Squeaky suspension

[bazyr]

Hi all

I'm driving my 3rd gen to South Africa (longtime dream of mine ) and am currently in Ethiopia.

Because of my tiny budget, I didn't do as much to prepare the car as I probably should have. I got a complete Superpro polybush kit, the 20% uprated springs and Rancho shocks from Roughtrax, plus new rear bearings and seals (the rear drums were showing signs of oil leak) and got a garage to install it all while I watched... Learned a lot!

Anyway, I've spent a lot of time on badly corrugated tracks over the past few weeks, and this loud metallic creaking sound has developed from the front driver's side wheel. It creaks when the suspension goes up and down over bumps. It's not always there -- sometimes it's there when I start driving and fades over the day, other times it only starts after a few hours of driving. When it's there, I can push the front wing up and down to replicate the sound, but I can't hear where exactly it's coming from. A squirt of WD40 on the bushings doesn't help me find the source either.

Should I be worried? What, if anything, should I do? We greased the hell out of the bushes with those little sachets of silicone lube when we fitted them, but I'm not sure what else it could be.

Cheers

Btw, I'm running a blog for anyone who's interested (some great pics of the truck out in the desert in Egypt ) www.hermines.org

[bazyr]

Just noticed the thread from the guy with a possibly squeaky ball joint.

My 3rd gen has done 112k now, as far as I know the ball joints are stock. The boots looked OK and no play, so I thought I'd save a few quid and didn't replace them when I had the suspension done. Is this gonna bite me in the ass? I'm planning to drive to Kenya via Lake Turkana (it's about 800km all offroad) in a couple of weeks' time...

[cabbage]

My 3rd Gen front suspension started creaking a few months after I replaced the springs + shocks (+20% like you), bushes for poly bushes and bottom ball joints. I'm pretty sure it's the bushes that cause the squeaks. Not long after doing the bushes I found the front was now almost ridged, I could jack the car from under a wishbone and the suspension doesn't even compress! I'd torqued everything up to the Toyota spec figures so I'm guessing the grease has all been washed out of the bushes.

If I was to do the job again or on another vehicle I'd use Toyota bushes over the poly bushes.

I'll check out you're blog tonight!

[NiftyNev]

If I was to do the job again or on another vehicle I'd use Toyota bushes over the poly bushes.

Agreed. Poly are crap. Probably fallen apart. The original Toyota last forever. To the OP. Check the sway bar bushes in the control arms. I did use some poly on mine once when I did not have rubber ones at the time. They crumbled like cheese after a few months.

Nev.

[bazyr]

Hey guys

Thanks for the advice! I got a garage in Addis to take a look; from listening while someone bounced the car it seemed the squeaking was coming from one of the lower control arm bushes. We took the suspension apart and the shock mount looked like it had bent on that side. The ball joints both seemed OK, which is a relief! They did a decent job fixing it all in a day, which I wasn't expecting, so I'm on my way again.

A lot of people recommend polybushes, so it's been surprising to find out they have had so many problems. A couple I met on this trip with a defender had to replace theirs halfway, they had perished and actually did look "like cheese!" Maybe stock rubber ones would have been the way to go...

[tashtego]

Hey guys

Thanks for the advice! I got a garage in Addis to take a look; from listening while someone bounced the car it seemed the squeaking was coming from one of the lower control arm bushes. We took the suspension apart and the shock mount looked like it had bent on that side. The ball joints both seemed OK, which is a relief! They did a decent job fixing it all in a day, which I wasn't expecting, so I'm on my way again.

A lot of people recommend polybushes, so it's been surprising to find out they have had so many problems. A couple I met on this trip with a defender had to replace theirs halfway, they had perished and actually did look "like cheese!" Maybe stock rubber ones would have been the way to go...

Yes, original bushes much better, I had a similar problem with my Rav 4, the poly bushes for the rear shocks didn't last. I'll check your blog. When u get to Malawi get in touch, I can help you find a gd mechanic who loves surfs and can give it a good check over and cld even do the bushes for you.
Happy travelling!