Weird Squeak?

Dous

Dous

New member
Whenever I am in reverse the car makes a weird squeaking noise, that seems to correspond with the speed. Its not a constant squeak, it has a pause in between each squeak. The noise does not happen in drive, or when it is in neutral rolling back. I will see if I can get a video of the noise later. If you can identify this sound I would appreciate it! thanks!
 
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I'd check two things:

brakes: They could be warped, and when they're warped, the pad hits the rotor every revolution causing a squeak... more so the screech noise you hear when brakes go bad.

U-Joints: This just went bad on my 4Runner. Usually the noise is accompanied by vibration if this is the case, but it could be in the earlier stages. I don't believe the Toyota U-joints can be greased and maybe require replacement. The U-Joint still rotates as long as the rear wheels are rotating so this can very well be a cause.

Have a friend slowly drive forward and watch underneath and see if you can't hear where the noise is coming from.

Go to the 50 second mark and listen for it, you can actually hear the U-joint squeak in this video for a brief period, and it decreases with speed as I slow down.

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It sounds just like it does in your video, except it only does it in reverse? How much do you think it would cost to get the U-Joints replaced?
 
very helpful video C of B

I have a similar squeak going on since I installed my Ivan Stewart TRDs.

I was leaning towards U joints as well.

Really very helpful your use of this kind of modern technology C of Bodom.

This and your tail light lens replacement video are 3rd gen classic videos. Dang glad to have you around.

And those headers and exhaust note sound great.
 
Dous said:
It sounds just like it does in your video, except it only does it in reverse? How much do you think it would cost to get the U-Joints replaced?
Click to expand...

Oh my bad, I thought it said it was in both drive and reverse. I should have read your post more thoroughly.

If it's only squeaking in reverse, I had that problem once too, I never figured it out. It sounds like it should be the brakes, since the u-joints are in operation if the car is moving at all... and should make noise whether or not you're in gear.

I heard that the drums can make noise in reverse but I know what you're talking about, it almost sounds like rubber rubbing against a wet floor... squeak squeak squeak...

I never did anything about it but then my U-joints broke and I am not sure if they're related. It could be one of those mysteries that U joints are sneaky noise makers... they could be tricking us into thinking other things are problems...

My 4Runner is currently my driveway queen for the weekend. I am waiting for my differential to come in the mail which should be on Tuesday. I am taking my driveshaft to a local shop for balancing and I am planning to go to Toyota on monday to order new u joints. not sure of their cost yet. I will keep you posted.

If you're unsure of the squeak, take it to a Toyota dealership and they should diagnose it for free... if they're not a-holes.
 
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Ron Helmuth said:
I have a similar squeak going on since I installed my Ivan Stewart TRDs.

I was leaning towards U joints as well.

Really very helpful your use of this kind of modern technology C of Bodom.

This and your tail light lens replacement video are 3rd gen classic videos. Dang glad to have you around.

And those headers and exhaust note sound great.
Click to expand...

This is really weird, the noise, I am unsure if the noise still occurs because it was simply masked by the noise from the diff alone... I can't really test it and I hope it's gone by the time I get it all replaced.

And thank you Ron for all of your wonderful compliments :D *blushes*

There are many a helpful hand here and I am glad I could have been recognized as one.
 
I got near the car while a friend had it in reverse slowly and it appeared to be coming from the brakes, not the drive shaft. The rear brakes need replaced anyway so this will be a good excuse to go ahead and do it. How hard are the drum brakes to replace, I would prefer to do it myself, replace the drums and shoes
 
Dous said:
I got near the car while a friend had it in reverse slowly and it appeared to be coming from the brakes, not the drive shaft. The rear brakes need replaced anyway so this will be a good excuse to go ahead and do it. How hard are the drum brakes to replace, I would prefer to do it myself, replace the drums and shoes
Click to expand...

It's not extremely difficult but it's challenging for the first time. I say read a tutorial or two, get the required stuff, and go for it!

This is common on the 4Runner with the reverse squeak thing.
 
Old thread bump

Has anyone come across a solution for this or at least determined what's making the squeaking noise? My 4Runner just started doing this last week (sounds like a rubber squeak that's related to reverse speed but doesn't squeak when rolling backwards in neutral) and after crawling around underneath I can't find anything obviously wrong. I'm close to 230k miles so any number of things could be wearing out, but like I said it's pretty clean and tidy with no obvious signs. Also, I had my brakes inspected about 5k miles ago and everything came out ok... any ideas? Do I just live with it? Play it safe and take it to the stealership?
 
My son had a 94 P/U and it squeaked only in reverse. Replaced u-joints, problem solved. Took the old joint apart and found rust. Also had the same issue with my daughters 99 2wd 4runner.
 
My 2001 4wd started squeaking so I greased it. It was quiet for a while and now there is a little squeak when it is in reverse. Too many u joints to tell which one it is
 
I think I'm having the same issue..

I've been having a rotational noise, which is most evident with the windows down and while starting out (forward or reverse). I hear a squeaking noise that sounds almost like a chirping, and it gets faster as I roll faster.

I'm assuming it's coming from the rear driveshaft u-joint, and I plan on getting under there with a grease gun soon. I have heard horror stories about rear driveshafts on these things though - mainly I've heard that "if it's not vibrating, don't mess with it, because you're opening a can of worms".

I don't want to take it off, replace the u-joint, and end up with vibration issues or other issues that are worse than this annoying squeak.
 
Our '99 4R 3.4L (RWD) is doing the same thing. Rubber on floor squeak in reverse but does not squeak when rolling back in neutral. I was thinking it might be the transmission but I don't see how.

I check the u-joints and found these don't have grease zerts. Noise sounds like it's coming from the transmission area. If it does turn out the be the front u-joint I'm going to have to replace it. I tried spraying the front u-joint with PB blaster thinking it that affected the noise that would confirm the issue but it had no effect.

I'm going to try jacking the rear wheels off the ground and run it in reverse so I can climb under there an pin point where the squeak is coming from.

Anybody ever heard of a transmission making a noise like this?
 
Not sure if the PB Blaster did it but now the noise is only intermittent. I could not get it to do it but wife says it still does it sometimes. Not sure if this pin points to the front U-joint or not.
 
I am having the same issues. Squeaking while in reverse. It's very loud, though. My neighbors have taken notice from across the street a few times.

U-joints do not seem to have any give, but then again, I have not yet tested the u-joints with the rear wheels off the ground. A few YouTube videos suggest you need the rear jacked up to check them properly.

I'm going to go for replacing my drum brakes (they could still be the original, honestly) and see if that takes care of it. If not, it'll be new u-joints next.

BTO, post your findings if you happen to figure it out!
 
RevengEngine said:
I am having the same issues. Squeaking while in reverse. It's very loud, though. My neighbors have taken notice from across the street a few times.

U-joints do not seem to have any give, but then again, I have not yet tested the u-joints with the rear wheels off the ground. A few YouTube videos suggest you need the rear jacked up to check them properly.

I'm going to go for replacing my drum brakes (they could still be the original, honestly) and see if that takes care of it. If not, it'll be new u-joints next.

BTO, post your findings if you happen to figure it out!
Click to expand...

Here are my findings. Turned out is was the U-Joints causing the noise, the front one. I jacked up the rear and had my wife run it in reverse while pressing the brakes just enough to make the noise loudly. I crawled under and isolated the noise to the front U-joint.

I do almost every jobs myself on our vehicles but I didn't have the tools to press the U-joints out so I took it to our local shop. I gave them specific instructions to replace both U-joints. I figured if one U-joint was going bad the other one is probably ready to go too.

They replaced the U-joints and that fixed the squeak in reverse issue. Unfortunately we then had a new issue, a low frequency vibration noise at freeway speeds. We took the 4R back to the shop and they said the new U-joints were loose so they replace the keeper clips with thicker ones.

The vibration noise continued so we took it back again. This time they replaced the aftermarket U-joints they had installed with new dealer OEM U-joints and that fixed the vibrations.

The moral of the story is replace the U-Joints with Toyota U-Joints. That is the fix.


One week later we sold our 1999 4Runner. We now have a brand new 2018 4Runner TRD Off Road Premium. This thing is a beast!
 
BTO said:
Here are my findings. Turned out is was the U-Joints causing the noise, the front one. I jacked up the rear and had my wife run it in reverse while pressing the brakes just enough to make the noise loudly. I crawled under and isolated the noise to the front U-joint.

I do almost every jobs myself on our vehicles but I didn't have the tools to press the U-joints out so I took it to our local shop. I gave them specific instructions to replace both U-joints. I figured if one U-joint was going bad the other one is probably ready to go too.

They replaced the U-joints and that fixed the squeak in reverse issue. Unfortunately we then had a new issue, a low frequency vibration noise at freeway speeds. We took the 4R back to the shop and they said the new U-joints were loose so they replace the keeper clips with thicker ones.

The vibration noise continued so we took it back again. This time they replaced the aftermarket U-joints they had installed with new dealer OEM U-joints and that fixed the vibrations.

The moral of the story is replace the U-Joints with Toyota U-Joints. That is the fix.


One week later we sold our 1999 4Runner. We now have a brand new 2018 4Runner TRD Off Road Premium. This thing is a beast!
Click to expand...

Ok I forgot to log back in until just now, but turns out my issue was the u-joints, too. $250 and both replaced. I also had the shop replace my timing belt etc. along with it. As solid as ever, now.

Thanks for replying!
 
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