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Hey Guys, I've got an issue with my 94 runner that I need help diagnosing. When turning the vehicle hard, I can hear a loud grinding noise coming from my tires. When turning a hard right, the noise is only found on the right, and when turning left, it is found on both sides. I looked underneath and found that the CV boot had been torn open, but after replacing the entire drive shaft the issue is still there. I took the tires off and inspected the tie rods and the ball joints to find that my upper ball joint boot on the right side is somewhat damaged. I'm not sure if that could be the issue though. The sound on both sides is the same and its more of a popping grinding noise than squeeling. I also tried greasing the steering stops to see if that would make any difference and it didn't. Any advice would be really appreciated as I haven't been able to find anything related to this online.

rustypigeon

This sound occurs when the plastic bumper on the steering stops wears through. Do you see metal worn through you stops?

KBAM

Did you flatten out the face of the backing plate or whatever its called (frame side of the steering stop)? Mine were pretty torn up, had to take a flap wheel to them. See pix below. Also I'd buy the caps off ebay. It'l run you $40 bucks but you wont have that nasty noise any longer.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...l#post52245467


Edit- Worth mentioning, there's 2 bump stops per wheel if you didn't know.

scope103

The sound from bad steering stop caps (called "groan stoppers") is more of a, well, groaning. It's easy to diagnose; as soon as you back off the steering wheel 1/2 inch it stops.

I assume you replaced the "half-shaft" on the side with the torn CV boot (the "drive shaft" is usually the shaft from the transfer case to the differential). But it still sounds like a bad CV or wheel bearing. Why don't you try jacking up the front, and turning each wheel while pushing it (as though you had turned the steering wheel). Your hands are very sensitive to grinding in this position. You might also need to try jacking the front from underneath the lower control arm, so that the suspension is compressed as though sitting on the tires.