to about 5-10 mph.
As part of my investigating the cause of these problems I realized that I'm getting some binding when the front suspension is at full droop. The driver side binding isn't too bad and can be spun past by hand. The passenger side, however, is very pronounced. I was able to spin past the binding by hand but quickly decided not to do that anymore, as when I could feel the binding occur I could see the entire front diff moving around until it got past the binding. :wow::wow:
I haven't found anyone mention this happening, is something really messed up? When I'm at full droop, the passenger side axle is at a very weird looking angle. My UCA's are touching my coils on both the passenger and driver sides.
I then jacked the passenger side up by the LCA and checked to see if there was any binding when it wasn't at full droop. I couldn't feel any binding anymore, but I could hear a (quiet) strange squishing sound that seemed to come from inside one of the CV boots.
Can anyone help me pinpoint what is causing this? I'll try to post pics tonight after work if I can.
As far as things that have been recently replaced and shouldn't be the cause (unless I screwed something up)
-Brake pads and rotors replaced in the past 5000 miles (OEM front, Duralast Gold rear)
-Serpentine belt replaced in the last 5000 miles
-Passenger side CV replaced in the last 10000 miles (Cardone Select - may be causing the binding)
-Driver side wheel bearing/hub assembly replaced in the last 5000 miles (JerseyBuilt Hubs - when I replaced this something definitely isn't right, as I have a gap similar to what [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] had, but not as large. No matter how I tightened the hub bolts and axle nut down it would back the CV out about 1/8" one the hub bolts were torqued to spec. Everything was torqued to spec and I tried pounding it in, taking a wire brush to the mating surfaces, and greasing the surfaces up)
-Front diff carrier assembly and drive shaft replaced by dealer in the last 10000 miles (I believe it was due to the gear slack that a TSB was put out for a while back, either way the replacement stopped the grinding that I was hearing at the time and it hasn't returned)
-Driveshaft zerks have all been greased in the last 5000 miles (although I might double check that I didn't miss one)
And just to post before someone asks, my set up is as follows
-Bilstein 5100's on bottom notch with Toytec 2.5" coils and top plate spacer for a combined lift of ~3"
-Camburg BJ UCA's
-I do NOT have a diff drop
-At highway speeds (usually 70-80 mph for me) I notice a slight shaking/vibration. This is not to an annoying level yet and is most likely just a tire needing to be balanced again, but worth noting in case it is part of a larger problem.
-When driving around 20-40 mph with the windows down (and I usually have to be next to a building, another car, trees, or something to reflect the sound) I can hear a "whish whish whish" noise. It almost sounds like a tree full of little birds chirping rhythmically. Turning and braking seem to have no effect on this sound.
-I recently started getting a pretty loud squeak when braking. When it started it was just in the mornings when I was in reverse, but now it is almost every time I break. The squeak doesn't start until I've slowed down to about 5-10 mph.
As part of my investigating the cause of these problems I realized that I'm getting some binding when the front suspension is at full droop. The driver side binding isn't too bad and can be spun past by hand. The passenger side, however, is very pronounced. I was able to spin past the binding by hand but quickly decided not to do that anymore, as when I could feel the binding occur I could see the entire front diff moving around until it got past the binding. :wow::wow:
I haven't found anyone mention this happening, is something really messed up? When I'm at full droop, the passenger side axle is at a very weird looking angle. My UCA's are touching my coils on both the passenger and driver sides.
I then jacked the passenger side up by the LCA and checked to see if there was any binding when it wasn't at full droop. I couldn't feel any binding anymore, but I could hear a (quiet) strange squishing sound that seemed to come from inside one of the CV boots.
Can anyone help me pinpoint what is causing this? I'll try to post pics tonight after work if I can.
As far as things that have been recently replaced and shouldn't be the cause (unless I screwed something up)
-Brake pads and rotors replaced in the past 5000 miles (OEM front, Duralast Gold rear)
-Serpentine belt replaced in the last 5000 miles
-Passenger side CV replaced in the last 10000 miles (Cardone Select - may be causing the binding)
-Driver side wheel bearing/hub assembly replaced in the last 5000 miles (JerseyBuilt Hubs - when I replaced this something definitely isn't right, as I have a gap similar to what [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] had, but not as large. No matter how I tightened the hub bolts and axle nut down it would back the CV out about 1/8" one the hub bolts were torqued to spec. Everything was torqued to spec and I tried pounding it in, taking a wire brush to the mating surfaces, and greasing the surfaces up)
-Front diff carrier assembly and drive shaft replaced by dealer in the last 10000 miles (I believe it was due to the gear slack that a TSB was put out for a while back, either way the replacement stopped the grinding that I was hearing at the time and it hasn't returned)
-Driveshaft zerks have all been greased in the last 5000 miles (although I might double check that I didn't miss one)
And just to post before someone asks, my set up is as follows
-Bilstein 5100's on bottom notch with Toytec 2.5" coils and top plate spacer for a combined lift of ~3"
-Camburg BJ UCA's
-I do NOT have a diff drop
