Annoying squeak: Suggestions?

[Martinjmpr]

So my "new" old 4runner seems to have an annoying squeak when I drive it. It only happens when moving (and not always then,) but most of the time. It's a high-pitched 'chittering' noise that is more or less constant.

Sounds like it's coming from inside the vehicle (just as loud with the windows up as down) and it does not change in pitch with the speed of the vehicle which leads me to believe it's probably not engine/transmission/axle/wheel bearing related. My guess is something rubbing against something else with the movement of the truck.

Any ideas where I should look first? Are there any "usual suspects" I should check? I need to make sure the back seat is fully latched in place, and then I'll check any other trim parts that may be rubbing together. After that I guess I'm on a search mission. It's not really bad, just a mite annoying.

Of course, I knew I was in for this sort of thing buying a 10 year old truck with 117k on it, so it's not unexpected, still it would be nice to get it fixed.

 

[Cabrito]

Two things in my 20 yrear old Land Cruiser you might want to check in your 4runner -
My passenger seat rattles when empty and the rear hatch had a really annoying squeak.

++

 

[kcowyo]

Hood latch. Mine does it all the time when on a dusty trail. White grease or WD-40 fixes it. Temporarily...

.

 

[jim65wagon]

Inside, I think the dashboard. On a Tundra, a thin strip of foam pressed between the dash and the windsheild fixes it...

 

[Uglyprimate]

I'd still crawl underneath and look at ALL the u-joints.

(just to be on the safe side)

 

[colotaco]

check your centercaps over the lug nuts (if you have) the springs get loose from taking on and off and they squeak when driving, it took me a while to figure this out on my tacoma, even had the brakes replaced.

 

[goodtimes]

If it gets to be too much to bear....there are shops out there with squeak detection systems....basically a bunch of little microphones they spread out to systematically narrow down where the problem is. Supposedly it works very well...but I have no first hand experience with them.

 

[Bighead]

My latest ended up being my rear sway bar bushings. A couple of squirts of WD-40 took care of it.

 

[Cackalak Han]

4Runners and Tacomas are notorious for dash rattles and squeaks. I've got one, too.