tcabner

Just purchased a 91 4x4 ext cab from my father in law. The truck is in great condition for a 91, has 280,000 on the truck, 180,000 miles on the engine and I couldn't be happier with it but for just a problem or two. It's got this annoying squeak coming from the left and right side under the front end. It's somewhere in the driveline or the wheels, but I've yet to pinpoint it.
It starts up slowly when the truck is rolling about 5 miles per hour, and gets a little louder and faster when you speed up and it can always be heard unless the truck it going on the interstate or something and the road noise drowns it out.
The squeak happens when the hubs are locked, unlocked, 2wd, 4wd, going up hill, coasting downhill, hitting the brakes or just coasting. The pitch never changes regardless of when I hit the brakes or turn, which is why I do not think it's the brakes or the wheel bearings.
The only thing I can safely guess that it might be (with my limited knowledge of these things) is the cv joints. On both sides, the outer boots are cracked to the point of being in several different pieces. Obviously the only grease left is what's stuck to the joints themselves, and it's been like this for awhile. Now keep in mind, the noise never changes when your turning left or right and the hubs locked/unlocked, so that makes me unsure about the cv joints being bad. I keep going back and forth over this and it's driving me up the wall.


I'll probably replace the cv joints soon anyways, but any ideas to what else it could be or what else I should replace while I have the wheels, hubs, and axles off?

One more thing, the type of noise does change occasionally with the speed of the vehicle. Sometimes it's a squeaking/squealing noise, other times it almost sounds like a faint grinding, it's hard to tell sometimes with the road noise thrown into the mix.

I've tried searching for the problem, but as I suspect with many newbs on here, I can't find my exact problem, so please go easy on me.

What else should I service while I'm at it? I don't know the last time it's been all lubed up, nor do I really know what needs lubed/serviced.





BTW, here's my yota

poynter

hey there neighbor! my 91 has a squeeky speedometer cable maybe thats it?

1stgen4gunner

Grinding you say? Check to see that your hubs are full disengaging when you are in 2wd. If they're fine give the wheels are good ol' WD-40 bath

1stgen4gunner

Nice rig man, wish my truck was red, but its black and primer black on one of the bed sides, its goofy lookin

tcabner

Thanks for the comments, yeah the paint is in decent shape with a few little rust spots here and there that need to be taken care of soon. The roof is also fading pretty bad, so I'll probably repaint it red (don't want to fool with painting the door jambs a different color, lol) sometime this summer and maybe do a 10 inch strip of black line-x around the rocker panels to add that nice tough look to it. Probably just leave the suspension the same. The only big thing I plan on doing is getting some 31x10.5's on some 15x8 Crager soft 8's or similar black steelies with 3.75-4" offset. Anybody know of a good deal on those, let me know.

Anyhow, I'm not sure if it is the speedo cable or not since the sound is coming from both sides and near the wheels. I'm pretty sure the hubs are disengaging. I guess I could jack up the front end sometime with them unlocked to find out?
It could very well be the outer cv joints though, wonder if I could soak them in wd-40 or some other spray lube as a temporary troubleshooter (certainly not a permanent or even extended fix).

jpmountainboy

does it do it when you just idle/not move?

tcabner

No it starts when the vehicle is moving, usually notice it from about 5mph on up.

jessekosten

Try greasing the drive lines. the cv shafts also take grease where slide into the steering hub.

1stgen4gunner

Ha, recognize the fade on the roof, my old 4runner had it pretty bad too along with the rust on the fenders covered up with bushwhackers (luckily there was enough fender left to put the bushwhackers on), but I just left it and eventually sold it like that, still got a pretty penny for it too, and the guy drove it too Alaska.

Spray WD-40 or grease the CV Joints with a heavier oil just until you replace them.

jpmountainboy

check your diff fluid, with that many miles, hopes it been changed. check to make sure the 4 wheel is disengaged like said above too. jack er up and spin the wheels...if the cvs turn, something is up in the hubs there. I would say check that diff fluid & gears though.

tcabner

Yeah, I think it might have something to do with the front diff. How hard would it be to change the fluid in it? Is there any way to check it?

abecedarian

you've got manual hubs and it squeeks whether the hubs are locked or unlocked, right?

Given that, sounds like it's not part of the front drive-line... maybe brake pads oscillating on the locating pins... possibly wheel bearings.

PCE91V64x4

Have you looked at the brake pads? Check the brake pads. One or more of the pistons (either side or both) could be frozen.

tysen86

I think it sounds like the bushings in the steering spindles are dry. couple of ways to get grease in them. best time is when you replace the CVs make sure there is plenty of grease inside the spindles and on the axle shaft before you install them.

tcabner

I'll check them, but the noise doesn't change a bit when I hit the brakes. The whole part about the hubs make sense, IF they are disengaging like they should be, then the diff shouldn't be the problem. However, I won't know for sure if they are until I jack up the front end and check to see if the shaft spins with the wheel. If it's not the diff, hubs, or brakes I would think about the only thing left would be the wheel bearings. I'm just used to when a wheel bearing is going out, the noise changing a bit when you turn the vehicle.

tysen86

oh yea, make sure you check those hubs to make sure they are unlocking all the way. if they are unlocked its not the spindles.

tcabner

Hmm, I may try that.

tysen86

well if the hubs ARE unlocked then you are right. the only thing it can be is the brakes or the bearing as that is the only thing left spinning.

when you jack it up and spin trun the tires, if the drive line does't spin then the transfer case is not coming out of gear. that could be causing the CVs to spin too. that might explain why the sound never changes.

tcabner

Well they "should" be unlocked, but it's very possible they aren't. If they aren't unlocking correctly, how should I go about fixing that? I know I should probably pull them off and clean them, but is that a common problem that's easily fixed?

tysen86

I don't think that is a common problem but its not that hard to fix. just clean them and grease em up real good.

make sure you read up on how to get the second part of the hub off, the cone washers can be kinda tricky.