That's exactly how I described the sound when my spindle bushing failed. Coincidentally right after my lift.
LX450 Newbie - Intro thread (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter missbarilov
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Since you just did a lift, the FIRST thing I would check would be the U-Joints. They can sometimes make noises like this and since you have changed your driveline angle, they are now operating in a new wear pattern. Also check the slip yokes for grease.
Otherwise, it sounds like the spindle bushings in the front hub. Has your front axle been recently serviced? Check your grease levels in the knuckle balls. Adding grease may help, but not eliminate the problem. The reason the lift may have brought this on is because the caster angle has changed, so the wear pattern is in a new spot for the internal on the axles as well.
If you have not serviced the front axle, it's time.
Otherwise, it sounds like the spindle bushings in the front hub. Has your front axle been recently serviced? Check your grease levels in the knuckle balls. Adding grease may help, but not eliminate the problem. The reason the lift may have brought this on is because the caster angle has changed, so the wear pattern is in a new spot for the internal on the axles as well.
If you have not serviced the front axle, it's time.
Did it make that noise even if you had it in neutral ...and did the noise stop as soon as you applied the braie?
- Thread starter
- #44
yes and yes
Hmm I am leaning towards a bearing then ...
Interesante. I had that issue with loose lugnuts once. Applying the brakes would line things back up on that car. It was my sisters nissan. Different style brakes than an 80 though. i am sure you already ruled that out.
Interesante. I had that issue with loose lugnuts once. Applying the brakes would line things back up on that car. It was my sisters nissan. Different style brakes than an 80 though. i am sure you already ruled that out.
This is a good point. It would also indicate loose front wheel bearings and could be causing the spindle to bind. Check and correct front wheel bearings.
Jack A front corner up and block the axle (jack stand) grab the tire at 9 and 3 o'clock and wiggle/ push pull side to side...if there is slop it's a wheel bearing or needs tightened up, do the same at 12 and 6, slop equals same as above. You can remove the drive flange and spin that individual tire to check for grinding or catching that may indicate a bearing failure or excessive spindle wear. Last time I heard a noise like that the bearings had gone dry and the inner race was intermittently spinning on the spindle which is bad news. It will either wear the spindle eccentric or temper it to the point of weakening to failure. Definitely check wheel bearings with the tires on first and if you're unsure work your way inboard. Best of luck.
Too bad I moved, I would totally helped you on some of the stuff. I was in Newbury Park, just a short skip and hope away from Santa Paula. Think there are a few Mudders near by, try some of the club houses. Most mudders are cool and willing to help. Definitely get a jack, and some jack stands. I turned to DIY after multiple paid repairs that I had to do over myself.
If you don’t mind the drive Brandon at TDC motors in Santa Clarita has done a bunch of work on my cars that I am happy with. He is honest and won’t over charge.
If you don’t mind the drive Brandon at TDC motors in Santa Clarita has done a bunch of work on my cars that I am happy with. He is honest and won’t over charge.
- Thread starter
- #49
Hello friends, gents, ladies, fellow countrymen! I thought it’d be fun to look back on this thread after so many years with an update on my personal journey
Since I posted this, my husband and I took the truck all over Nevada and through most of Death Valley, Mojave and the Inyo mountains. We never did get sliders or bumpers and just stuck with the 2” OME on 33 AT BFG KO2s with no running boards.
For 6 years we didn’t find a trail we wanted to go on that the truck could not handle. We never got stuck, although we did take some wrong lines and learned some lessons.
The engine continued to struggle with overheating even after a blue fan clutch swap and in November 2022, it finally error coded misfire on cylinder 6. After I back-flushed the coolant, the gunk holding it all together came loose and we got the dreaded milkshake.
We decided that we would do the head gasket ourselves and with the help of OTRAM, the good guys at the Toyota parts desk, and the holy book of FSM, we got it done. The long pole in the tent was the machine shop which took 3 weeks to turn it around, so the whole process took about 2 months.
We discovered that the coolant system was not upgraded like we thought and replaced all the coolant hoses, engine hoses, sent the fuel injectors to be cleaned, got new spark plugs, new gaskets all over the place, flushed the power steering and got new hoses, rebuilt the starter, etc etc etc. basically rebuilt the entire top end with all the “while we’re in there’s” all OEM from Toyota.
It runs like a top now! And I feel like a lot less of a “newbie” although we are still very much learning.
A few months ago I finally convinced my husband to consider lockers or going up to 35s after we finally ran into a problem we couldn’t comfortably meander
So we placed an order for White Knuckle sliders and I am googling various components of the suspension system to learn what the heck castor is and what I need to get up to 35s.
Very grateful to this community and all the help I’ve gotten over the past years to get to this point. Looking forward to leaning and doing more with this beastly machine.
Since I posted this, my husband and I took the truck all over Nevada and through most of Death Valley, Mojave and the Inyo mountains. We never did get sliders or bumpers and just stuck with the 2” OME on 33 AT BFG KO2s with no running boards.
For 6 years we didn’t find a trail we wanted to go on that the truck could not handle. We never got stuck, although we did take some wrong lines and learned some lessons.
The engine continued to struggle with overheating even after a blue fan clutch swap and in November 2022, it finally error coded misfire on cylinder 6. After I back-flushed the coolant, the gunk holding it all together came loose and we got the dreaded milkshake.
We decided that we would do the head gasket ourselves and with the help of OTRAM, the good guys at the Toyota parts desk, and the holy book of FSM, we got it done. The long pole in the tent was the machine shop which took 3 weeks to turn it around, so the whole process took about 2 months.
We discovered that the coolant system was not upgraded like we thought and replaced all the coolant hoses, engine hoses, sent the fuel injectors to be cleaned, got new spark plugs, new gaskets all over the place, flushed the power steering and got new hoses, rebuilt the starter, etc etc etc. basically rebuilt the entire top end with all the “while we’re in there’s” all OEM from Toyota.
It runs like a top now! And I feel like a lot less of a “newbie” although we are still very much learning.
A few months ago I finally convinced my husband to consider lockers or going up to 35s after we finally ran into a problem we couldn’t comfortably meander
So we placed an order for White Knuckle sliders and I am googling various components of the suspension system to learn what the heck castor is and what I need to get up to 35s.
Very grateful to this community and all the help I’ve gotten over the past years to get to this point. Looking forward to leaning and doing more with this beastly machine.
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Seems like your husband knows how to play the game!
Congrats on getting it all done yourselves!
Awesome posts!
Going w/lockers and staying with 33s might be the easier play. Even "just" rear lockers open up a whole bunch of terrain.
Going to 35" IS badass, but really will require a gearing change.
Happy trails,
Enjoy the journey
Agreed with this. 33s, lockers, and stock height has gotten me everywhere I needed to go so far. Just scrape the hitch and rockers every once in a while.
If you getting Lockers now's the time to do the gears, 35s are a easy fit and the way to go. 37s are where most people end up.
With 35s you could also do the 10* under drive gears in the transfer case !
With 35s you could also do the 10* under drive gears in the transfer case !
- Thread starter
- #54
This was my reasoning exactly - if we’re getting into the weeds to put in lockers, we might as well re-gear now if we know we will eventually go up on the tire size, which I think will give us more confidence on tricky stuff and a smoother ride in the desert.
I totally agree with the sentiment of lockers are probably all we’ll need to get through 99% of whatever we’ll encounter though!
