Hey everyone, I have a 2nd gen 4runner that has a pronounced creaking and popping noise when you really crank the wheel. I was told that it was bad ball joints, but with everything that I have read I believe that it has more to do with the cv joint. Is this correct thinking? And if so, is it typically just the boot that has to be replaced or do I need a CV half shaft assembly to fix? Any help would be great. Thanks

 

Auto hubs? assuming yes since it's a 2nd gen. Yes the more likely culprit would be the cv's over the ball joints. Even mroe likely than the CV"s would be the lact of the rubber/plastic steering stops. if they are eaten away, which many are, mine included, they will make noise at full steering lock like you wouldn't believe because it's two heavy metal objects running together.

Do a quick search for "steering stops" and you will see what I mean. One quick fix is to use a very liberal amount of grease and see if the noise goes away. One of the theads on here goes into pretty good detail on how to replace them and where to get cheap ones at.

 

Sure enough, when I checked the stop bolts, there were no covers on them. You could see where they are contacting metal to metal. The CV boots and ball joints look fine, so I'm going to try these first. Thanks
Matt

 

People have had good luck with these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/86-95...Q5fAccessories

 

^^^ those are the ones from that thread I was mentioning earlier. Thanks RE-RE

 

Grease=Free

 

Grease Steering Stops ftw.

 

Grease = not free. As it wears off and you have to keep putting it on and the grease I use is not cheap.

 

no problem, xxxtreme, I have it bookmarked on ebay. I should really just order them. Haha.

Im currently using the geese method

 

i just grease mine once a month, it also give me a resson to add grease as i see fit since im already under there with the gun. the grease stops the noise just fine, and the plastic caps fall off easily. you can also try using plasti-dip on the bolts to stop the noise, not sure how long that would last though

 

I greased mine a year ago and the noise has yet to come back and most of the grease is still there

 

in my gun: http://www.amazon.com/Sta-Lube-Marin.../dp/B000KKLLPS

on my shelf: http://www.amazon.com/CRC-SL3121-Mar..._bxgy_sg_img_b

Only one store around here has it. Ordering them online wouldn't be much cheaper if any after shipping costs. $8 for the can and $10 for the grease gun.

total for 1 of each: $18.35 on amazon shipped

 

Thanks guys, I ordered those stop covers. I live in CO and there is far too much wind and dust out here to not have that grease attract everything under the sun. You should see any just greased joint on my runner.