mystery undercarriage squeak

[marino]

i've got an 01 sr5 2wd that now has ~97k miles, and for the last 60k or so i've had an undercarriage squeak. i'm pretty handy with the truck, so i was wondering what to look for?

the brake pads are still stock (i don't believe it either) and have more life left on them, and the suspension is stock as well.

it doesn't occur when the truck is at a stop, but it's most noticeable when i'm driving around and the cab is shifting or hitting bumps...

does anyone else have this or know what it could be? i am a bass-head, so i haven't really noticed it since i've always had the radio cranked all the way up....

thanks in advance!

 

[lee]

probably your swaybar bushings. mine are dead too... i dont even hear the squeak anymore

 

[marino]

i don't suppose you might happen to know how difficult it is to change them out? or a how-to that might be posted somewhere on this....


thanks!

 

[GSGALLANT]

The best thing to do first is to crawl under your truck, and try shaking/wiggling any component that connects your wheels/axles to your frame (paying particular attention to balljoints and any components that have rubber bushings).

Any obvious looseness should be corrected (Normal bushings in good condition provide a bit of flexibility in the joint, but should not be loose.) If you find a bad one, let us know which one you want to replace. We can then offer details on the "how-to".

 

[lee]

yea. but you can spot a bad swaybar bushing in a second.. cause itll either be gone or broken in half

 

[marino]

first off, thanks for the replies!

it's raining here in atl, so i'll crawl under there in the next few days to check it out - then i'll post my findings.

thanks again!

 

[Cape yota]

I recently had to replace my swaybar bushings. It was real easy except for the fact that I broke the factory brackets trying to take them off. Order the energy suspensions greasable swaybar kit, you wont regret it. Here's a writeup.

http://www.yotatech.com/showthread.php?t=76361

 

[hossmaster]

On the brakes, my Tacoma is at 92k on the original pads and still have plenty of life on them. As for the squeek you mentioned cab is shifting, maybe one of your body mounts is loose or damaged. I would check those, swaybar busings as well as the mounting hardware for the swaybar. Ie where it attaches to the crossmember and to the lower control arm. Check the lower and upper coilover nuts, skidplate. Hell check anything that can be bolted down or tightened up front to back. Then go from there.

 

[marino]

i did a quick check on the rear bushings last night, and they seem to be ok. they don't look to be splitting or coming out of the mounts in any way.

i'll take some pics of what i find on the fronts and other parts to see if you guys can see anything i might be missing...

thanks again for all the help!

 

[marino]

well, everything on visual inspection looks ok... and it only starts squeaking after i've been driving for a bit...

i did notice that a few of the upper sway bar bushings seem to be dry-cracked. would that be the culprit?

thanks again!

 

[lee]

well, everything on visual inspection looks ok... and it only starts squeaking after i've been driving for a bit...

i did notice that a few of the upper sway bar bushings seem to be dry-cracked. would that be the culprit?

thanks again!

yes, probably. youre hearing metal-on-metal because the cracked bushing is bending too far or getting out of the way instead of stopping them from hitting.