Awful suspension squeak (2 Viewers)

[drowzyGX]

Trying to chase down a terrible suspension squeak that has my GX470 sounding like a jalopy.

Had a Lexus shop swear up and down that it’s the sway bar bushings. It’s not.

I pulled off the KDSS front sway bar and the bushings. If someone stands on the passenger side rock slider and bounces a bit, there’s a terrible rubber on metal squeak.

I’m at a loss.

front lower control arms are oem with about 20K miles on them. Uppers are SPC with the same mileage.

Squeak happens whenever the truck encounters the slightest bump - anything that makes the suspension travel.

Any thoughts?

 

[Tacticus]

I was told the best way to troubleshoot any issues like this is to take WD-40 or some kind of spray similar and soaked down the under side of your vehicle in the areas you think the squeak is coming from and saturate the area especially if you can point it out. And basically systematically spray it down until you can narrow down where it's coming from. For example you may start and spray an entire area, And then from an area once you figure out where it's coming from then you spray down a certain component. Not sure if that helps but that's what it was told to me

 

[drowzyGX]

I was told the best way to troubleshoot any issues like this is to take WD-40 or some kind of spray similar and soaked down the under side of your vehicle in the areas you think the squeak is coming from and saturate the area especially if you can point it out. And basically systematically spray it down until you can narrow down where it's coming from. For example you may start and spray an entire area, And then from an area once you figure out where it's coming from then you spray down a certain component. Not sure if that helps but that's what it was told to me

I really love the brilliance of how simple that troubleshooting method is. Thank you!

I was all ready to put the truck on jack stands, take apart / inspect most of the front suspension this week.

Your solution is a much better next step.

 

[Tacticus]

I really love the brilliance of how simple that troubleshooting method is. Thank you!

I was all ready to put the truck on jack stands, take apart / inspect most of the front suspension this week.

Your solution is a much better next step.

Excellent I'm really glad that seemed to get you in a good direction let me know how that goes. Good luck

 

[phishtaco]

Mine appears to be the lower strut mount of my Fox coilo vers.

 

[drowzyGX]

So I tried a heavy coat of WD-40 on:

- front coilover mounts, upper and lower
- lower control arm bushings
- upper control arm bushings

No difference at all in the squeak.

Any thoughts on what else is worth checking?

 

[Rednexus]

A few other possible sources:

1. Coil spring to shock contact. Happened with my Ironman FCP shocks every time I went over a bump. Went away when I doused them in PB blaster. Ironman gave me a new set under warranty for free. You could douse the entire shock and coil area to see if this fixes it or now.
2. Front driveshaft. This is usually a "clunk" but is worth checking as these rigs have noisy drivelines. Greasing all 4 U-joints and 2 slip yolks is a good idea anyway.

Another option would be to lay underneath the rig while a buddy jumps up and down on the slider (not moving and turned off of course) to see if you can ID the location.

 

[drowzyGX]

Thanks @Rednexus!

I’ll give that a try. Familiar with the clunk, and I don’t think it’s that. This is 100% of the time I hit any bump or uneven terrain.

I put the car on jack stands and removed the upper control arm from the spindle. I moved the UCA up and down by hand: no squeaks.

So, positive is that I can rule that out. I sprayed down the coilover. Will put the wheel back on tomorrow, and see if the squeak is present / as bad.

 

[drowzyGX]

Removed the coilover and wheel hub from the lower control arm. Pushed it down and up by hand. So it was rotating only on the cam bolts.

No squeak! Ugh, I’m glad to rule things out, but I’m confused by where the squeak is coming from.

Gonna clean off the LCA and the coilover, then re-attach everything. Lower the truck down and check for squeaks.

Hoping it’s just where the coilover mounts to the LCA - maybe gunk got into where the bolt goes?

 

[McDuff123]

Maybe it’s that loose nut behind the wheel?

 

[Tacticus]

A few other possible sources:

1. Coil spring to shock contact. Happened with my Ironman FCP shocks every time I went over a bump. Went away when I doused them in PB blaster. Ironman gave me a new set under warranty for free. You could douse the entire shock and coil area to see if this fixes it or now.
2. Front driveshaft. This is usually a "clunk" but is worth checking as these rigs have noisy drivelines. Greasing all 4 U-joints and 2 slip yolks is a good idea anyway.

Another option would be to lay underneath the rig while a buddy jumps up and down on the slider (not moving and turned off of course) to see if you can ID the location.

Ahh I forget to mention about having a buddy jump and down on the truck lol that's the best part good catch there rednexus

 

[drowzyGX]

Maybe it’s that loose nut behind the wheel?

lol, touché

 

[drowzyGX]

This may be a stupid question, but could this be from bad body mount bushings?

The sound is definitely rubber on metal. I took an old, bad sway bar bushing and twisted it around the sway bar. Made the same sound.

I’ve just chased down all the obvious (to me) candidates on the suspension: sway bar bushings, control arm bushings upper and lower, and cleaned up the coilovers and where they mount.

 

[drowzyGX]

Squeak identified: the icon coilovers were the culprits.

Blasted both pistons with white lithium spray, and the truck is dead silent.

Disappointing to see this happen after only 23K miles of highway use. Have yet to take this thing off road, let alone beat on it off road.

Will probably look elsewhere for suspension this next go around