questions 1.2.3.

[NorthernWoodsman]

I wasn't sure if this was really the right place, but i couldn't find a place to address mechanical issues. if there is a better place for this post please feel free to move it.

first off- 1994 toyota 4x4 xcab, 22RE, 5spd.

my questions:

1. When i use either turn signal or the e-flasher they flash a few times or for a minute or so and then stop. i can turn them off and back on and sometimes it works, but not always. if it was one or the other i would say it might be a switch, but both??? could it be a solenoid? are they running off the same one? electrical stuff is not my strong point.

2. When I turn the steering wheel to the left and brake at low speed (like when i'm turning in a parking lot), i hear a clunking sound from the front around the wheels. i don't see anything out of the ordinary, but i haven't been able to get the wheel off to check. sounds like it is coming from the left wheel area. any ideas?

3. I put new rear leaf springs in last summer. Things were fine. I had the front end aligned in december and they found that the rear axle was tilted to the right. they straightened it out. now, when i drive over speed bumps i hear a creaking sound like an annoying cat, mrooowwrr (up), mrooowrrr (down) coming from the rear. got home tonight and shook the truck hard from side to side and up and down and got it to make that sound. any ideas??? why did this start all of a sudden? i see nothing that looks out of the ordinary in the rear either. oh, i changed all of the shocks last summer too, Bilstein at all 4 corners.

i have barely driven the truck since last summer. one trip to the desert in se oregon and a few trips to mt. hood, but all on pavement or dirt roads. the rest of my driving is in the city here. so, no real off-roading to cause anything to happen.

thanks for any and all of your help.
matthew

 

[obscurotron]

I can only speak to #3. The new rear leafs probably have rust between them or dust/grime/grit or both. My truck does the same thing. You can get inserts that go between each leaf to silence the springs, but it's not really worth the hassle. If you truly hate it, jack up the rear end via the frame so the leaf springs droop and hose them down with penetrating oil. That'll buy you a few thousand miles of silence. Personally, I'd not bother.

I wasn't sure if this was really the right place, but i couldn't find a place to address mechanical issues. if there is a better place for this post please feel free to move it.

first off- 1994 toyota 4x4 xcab, 22RE, 5spd.

my questions:

1. When i use either turn signal or the e-flasher they flash a few times or for a minute or so and then stop. i can turn them off and back on and sometimes it works, but not always. if it was one or the other i would say it might be a switch, but both??? could it be a solenoid? are they running off the same one? electrical stuff is not my strong point.

2. When I turn the steering wheel to the left and brake at low speed (like when i'm turning in a parking lot), i hear a clunking sound from the front around the wheels. i don't see anything out of the ordinary, but i haven't been able to get the wheel off to check. sounds like it is coming from the left wheel area. any ideas?

3. I put new rear leaf springs in last summer. Things were fine. I had the front end aligned in december and they found that the rear axle was tilted to the right. they straightened it out. now, when i drive over speed bumps i hear a creaking sound like an annoying cat, mrooowwrr (up), mrooowrrr (down) coming from the rear. got home tonight and shook the truck hard from side to side and up and down and got it to make that sound. any ideas??? why did this start all of a sudden? i see nothing that looks out of the ordinary in the rear either. oh, i changed all of the shocks last summer too, Bilstein at all 4 corners.

i have barely driven the truck since last summer. one trip to the desert in se oregon and a few trips to mt. hood, but all on pavement or dirt roads. the rest of my driving is in the city here. so, no real off-roading to cause anything to happen.

thanks for any and all of your help.
matthew

 

[washington taco]

I wasn't sure if this was really the right place, but i couldn't find a place to address mechanical issues. if there is a better place for this post please feel free to move it.

first off- 1994 toyota 4x4 xcab, 22RE, 5spd.

my questions:

1. When i use either turn signal or the e-flasher they flash a few times or for a minute or so and then stop. i can turn them off and back on and sometimes it works, but not always. if it was one or the other i would say it might be a switch, but both??? could it be a solenoid? are they running off the same one? electrical stuff is not my strong point.

2. When I turn the steering wheel to the left and brake at low speed (like when i'm turning in a parking lot), i hear a clunking sound from the front around the wheels. i don't see anything out of the ordinary, but i haven't been able to get the wheel off to check. sounds like it is coming from the left wheel area. any ideas?

3. I put new rear leaf springs in last summer. Things were fine. I had the front end aligned in december and they found that the rear axle was tilted to the right. they straightened it out. now, when i drive over speed bumps i hear a creaking sound like an annoying cat, mrooowwrr (up), mrooowrrr (down) coming from the rear. got home tonight and shook the truck hard from side to side and up and down and got it to make that sound. any ideas??? why did this start all of a sudden? i see nothing that looks out of the ordinary in the rear either. oh, i changed all of the shocks last summer too, Bilstein at all 4 corners.

i have barely driven the truck since last summer. one trip to the desert in se oregon and a few trips to mt. hood, but all on pavement or dirt roads. the rest of my driving is in the city here. so, no real off-roading to cause anything to happen.

thanks for any and all of your help.
matthew

I would guess a front wheel bearing. for # 2.

 

[washington taco]

I said # 2

 

[corax]

2. When I turn the steering wheel to the left and brake at low speed (like when i'm turning in a parking lot), i hear a clunking sound from the front around the wheels. i don't see anything out of the ordinary, but i haven't been able to get the wheel off to check. sounds like it is coming from the left wheel area. any ideas?

If it's a creak in the front, try smearing a dab of grease on all 4 steering stops (yellow arrow in the pic below). If that's not you problem you may want to take a close look at the ball joints

3. I put new rear leaf springs in last summer. Things were fine. I had the front end aligned in december and they found that the rear axle was tilted to the right. they straightened it out. now, when i drive over speed bumps i hear a creaking sound like an annoying cat, mrooowwrr (up), mrooowrrr (down) coming from the rear. got home tonight and shook the truck hard from side to side and up and down and got it to make that sound. any ideas??? why did this start all of a sudden? i see nothing that looks out of the ordinary in the rear either. oh, i changed all of the shocks last summer too, Bilstein at all 4 corners.

What kind of springs and spring bushings did you use? Some leaves have plastic anti-friction pads at the tips of each leaf that you can lube. If you used polyurethane bushings they may need to be lubed also.

 

[NorthernWoodsman]

Obscurotron- i hear ya that it may just be the nature of the springs. what i can't figure out is why they started making the sound seemingly overnight. oiling them sounds truly like a PITA and i doubt i'll do that.

Washington Taco/Corax- It's definitely a clunking sound, not creaking, from the front. i had a hunch it might be a wheel bearing, but never had one go out on a car before so i didn't know what it might sound/feel like.

Corax- they're NWOR springs (which i would never buy again). the springs i have do have the anti-friction pads at the tips. the bushings came with the springs, poly i believe. no grease nipple on them. how would i go about lubing the anti-friction pads and bushings?

okay, so we're narrowing down/figuring out #' 2 and 3. anyone have a clue on #1?

thanks again folks.
matthew

 

[keezer37]

1. When i use either turn signal or the e-flasher they flash a few times or for a minute or so and then stop. i can turn them off and back on and sometimes it works, but not always. if it was one or the other i would say it might be a switch, but both??? could it be a solenoid? are they running off the same one? electrical stuff is not my strong point.

Turn Signal Flasher. Looks like your power goes through there either way.

http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/1993/bodyelectrical/4lighting.pdf
Page BE-13

 

[keezer37]

3. I put new rear leaf springs in last summer. Things were fine. I had the front end aligned in december and they found that the rear axle was tilted to the right. they straightened it out. now, when i drive over speed bumps i hear a creaking sound like an annoying cat, mrooowwrr (up), mrooowrrr (down) coming from the rear. got home tonight and shook the truck hard from side to side and up and down and got it to make that sound. any ideas??? why did this start all of a sudden? i see nothing that looks out of the ordinary in the rear either. oh, i changed all of the shocks last summer too, Bilstein at all 4 corners.

Not sure in which plane "tilted to the right" means. Dog-tracking? They may have over torqued your u-bolts if they messed with them.

 

[NorthernWoodsman]

Turn Signal Flasher. Looks like your power goes through there either way.

Not sure what you mean by "your power goes through there either way", but thanks for that schematic. I'll look it over when I have a little more time. Electrical stuff drives me crazy, but drawings are always good for me....visual learner. *just saw the picture, weird it didn't show up when i first looked at the post.*


http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/1993/bodyelectrical/4lighting.pdf
Page BE-13

Not sure in which plane "tilted to the right" means. Dog-tracking? They may have over torqued your u-bolts if they messed with them.

Tilted to the right on the horizontal plane, i believe that's right. the left wheel was further forward and angled to the right. I kind of wondered about the possibility of them over-tightening the hardware. They did remove the u-bolts. i think i'll take it back and make them check the torque.

 

[corax]

Corax- they're NWOR springs (which i would never buy again). the springs i have do have the anti-friction pads at the tips. the bushings came with the springs, poly i believe. no grease nipple on them. how would i go about lubing the anti-friction pads and bushings?

Here's a thread on lubing the leaf spring bushing - it's for a jeep, but the principle is the same. You can also buy bolts with a grease zerk on to make it simpler in the future (Marlin Crawler has these as well as several other companies)

The noise probably isn't coming from the spring tip pads, but to grease those you can jack up the rear of the truck so the axle is hanging from the suspension and gently pry the individual leaves apart to put a dab of grease on each pad where it slides against the adjacent leaf

 

[NorthernWoodsman]

Warning: below info may sound inapropriate if taken out of context

I have the same issue with #2. Had one wheel bearing replaced a while back. Other possiblity may be steering rack bushings. A common cause that came up in the forums on this issue. I also have tie rod ends on the check list.

Do you know of a good place you can recommend to get bushing and tie rod ends? wanted to replace those anyways.
On #3, its probably just poly buschings. They do that. I use Zep45 penetrating lubricant with ptfe (teflon and silicone). It'll stop it for a while and up to a few water crossings. I use it on my ball joints and a-arm bushings up front too.

ZEP45? haven't heard of it. I have some tri-flow and WD40, think those would work?
Good luck!

Here's a thread on lubing the leaf spring bushing - it's for a jeep, but the principle is the same. You can also buy bolts with a grease zerk on to make it simpler in the future (Marlin Crawler has these as well as several other companies)

Thanks. I probably won't be removing the springs anytime soon, school is too busy and I don't have a dry work area. Maybe this summer if I don't just replace them with OME stuff.

The noise probably isn't coming from the spring tip pads, but to grease those you can jack up the rear of the truck so the axle is hanging from the suspension and gently pry the individual leaves apart to put a dab of grease on each pad where it slides against the adjacent leaf

Someone mentioned this. Seems like a lot of work.

Thanks for all of the help everyone. gonna get a new relay for the flashers/e-flasher this week. Gonna try to check on the front wheel issue wednesday. Rear springs....maybe i'll spray 'em tomorrow with something and see what happens.

~matthew

 

[keezer37]

If after verifying the proper torque of the u-bolts the squeak doesn't go away, I wouldn't do anything to them for a few months. See if it goes away on it's own. My stuff squeaked on the bumps when the truck was new. Somewhere along the line I forgot about it and it went away. I surely would avoid any lube that debris may adhere to.