Help! A squeak! Driver front wheel well

[ct__tacoma]

Truck just started with a loud squeak coming from the front driver wheel well. I notice it even over smaller bumps in road and can reproduce it by rocking the truck enough to cause at least an inch of suspension cycling. All hardware is torqued to spec. Anything greasable has been regularly maintained.

Putting an ear/hand close/on various parts, I feel it most in the coilover spring and the arms of the lower control arm while the truck is being rocked. Nothing appears out of order, normal surface corrosion on OEM stuff.

Any immediate ideas? Truck goes into the shop in a week or two regardless to get new tires mounted when they arrive, but I’d love to solve this as it’s quite an obnoxious sound.

 

[mgmyota]

Lower ball joint maybe? Check the coilover spring and make sure it’s not broken. If everything is greased properly then it’s going to be something dumb probably since you’re truck isn’t crazy old or really high milage lol

 

[ct__tacoma]

Hmm great ideas—I’ll take a closer look in the morning

 

[ct__tacoma]

Lower ball joint maybe? Check the coilover spring and make sure it’s not broken. If everything is greased properly then it’s going to be something dumb probably since you’re truck isn’t crazy old or really high milage lol

Spring seems okay. I noticed some grease near the LCA ball joints on driver and passenger side but the boots look intact.

I also noticed today that it occurs at very low speed when I start accelerating forward or reverse. Also seems to be worse while turning steering wheel at low speed.

For what it’s worth now I think it’s more of a creak than a squeak. Not to be confused with bleeps and bloops.

 

[mgmyota]

Spring seems okay. I noticed some grease near the LCA ball joints on driver and passenger side but the boots look intact.

I also noticed today that it occurs at very low speed when I start accelerating forward or reverse. Also seems to be worse while turning steering wheel at low speed.

For what it’s worth now I think it’s more of a creak than a squeak. Not to be confused with bleeps and bloops.

Outer tie rod maybe? Or cv axle. Have you swapped out the needle bearing in the front diff?

 

[mgmyota]

I used to have a really gross sounding screech kind of sound when I would turn hard left till about lockout. It’s was in my front passenger hub area. One day it just stopped and hasn’t been back . These trucks make some weird sounds sometimes. I have new sounds I’m trying to figure out currently. Maybe they’ll just go away too lol

 

[ct__tacoma]

Jaja it did go away for the first fifteen seconds of my drive this morning, and then came back. I would love for that magic to happen and it disappear.

I did swap out the needle bearing. I tried throwing it in 4Hi which didn’t change the sound either. How would I isolate the tie rod or CV to see if that’s the source? I almost miss my leaf packs squeaking at this point

 

[mgmyota]

Jaja it did go away for the first fifteen seconds of my drive this morning, and then came back. I would love for that magic to happen and it disappear.

I did swap out the needle bearing. I tried throwing it in 4Hi which didn’t change the sound either. How would I isolate the tie rod or CV to see if that’s the source? I almost miss my leaf packs squeaking at this point

You could technically remove the whole cv axle and drive in 2wd. This leaves your diff open where the cv input is though so obviously be careful and don’t drive like this for anything other than testing purposes

 

[ct__tacoma]

Spent some time under the truck with my old EMS stethoscope and a screw driver listening and feeling while my kid brother jumped on the truck for a half hour. I’m 99% sure the creak is coming from the coilover.

Doesn’t seem to be the lower shock mount as there isn’t enough movement to account for the sound. The top hat and upper shock mount into it all look normal and again aren’t moving enough to cause the sound.

That leaves either the spring itself or the strut. The latter of which visually looks completely normal.

So I did some reading in truck and other forums in general and one possibility is that the preload (which I didn’t adjust from when Elka shipped them out) might need to be increased as the springs could be turning a little? Who knows but I’m going to just match the preload to the passenger side and see what happens.

On that note, I would have thought the passenger side would have shipped with less preload than the driver to make up for the taco lean, but mine were marked the opposite.

I’ll report back.

Edit: someone wasn’t thinking ahead when installing their coilovers and left the Allen bolt facing the wrong way, so now he can’t loosen the collar to adjust preload, nor do I have the time to take everything apart this week. Oh well. Doesn’t seem critical, just obnoxious sounding and attention drawing.

 

[mgmyota]

Spent some time under the truck with my old EMS stethoscope and a screw driver listening and feeling while my kid brother jumped on the truck for a half hour. I’m 99% sure the creak is coming from the coilover.

Doesn’t seem to be the lower shock mount as there isn’t enough movement to account for the sound. The top hat and upper shock mount into it all look normal and again aren’t moving enough to cause the sound.

That leaves either the spring itself or the strut. The latter of which visually looks completely normal.

So I did some reading in truck and other forums in general and one possibility is that the preload (which I didn’t adjust from when Elka shipped them out) might need to be increased as the springs could be turning a little? Who knows but I’m going to just match the preload to the passenger side and see what happens.

On that note, I would have thought the passenger side would have shipped with less preload than the driver to make up for the taco lean, but mine were marked the opposite.

I’ll report back.

So you’re saying the collar might be loose? Should be able to take care of that pretty easily

 

[ct__tacoma]

So you’re saying the collar might be loose? Should be able to take care of that pretty easily

I’m not sure the collar is loose, I mean to say that it just may need more preload, though I went full droop today and there wasn’t any play in the spring so that idea may be null.

I did find this in a Chevy Colorado Forum: this creak is exactly the sound I get…

Original link: https://vimeo.com/110741682?cjevent=84dd1655f36c11e8807d002e0a1c0e0c

 

[mgmyota]

I’m not sure the collar is loose, I mean to say that it just may need more preload, though I went full droop today and there wasn’t any play in the spring so that idea may be null.

I did find this in a Chevy Colorado Forum: this creak is exactly the sound I get…

Original link: https://vimeo.com/110741682?cjevent=84dd1655f36c11e8807d002e0a1c0e0c

Hmm definitely a metal creaking sound. Personally I would pull the shock out when you have time so you can check the lower shock mount bearing and check the spring and collar out easier. Might find any wear easier doing that. Or try calling elka themselves and see what they say. Sorry I’m not much more help lol. I feel your pain though

 

[ct__tacoma]

Hmm definitely a metal creaking sound. Personally I would pull the shock out when you have time so you can check the lower shock mount bearing and check the spring and collar out easier. Might find any wear easier doing that. Or try calling elka themselves and see what they say. Sorry I’m not much more help lol. I feel your pain though

Yeah, I definitely want to pull it and give it a once over. I’ll likely give Elka a call in the morning tomorrow, won’t have enough time at work today. You are plenty of help, I appreciate being able to bounce this off someone with more experience than myself. Hopefully your driveline sound gets figured out too jaja

 

[drizzoh]

Seen this on the other forum a few times and usually the culprit was one of the front body mounts. Check those out and see how the bushings look.

 

[ct__tacoma]

Seen this on the other forum a few times and usually the culprit was one of the front body mounts. Check those out and see how the bushings look.

I’ll take a look tonight after work, thanks for the insight

 

[ct__tacoma]

@drizzoh mounts both look the same, I don’t see fresh metal scraping or rusting, and the bushings look okay. The creak is loudest and felt the harshest with my hand on the spring of the coilover.

I’m also now getting body roll when turning right and loading the driver side coilover. The passenger side still feels tight on turns. I’m really starting to think that it’s the spring, which is surprising because I don’t abuse or overload these shocks and they’ve been on the truck for less than a year and a half.

 

[drizzoh]

Man that's a bummer. The coil just goes up and down so it shouldn't make any difference when turning. Sounding more like a ball joint, especially if you saw grease leaking out of one. Would lean more towards the UCA bushings or bj than the spring/coilover assembly. The only time I've heard a coilover making noise on a truck is from the bottom misalignment spacer sphericle bushing making noise, but that's usually after 5 years or so and just a little squeak.

Could also be a sway bar bushing or endlink - especially if the sway is in a new position than it was prior to doing the lift (if the lift is new). It comes off in about 20 min if you have the factory black skids, quick test.

It's so hard to diagnose someone elses front end noises thru the internet lol.

 

[ct__tacoma]

It's so hard to diagnose someone elses front end noises thru the internet lol.

It’s basically a game of telephone jaja

I did the sway bar relocation that came directly from elka when I put in the lift last year. I do have the factory skid and pulled it yesterday to inspect the sway bar and bushings.

How would I go about checking the bushings or end links? I did put a stethoscope on them yesterday while I was running through everything. And didn’t feel any weird vibes with a finger or screwdriver on them.

 

[drizzoh]

Quickest way is to just unhook the endlinks on each side then cycle the suspension and see if you still have the squeak.

This is a good time to remove the sway completely and throw it in the dumpster

 

[ct__tacoma]

Quickest way is to just unhook the endlinks on each side then cycle the suspension and see if you still have the squeak.

This is a good time to remove the sway completely and throw it in the dumpster

Sounds easy enough, I’ll give that a rip after work.

Ha! ..at this rate, may do just that

 

[Smitty]

It's a Toyoda, she fine. Run it

 

[ct__tacoma]

Wife and I took a trip to VT for a wedding on Friday, and wouldn’t you know it: climb in this morning and the sound is gone!

Going to bring it to the shop Monday for a checkup on that corner just to be sure no gremlins are still afoot, and… for new tire mounting

 

[Relytaco]

Reviving this thread because I have this exact issue and swear it's the spring, too! Did you ever swap the spring/strut or find a solution?

 

[ct__tacoma]

Reviving this thread because I have this exact issue and swear it's the spring, too! Did you ever swap the spring/strut or find a solution?

What are the actual odds. Your timing is impeccable. Finally going to swap out the coilover next week. It’s still creaking, sometimes it’ll stop for a few weeks. Temperature seems to play a role. Truck performance is unchanged. My guess is the spring came loose from the perch but I will absolutely report back once it’s off and if there’s a clear cause. Or at least if the problem stops when the pro takeoffs go in.

Thanks for checking in

 

[NS-Tacoma]

Good Evening
Wondering if you found the issue? I’m having the same problem with my Elka’s. Was it the shock spring or the lower bearing?

 

[PineapplePine]

Reviving the thread, I also have this problem. Replaced the sway bar links and tie rods (inner and outer) helped a little but still pretty much there, gonna put new uca and lca in a couple weeks to see if it fixes it. Also my driver side knocks once every so often when I start a turn but only once.

 

[drizzoh]

Generally seen this with the front body mounts or the lower shock bushings. Have not seen it caused by the UCA on these trucks, but could be anything. One of those things that's hard to tell without hearing it in person.