Creak driving me crazy (1 Viewer)

[mtnracer]

So on Thursday I had my long time Toyota dealer (usually do a great job) install my new ProStop rotors, new Toyota pads and do an oil change.

On my way home I noticed a new creaking sound coming from somewhere but thought it was just something loose in the cargo area. The new rotors and pads are amazing.

So driving around Friday, Saturday and today I notice the creaking more and more. It only happens when there are dips or bumps in the road. I cannot recreate the creak when the truck is parked - even when I rock it side to side violently by grabbing the roof rack or the doors.

The creak also seems to be unrelated to the new breaks.

I had the wife drive and sat in the back seat and I can clearly hear it coming from the area under the driver seat - I can feel a vibration every time I hear the creak. Looking under the truck the only thing I can see is a body mount bushing, the torsion bar bolt and the panhard bar mount. Everything "looks" normal and rocking the truck does nothing to generate a creak from any of them.

It is driving me nuts. Has anyone else come across this or have any ideas?

I will probably take it back to the dealer in the morning.

Thanks.

 

[paflytyer]

Sounds like time to replace your rear sway bar bushings, had the same noise on mine. Try standing on your sliders near the rear wheel and grab your roof rack and rock back and forth as hard as you can. (like you're trying to flip the truck over, not just bouncing up and down) It takes a lot of force to get them to squeak. Or, just hit them with WD-40 and see if that stops it.

 

[spressomon]

Along with checking your front and rear ^^^ anti-sway bar bushings it might also be the OME polyurethane shock bushings...mine used to creak terribly. Spray the bushings with silicone spray to see if this might be your culprit (all 8 bushings). Then if the squeak goes away I'd pull the shocks and lube the bushings with Energy Suspension polyurethane lube: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ENS-9-11104/

Its tenacious stuff...but it works for the intended purpose.

Good idea to check your front upper and lower ball joints and front upper control arm bushings. Ditto for the rear upper and lower control arm bushings...they seem to last about 150k or so.

 

[mtnracer]

Thanks for the tips. So you think the body mount bushings are okay?

What puzzles me is that I can't make it creak by rocking the beast side to side. I really tried pretty hard. Maybe I need to try harder.

 

[spressomon]

Pretty rare for it to be caused by your body mounts. Unless you've installed a body lift or had some other reason to have loosened them...

 

[12guns]

Mine has a similar squeak/creak when I'm off road or on a big enough bump to work the suspension. I suspect the sway bar bushings, they look old. Mine doesn't do it around town yet, so I haven't tried spraying lube on it. My old Tacoma did the same thing but it turned out to be control arm bushings. The mechanic that changed mine out told me NOT to use WD40, but use silicone spray instead (as mentioned in previous post). Worth a squirt, maybe it'll stop for a while. That'll help locate your problem for sure. Good luck!

 

[paflytyer]

Mine has a similar squeak/creak when I'm off road or on a big enough bump to work the suspension. I suspect the sway bar bushings, they look old. Mine doesn't do it around town yet, so I haven't tried spraying lube on it. My old Tacoma did the same thing but it turned out to be control arm bushings. The mechanic that changed mine out told me NOT to use WD40, but use silicone spray instead (as mentioned in previous post). Worth a squirt, maybe it'll stop for a while. That'll help locate your problem for sure. Good luck!

Probably good advice on the wd40, silicone spray would be better. I used 3m Teflon spray the first time, but the squeak came right back. WD40 worked better until I could replace them. Once they're no good, it's time to replace them anyway so I didn't worry about the wd40.

Mine started out off road only, but it didn't take long for it to happen during daily driving.

Took me a while to figure out where the squeak was coming from. I really had to rock my truck hard to hear it. My wife is pretty small and she couldn't replicate the squeak. I had to have my brother get on it while I crawled underneath. It will get worse and easier to replicate too.

 

[mtnracer]

I will definitely try the silicon spray.

Is it not kind of weird that it started right after the dealer put it on a lift to do my brakes? I hate coincidences like that.

 

[mtnracer]

One more question to those who have had similar creaks:

Did it seem like the creaks were coming from somewhere else? When I am inside the truck riding in the backseat it seems very clear that the creak is coming from underneath the driver seat.

 

[paflytyer]

It wasn't until I had my Brother climb on my truck and rock it back and forth could I find it. I swore mine was in the front somewhere, but once you get under the truck and hear it, it's easy to find.

 

[agaisin]

One more question to those who have had similar creaks:

Did it seem like the creaks were coming from somewhere else? When I am inside the truck riding in the backseat it seems very clear that the creak is coming from underneath the driver seat.

not saying it's your issue but if you literally meant it souds like it's coming from under the driver seat i beleive there is a tsb about driver's seat squeaking (cant remember des like the years etc). i imagine you could reproduce that by shifting your weight in every direction while in the drivers seat.

 

[highonpottery]

I will definitely try the silicon spray.

Is it not kind of weird that it started right after the dealer put it on a lift to do my brakes? I hate coincidences like that.

putting it on the lift is probably what caused it - fully unloading suspension might have put some weird strain on the bushings, and possibly even rotated one ever so slightly, enough that it now is in a new position and squeaks.

probably a good idea just to spray all your bushings in general...hmmm, that reminds me - guess i got a project for this evening...

 

[lhommec13]

I have the same creaking noise on my 2002 with 141k miles on the clock. It started recently and drove me nuts initially. I have gotten used to it, but I'm glad someone else started a thread on it. I will pick up some silicone spray and get under the truck to see where it might be coming from. Thanks OP and all contributors

 

[mtnracer]

Okay...finally made some diagnostic progress when I got to work this morning.

The creak (very metallic sounding) was extra loud and I was able to replicate it by rocking the truck side to side while it was still running. I checked under the truck while my co-worker rocked the truck. It was not coming from any of the bushings. It sounded like it was right under the driver seat in the body or frame or something but I could not find the source.

Another oddity: As soon as I shut off the truck the creak goes away!!! WTF

Not sure where to go from here?

 

[paflytyer]

Check your sliders. If you just had work done on your truck and they put it on the lift, I bet your DS slider moved just a little from the weight and is making contact with the body or moving slightly on the frame. When your truck is running the vibration is causing the enough movement and its rubbing metal to metal.

Either tighten down your slider bolts, or even better, loosen them and reposition your slider and then crank down on them again. I bet that will solve your issue.

 

[mtnracer]

Check your sliders. If you just had work done on your truck and they put it on the lift, I bet your DS slider moved just a little from the weight and is making contact with the body or moving slightly on the frame. When your truck is running the vibration is causing the enough movement and its rubbing metal to metal.

Either tighten down your slider bolts, or even better, loosen them and reposition your slider and then crank down on them again. I bet that will solve your issue.

Ding, ding, ding...we have a winner. I checked this morning and top edge of the slider mounting bracket was touching the floor panel of the truck. It was moved up about 1/4" . I loosened the sliders to let them settle again and re-tightened. Creak is gone!!!

Thank you.

 

[paflytyer]

Nice! And best of all......you don't have to spend any $$

 

[mtnracer]

Nice! And best of all......you don't have to spend any $$

I noticed in your signature the iPhone and Sirius integration. What did you use for that? I have the SL2i from Vais but it can only do either or but not both.

 

[paflytyer]

I noticed in your signature the iPhone and Sirius integration. What did you use for that? I have the SL2i from Vais but it can only do either or but not both.

Same. It's not integrated together. It's just a USA SPEC Iphone Adapter. My Sirius Radio is hardwired in, no wires showing but I do have a Sirius head that is mounted on the dash. I'll snap some pics today.