My 90 4 runner V6 4wd truck is back from the shop.
She went in with a torn CV boot to replace all 4 boots.

..and she came back with an...S.T.D.!!!!!

Spindle Technical Disorder.

Hey man, just trying to have some fun.

Too late to take it back to the shop, gotta press on 300 miles to final destination.

Noise comes from left drivers side front wheel area.
Come and goes at about 2 or 3 second cycle.
Like a squel.
Boots look good.
Mileage still good.
Steering seems OK.

Searched forum and read a zillion posts.
Looks like the dreaded spindle bushing lack of lube issue.

So, my questiuon.

How dangerous is this to drive with?

I gotta pick up the wife and 2 boys tomorrow.
2 hours round trip.

Also, can anybody UPS me a spindle bushing greasing device?
You gotta make this thing?
Isn't this for sale yet? yeesh!

Thanks gentlemen.

 

I can't forsee it being a "safety" issue.

You'll just have to learn to live with the noise is all. Untill you can get to lubin' 'em up.

ADD sucks huh? Don't you wish you could unlock your hubs? (sorry, not trying to rub it in)

I can't believe them knuckle-heads didn't pack no grease in there. Idiots....

 

if it is infact not enough grease at the spindle(BEARINGS)... then you can pack it by hand. but getting them out is the annoying part... once you get them out, simply put grease on your palm, and kinda slide/press the bearing into the grease till it comes out the other end(from bottom to top of bearing). Do that the entire ring of the bearing. Reinstall. You really need to get both if it really is.. but to do the rear you're gonna need a new seal. I duno what tools you have either.. :-/... Usually makes a humming/roaring noise, that's constant but variable due to speed and turning.

I'd bet that it's probably that the CV's weren't put back together correctly. OR they have damage to them. Rule of thumb, small seeping leak at a boot, you can re-boot, tear/rip/gash/opening, replace axle. It's very possible that the tech jacked up one of the axles, it happens...

Personally, i wouldn't worry about it till i'm done traveling, but that's me and i don't have a wife and two sons in the truck.. It depends on how much time you have really... And the tools.... And, i'd most defiantly(sp?) take it back to the ppl that did the work.

OO!!!, just thought!!!.. check the backing plate for the brakes.. bend it out a bit... you'd be surprised how often that is a problem. It gets bent and starts hitting the rotor. It'll hit one second, not the next, but then hit a few seconds later, really annoying. Usually sounds like a squeaky, scraping noise.

Good luck man. repost when you find out what the problem is.

 

Unless he has specifically put spindle needle bearings in, he has the stock spindle bushings. Sounds like the didn't grease the cv shaft when they installed it and you are infact hearing the spindle bushing hitting the cv shaft.

 

OK, well, that calms me a bit.

My over-active imagination and seeing too many Hollywood movies had me worrying that any second the wheel and tire would blow off and I'd roll and flip into a guardrail with a firey explosion. or I'd just go off some suitably nearby cliff. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Southern Texas higways like route 37 I was on fom Corpus Christi to Marble Falls (north of San Anotnio) have a butt-ton of road-kill and more than their fair of mysterious skid marks leading off to the edge of the road.

I will put this on the list to accomplish either by a) eventually learning how to do it and slowly gathering the tools or b) pay a shop.

Thanks guys.

 

well, I went under there and tried to examine the brake backing plate.
It does have a few small scratches and scrapes on it, not sure that is the source of the sound. I sure hope it would be something kind of less crtiical like that...

I made an hour trip and stopped to pick up my family at the airport at Killeen, Texas.

More amateur detective work:
So, I crawled under there after parking and felt with my fingers the temp of the surface of what I would call the outer CV joint housing? just outboard of the outer CV boot. Very warm but not hot. Compared to right side of the car, it was about the same with my non-claibrated finger tips.
I guess my brain was thinking "spindle bushing in there with inadequate librication, increased friction, increased wear, probably really hot?"

I don't know, I think I will try and get this spindle greasing device made.
Maybe cheaper than having the CV boot opened up again?

Thanks guys.

 

It's really not that tough to pull the CV axle and grease the bushing ... or take it back to whoever did the work and tell them it's making a noise it didn't before they did the work.

Unless you do it everyday, IMHO it's not worth making the tool. Seriously, the factory grease lasted 14 yrs and 200k+ miles in mine!