The past few weeks, on really cold mornings, my '93 4runner (V6, Auto) would squeak/rub on the way out of my apartment's parking lot. After 100 yards or so, it would stop. Well, the manual says that the t-case can make some odd sounds when it's cold, so I chaulked it up to that.

Yesterday (Christmas Day), the sound didn't stop as I pulled out. It followed me to the freeway, and stuck with me on and off all the way to my parents home. After some more driving it hadn't gone away, so it was clear that this wasn't the 'cold t-case' problem. After some thinking and searching here on yotatech, it sounded like it might be un-lubed driveshafts, so at 24 degrees out on cold concrete (thank heavens for a creeper) I lubed up the driveshafts. As I drove around, the sound stayed away for a while, and I thought I had it licked.. and it came back.

So... when I'm above 20 mph (usually) I'll hit a bump, or simply on a whim, something in front end will start making a rubbing sort of sound that seems (I think) to be related to wheel speed rather than engine speed. Sometimes a bump in the road will get rid of the noise, sometimes it causes it. It feels (vibrations) and sounds like it's coming from the driver's front side. Engaging 4WD has a definite effect on the sound, and sometimes in dropping back into 2WD, the sound dissapears.

I raised the front of the vehicle, and both wheels spin freely and don't make any noise. The bearings feel tight. The breaks seem okay.

My theory is that the ADD isn't fully disengaging, but that's not something I know how to test. Does anyone have a different theory as to what it might be, or how to narrow things down? I don't want to take a mystery problem to a mechanic because... well... y'all know why. But I'd really like some help, Thanks in advance.

 

could be your steering spindle bushings, check this out. Mine does the same thing on very cold days. I'm waiting till spring (if I'm lucky)

https://www.yotatech.com/~corey/tech...imrockford.htm

 

I'm having a very similar issue right now - though I'd classify the noise as a "repetitive clunking" with a short 1 second "screech" about every 20 minutes. It's related to wheel speed, but it's not at a 1-to-1 ratio. The wheel bearings check-out okay (there's no top-to-bottom motion on the wheels), and it's not coming from the calipers or rotors.

One thing that did show up was this problem:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/steering-rack-movement-sound-can-you-help-me-out-46028/
(steering rack bushings and a tie rod end)

I've been told that the sloppy tie rod end can cause something like this, and a new one should be here around Wednesday. I also have rack bushings on order.

I'm hoping this is it... but a side thought now is that I cracked a CV knuckle. So, I'll be picking up a front drive shaft assembly from a local parts yard this week. If that's not it, then at least I'll now have the spare that I should be carrying with me anyhow.


Hopefully those ideas will give you some more places to look.

 

sounds like a bushing problem, have someone bounce the front end while you listen for the noise underneath

 

What would the procedure be for testing to see if/which bushings were shot?

 

i just reread your original post and i noticed that you said that the noise changes in 4wd, does it go away? if so then it could be something with the ADD system other than that

 

I've experienced this before and it was a bad CV joint. You might want to check them and make sure the boots haven't cracked and let the grease leak out. The noise in my instance sounded like a crunching noise - similar to a tire rolling over snow. It started when turning in reverse - like when I'd back out of a parking space. Slowly it started happening all the time in any direction. It never really squeaked. It was this strange crunching noise.

 

The CV's look pretty good, but then again, I might be wrong. Would the sound of a problematic CV joint/shaft bounce on and off with the road bumps? Is there a way to diagnose the ADD system?

When I engage 4wd, the sound doesn't go away, it just changes. Sometimes then disengaging 4wd, the sound went away.

BTW (thanks so much for the help... I'm grateful for your (collective) aid.)

 

any 1986-1995 IFS truck will do this through time. There are a total of
four small plastic caps mounted on the lower A-arms of the front
suspension that wear through from years of sharp turning that can be
replaced for a total of $4.00 at the Toyota dealer.

The caps are mounted on the end of a metal bolt that keep the wheels from scraping against the insides of the fenders when you turn sharp. (I believe
this is designed so if you add larger/wider tires you can adjust them
to keep from tearing out the plastic fender liners.)

Try this and see what happens.

 

any 1986-1995 IFS truck will do this through time. There are a total of...

Thanks for the reply. I thought that end caps only caused rubbing while turning. Could it be the cause of a rubbing sort of noise while going straight?

Also, when the sound occurs, jerking the steering hard to the right will sometimes make the sound go away.

Thanks

 

Well here I found this for you... Scroll all the way down to the bottom.

Link

 

my 92 4runner did this.i put a set of warn hub lockers on and it stopped.this of course stops the c/v,s from turning when unlocked.

 

Well here I found this for you... Scroll all the way down to the bottom.

It really looks like the problem caused by worn caps manifests itself during the bump itself. My problem is that it gets "turned on" and off by hitting bumps in the road. I don't know if the caps are the issue, but I'm heading out right now to check it out. Again, thanks.


and...


my 92 4runner did this.i put a set of warn hub lockers on and it stopped.this of course stops the c/v,s from turning when unlocked.

Did it continue even when not hitting a bump? Where did you get your hub locks? How much did it run you? Did you ever discover what the problem was?

Thanks,

 

i have almost the same problem. On really cold days i get really bad grinding noise that is definently relational to wheel rotation, after driving about 1/4 mile it stops, sometimes sooner if im turing for some odd reason. So, I asked my old man who is a toyota tech and he says that on some 2nd gen runners the there is a brass fitting (or something) that the front axle goes through that had a design flaw (no spiral grooves through it) to distribute grease on the axle. Not normally a problem, but on really cold mornings since the grease is a little thicker, it takes a bit of warmin up for it to start flowin. When i asked about fixin it he said it was gonna be pricey and he didnt think it was a large enough of a problem to justify the repair. Not sure if this is exactly what is going on with you, but he pointed out a spot behind the calipers (and i really didnt care enough to pay too much attention to him since he tends to go on and on and on) which you can lube to see if this is the problem, though it is a pain in the ass to get to. Hope this helps a bit.

 

Thanks too all that have replied so far. It sounds like installing manual hubs won't fix the thing that's wrong, but it will get rid of the symptom. I may just do that. But any more ideas are very welcome.

**update** I''m not planning on putting on manual hubs... I went to the stealership to get the inner spindle bushing/needle bearings today, and now I know how I'm spending New Year's Eve :-)

 

Just as an added note, you may want to check and see if possibly you need to have a wheel bearing repacked or something like that. That is what the guy @ the dealership counter told me it sounded like before i talked to my Pop. Just a thought

 

I had what sounds like the same exact noise/problem in my 95 Runner. You can read my go-round with this issue here. (There's also a link on that page to some great instructions, includes pix, part #s, everything.)

I replaced mine w/o press and it took about 4-5 hours per side. Not *difficult* work, but you dig pretty deep into it, so it's time consuming... Hope that helps...

BTW -- Tombo, I grew up in Prescott ... and am coming back to AZ (finally) in March.

-Paul

 

Zonie4Runner,

Thanks for the reply. It sounds like you're quite possibly right. Are those bushings the sort of thing that I would get at the dealership then? What is the name of what I should ask for? How much did you pay for them? Is there a good reason not to do just the side that's making the noise?

Thanks

 

They're not that expensive, so shopping online won't save you a lot of $$$ versus the time lost in waiting for them to show up.

In the thread that Paul (Zonie4Runner) pointed at, all the way at the bottom he links to this write up which is loaded with info. (and don't miss the MP3 that Kevin ("jimrockford") recorded to show the noise!)

You're looking for "Inner Steering Knuckle Bushing", and "Roller Needle Bearings". Kevin has part numbers for a 91 4Runner in his write-up site that should get you close.


As for both/just one... Look at it this way, if one went out at xxxx miles, then the chances are better that the other one isn't too far behind. It's a good bit of work to do just one side, but havign them both done is an incredible piece-of-mind.

 

Thanks, I'll plan on doing both sides. It sounds like "jimrockford" had a rattle, while "Zonie4Runner" had a rubbing/grinding sound. It sounds like this is a fairly common problem. I'll call the stealership parts departments tomorrow. I'm going to sell this 4runner as soon as this sound is taken care of and get a pickup and a corolla. That way, I can still frolic in 4wd, and get good mpg for boring trips. I'll see how things go. Thanks! (any more advice is still welcome, though.)