Squeaking control arm bushings

Still need help with my squeaking tundra! While driving and turning. Did I greese the bushings wrong?

 

Stock/OEM bushings? Shouldn't have needed greased.

 

Need more details.

Which UCA and/or bushings?

Are they Poly or Rubber?

How did you go about greasing?

You didn't so something stupid silly, like torquing the bolts to spec while the truck was in the air, then drop it on the ground so the bushings twist all to fuck, right?

With Poly bushings specifically, you must use poly-safe grease, and you basically need to lubricate anywhere bushing touches metal.

 

It was auto zone noloprene or some shit. Can't spell right now. I greased the inside with the bolt i think. I've replaced the rack and pinion tie rods cv shafts upper;lower ball joints. Sway bar linkage. I'm at lost for words.

 

Tundraforever not factory.

 

Yes, but as shifty asked, did you lower the truck so it rested on its own weight before torquing the control arms down?

 

Wtf. Really? Are the bushings still good? And no to question.

 

I'd like to ride with yall. I drive pretty wild..

 

Understood, it happens. You wouldn't be the first and won't be the last. At this point all you can do is raise the front end off its own weight and loosen the control arm bolts slightly, set the truck back down on its own weight, torque to spec and see what happens. Do you know the correct torque spec?

Keep us posted.

 

Neoprene?

And is it your upper control arm bushings? If so, you'll want to grease between the bushing and washers too.

If it's not a rubber bushing, you want to grease every surface where the bushing touches metal. Metal + Poly, and I presume Metal + Neo = squeak.

But start with what @Tundraforever1 said about lifting, loosening, lowering, torquing to spec. And don't ugga-dugga that shit. Torque it to fucking spec.

You can explode a bushing by overtightening, and you can also shred a bushing by torquing while in the air, then lowering the truck, especially if you overtighten.

 

How does one determine if it is the upper control arm bushing squeaking? I have a horrible squeak that's started in the last few days. It sounds like nails on chalkboard metal against metal grating. I have greased all the zerks (my truck has some aftermarket shit I'm not proud of but that's what was on there when I bought it and can't justify replacing everything if it's still working), and that didn't do much to stop the squeaking so I'm assuming something is worn out to the point of needing repair. Is there a particular sound for upper control arms? Or do I just need to take the wheel off and test everything?

 

Some folks will tell you to douse suspectede offenders, one at a time, in Silicone spray (PB makes a great one). If you saturate, go for a ride, and the squeak stops, you found your source.

You can also use a GoPro style camera mounted un the vehicle to get a bearing on location. Start with filming from the rear diff housing. Then the front crossmember. Is it louder in rear? You know to focus on the rear half. Put the camera inside the framerail on the drivers side, record, switch to the passenger side, record, is it louder or quieter?

There's a few ways to skin this cat...

 

I don't have a GoPro so maybe I'll try the silicone method, thanks! It is definitely in the front end, and I'm pretty sure it's on the driver's side because it sounds like it's right in front of me. It doesn't do it all the time and doesn't do it over bigger bumps oddly enough, but on rough surfaces or areas with a lot of smaller bumps it squeaks like a bastard.

 

It could just be that you're hearing it on the driver's side because your steering shaft bushing is blown out, so the one hole it has to reach you inside the cab, is where the steering column passes through it.

Obviously, you're gonna want to crawl under the truck and inspect the frame and components for signs of rubbing, esp. if it sounds like metal on metal. Look at both swaybar links, make sure their top bushings are intact. Look at the lower shock mounts, make sure the bushings in the shocks aren't blown. Look at the rack bushings, and look at the swaybar-to-frame bushings. You know, just peek around with a flashlight, look for anything weird.

If I had to take a wild stab, I'd suspect rack bushings. But don't discredit it being something like the lower ball joints, since that's such a potentially-disastrous thing. I've heard plenty of reports of LBJs creaking just before catastrophic failure. Enough that I'm thinking to warn you about it here...

 

Yikes, sounds like a good idea to check this out further ASAP, especially the LBJ's. I did have the rack bushings replaced by a mechanic a little under a year ago, and the sway bar links, so I'd hope they are not failing already but I'm assuming the sway bar links were aftermarket since they have zerks on them. Also the truck is lifted so I don't think OEM sway bar links would fit properly anyways. Anyways, I know this can't be diagnosed accurately on a forum but thanks for the tips, gives me somewhere to focus.

 

Swaybar links won't cause catastrophic damage, and there are a few aftermarket that work fine. Tie rods could cause catastrophic damage, but I've never seen it on this forum over the past ~6yrs, and there are some aftermarket folks had luck with. Aftermarket lower ball joints will totally ruin your day (and maybe your life), that's where I'd urge major caution.

There are two types of rubber: Quality rubber, that will last for a decade or more, and "chubber", CHinese rUBBER, that some folks have had die in under a year. Unless you had that mechanic use OEM rubber for the rack, it's totally possible the rubber is shot. But that's another thing that you should be able to (potentially) take the wheel from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock and back a few times and see if you hear the squeak, maybe have someone else do it while your head is under the truck. Just make sure it's not someone you owe beer money to.

 

PS - here's the aftermarket "wins vs. hall of shame" thread @KNABORES started: https://www.tundras.com/threads/1st-gen-parts-corner-of-shame-oem-minus-or-plus.122591/

 

Lol @ "chubber"! I have no idea what he put in there for the rack bushings, but I could find out, I'm sure. Last time I peeked under there those bushings seemed intact still, but I also wasn't looking super closely at them, I'll try testing them like ya said. Good to know about the tie rod ends not being potentially catastrophic because those are also aftermarket, on there when I bought the truck. Going forward I want to try to stick to OEM with everything except for the obvious aftermarket things like the struts, upper control arms, etc. that are there because of the lift. I bought the truck off of a guy who owns one of the local auto shops in my town, one with a good reputation, but honestly it seems like he cheaped out on a lot of stuff, like the rough country lift kit, and a bunch of aftermarket suspension parts. The real challenge is convincing my wife to let me spend the money on some quality parts..

 

How about posting some pics of your suspension?

 

Don't get me wrong, if a tie rod snaps, it's gonna get ugly. Your wheel is likely to flop to one side, and it's gonna tear some shit up. But there's not a lot of tension/pressure/exertion on the tie rods, so if you're not going fast, I wouldn't expect the damage to be huge. If you are going fast, it's likely to rip the wheel off. But you just never (at least I've never, so take with a boulder of salt) seen any members of this forum post pics of a snapped tie rod, or a sheared tie rod bolt. I think they give enough warning of looming failure.

 

Thank you shifty and tundra forever. I'll try that.

 

Keep us all posted. We'll walk you through whatever is necessary.

 

So im ready to buy all new upper and lower control arms. Ball joints also. I'm going to do this truck a favor one more time. Any suggestions on where I should look? Toyota has ca bolts for like $23 a piece. And is TRQ a good brand?

 

Thank you again tundraforever1

 

needless to say no matter how loud it squeaks I had fun!

 

I would buy them from my local dealer because they treat me well or toyotapartsdeal.com but there are many members here who can fill you in on coupons and discounts from various reputable dealers. I would stick with OEM equipment for this particular replacement but that's me.

Yw. Just remember to not torque the hardware down until the truck is sitting on its own weight and you'll be fine.

 

Avoid Toyota Parts Deal like the plague. Too many members here and on the sister forum, Tacoma World, have had issues with them. They're not a dealership, they just peddle parts, and the customer service is shit.

 

I've bought many parts from them and never had an issue.

 

I found this. What is torque spec?

 

How can I find the alignment bolts?