I have a '90 V6 SR5 4WD pickup with 215,000 miles. For the first few minutes when it's cold out (below 40), I hear a loud grinding noise from the right front wheel. It sounds like I have a loud "mud tire" on the right side. The noise usually goes away within a minute or two of driving. It seems to be related to the wheel rotation, not engine RPMs (sound persists when coasting with clutch in). In addition to this it pulls to the right at highway speeds. I constantly have to correct by steering left. This occurs constantly, whether hot or cold.

The mechanic could not find any problem, except for worn brake pads (which he replaced for too much $$$). He said the bearings seemed fine. He thinks the pulling the right is related to loose steering components and the crown of the road.... I don't think that's right because it pulls to the right regardless of the crown of the road.

Any ideas? I'd hate to spend much more money chasing down the problem. Maybe I could "direct" the mechanic to look at certain things.

Thanks.

 

Make sure your wheel bearings are in good shape. Also make sure your steering linkages are not worn/loose.

It sounds like your mechanic might not be the best....

 

its most likely the spindle bushings. its where the axle goes through the spindle theres excessive space/play. either replace or cram with grease.

 

X2
just wait until both start making noises at random intervals I did what another member on here did, and mixed gear oil with grease and then I heated up the mix and sucked it up in a straw and pushed the straw into the gap then blew the grease into the space.

real soon I am going to pull my steering knuckles off clean and re grease the bushing and cv axles I got a price quote for around almost 150$ for the rear bushing and 45$ for the front, I am just going to add grease to them ever so often and save that money for other things.

 

Toyota put out a TSB for this problem. Here is a link with more information:

http://www.alldata.com/service_provi.../20000706.html

 

x3 for spindle bushings

You can either pull the CV to lube them or build a luibricator - search for a thread started by ToyotaMDTech (or something like that)