New FJ60 owner here. I've been loving the past couple weeks of driving since my purchase and have put on about 1000 miles. I've changed all fluids and have been paying close attention to any troubling sounds. Today I noticed a slight, almost but not quite, grinding noise while making a very sharp right turn. I immediately thought wheel bearings. I've been watching videos and searching through old threads, but thought I'd ask a couple obvious questions anyway. Can I do the wheel bearings without having to do a full knuckle rebuild? If I'm already doing wheel bearings should I just do the whole knuckle? Is it possible the noise I heard is the power steering pump (it has a small leak)? There are no visible leaks from the steering knuckle, so I'm not overly enthused to have to rebuild it if I dont have to. Though I guess it's part of the initiation process to FJ60 ownership. Thanks in advance for any insights.
Slight noise under sharp right turn
- Thread starter Oldyost
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You could just jack up the front of the truck and then check the looseness. Grab the wheel at the 12 and 6 positions and rock back and forth. If there is noticeable play then you could start by cleaning and resetting the preload on the bearings.
- Thread starter
- #3
Thanks! I’ll do that as soon as I can. I’m not sure how to clean and reset the preload, but I’ll peruse the forum for the info. I bought a Haynes manual, but I find it a little “meh”. Is there a better service manual out there? Thanks again for the tip. I’ve only been wrenching on cars for about a year and need all the help I can get!
Dry damaged wheel bearings could still be tight & noisy, so just checking for loose bearings by rocking the wheel won't be conclusive. Also loose bearings that are well greased won't make grinding noises.
To rule out the power steering pump, turn on engine with vehicle stopped and turn the steering wheel hard over in both directions (with the car stopped). If the pump is acting up, you'll hear that noise since it takes a lot more effort to rotate tires when they're still compared to rolling.
If you don't know when the last time the wheel bearings were serviced (manual recommends every 30K miles) then just go ahead & do that anyway. They're probably way past due.
The knuckles are independent for the most part from the bearing hub and they wouldn't make a grindy noise when turning.
To rule out the power steering pump, turn on engine with vehicle stopped and turn the steering wheel hard over in both directions (with the car stopped). If the pump is acting up, you'll hear that noise since it takes a lot more effort to rotate tires when they're still compared to rolling.
If you don't know when the last time the wheel bearings were serviced (manual recommends every 30K miles) then just go ahead & do that anyway. They're probably way past due.
The knuckles are independent for the most part from the bearing hub and they wouldn't make a grindy noise when turning.
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Gretsch
SILVER Star
Are you sure its coming from the front? Mine sometimes has the rear tire rub the exhaust pipe on the rear driver side tire when making a very quick sharp right turn. Makes kind of a throaty grinding sound that seems to echo up to the front of the truck. Sounds like what I initially thought was wheel bearing noise (since I just completed a knuckle rebuild with new bearings). But figured out it was the exhaust pipe rubbing. Truck leans a bit and the tire leans into where the exhaust pipe runs and rubs a bit. I am getting new exhaust soon so not too worried about it. This happens with oversized tires so if you are stock then its prolly not it. Just thought I might provide a different idea here. Carry on. HTH.
Edit: I can also tell you that when doing my knuckle rebuild, the grease in there and on/in the wheel bearings was horrid. Stuff was more like modeling clay than grease. No odd sounds from the front but the grease was garbage. So definitely worth looking at, not so much to fix sounds, but to make sure no damage is being done there.
Edit: I can also tell you that when doing my knuckle rebuild, the grease in there and on/in the wheel bearings was horrid. Stuff was more like modeling clay than grease. No odd sounds from the front but the grease was garbage. So definitely worth looking at, not so much to fix sounds, but to make sure no damage is being done there.
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- Thread starter
- #10
I'll keep that in mind. I'll have to get someone to ride shotgun to help diagnose the noise. Thanks for the help. How long did it take you to do the knuckles? Did you find it very challenging?
Gretsch
SILVER Star
It took me quite awhile to do mine. Several weeks start to finish. I had some trips I had to go on while I was doing it and was doing a lift at the same time. You can do it in a weekend if you breezed through it. I took my time and spent a lot of time cleaning and painting parts. That took forever, waiting for parts to dry, etc. If just doing the rebuild then you can do it in a weekend...maybe three days. Its not a hard job, just messy and detailed. Make sure you take a look at the FSM and follow closely. I re-used the knuckle shims and tracked how they came off of mine. I didn't have the knuckle centering tool. Seems most times folks go through all the trouble of measuring and centering things and the original shims end up being the same as your new measurements. I think Toyota knew what they were doing when they set that originally. Pretty confident my shims were original so felt OK to use them. I just re-used mine placed back exactly how they came off. You may think about getting some studs for centering the spindle on the knuckle when you go to put things back together. I found this very helpful at this step as you have quite a gasket sandwich to keep together when putting the spindle back on. Studs allow you to place all the gaskets and spindle on and hold them there while you get the spindle bolts started. I think the studs were 8mmX1.25. Might have been 10mm. Need to check me on that though. Look like this:
You can see the build thread here. Has some lift kit info in there, but maybe could help you with your knuckle rebuild some.
If I can do a knuckle rebuild, then anyone can. Of that I assure you. Check out the OTRAMM video series on knuckle rebuilding. That helped me a lot, along with input from mud. Good luck. HTH.
Edit: I would also suggest you get the rebuild kit from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters. I found this rebuild kit very comprehensive and included absolutely everything you will need. He can get you the Marlin ECCO seals as well if you are into that sort of thing. I also sourced the 54MM socket from him and the wheel bearing set as well. @cruiseroutfit has all you will need for this job.
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- Thread starter
- #12
Thanks for sharing your experience. The more I research the more I feel confident. Work is crazy right now, but I should find the time soon. Cheers!
@Oldyost did you resolve the grinding noise? I have the same symptoms and wondering what to do next
you might not get a response from oldyost, he's not been on here since oct/'19
Yeah, noticed that after I asked. Bummer not to get closure on these things
. Thanks!