Upper Bushing on 5100's

So I've been having a dreadful squeak from my driver's side wheel well for months now. I finally had time to take apart my entire suspension yesterday and thank Jebus, I was able to finally figure out what is causing my truck to squeak like a 20 year old truck. Take a look at the pictures:

Notice that the bushing on top of the top plate is not compressed on the driver's side as it is on the passenger's side. This allows the entire shaft assembly to move around and thus causing the awful squeaks. The retaining nut is tightened down the same amount on both sides though, so what could it be?

Passenger's side:



Driver's side:
FYI- We put grease on the bushing only to temporarily get rid of the squeak until I am able to figure out why the bushing is not getting compressed and tightened like the passenger side is. You can see the grease is smothered all around the bushing.



What could be the issue here?
Why is the retaining nut not compressing the bushing onto the top plate like it's supposed to and like it is on the passenger's side?

 

Bump for you.

 

Bottom bushing not installed? Missing bottom bushing washer?

 

Thanks Keith.

Chas, I spoke with Marco from Downsouth Motorsports and he mentioned the same thing. He said either it's completely missing the bushing ("cushion" as Toyota calls it) that goes under the top plate, or it's damaged and needs to be replaced. I purchased the bushing from toyota so i'll be taking apart the strut assembly this afternoon. Hopefully it's just that.

 

Finally figured out what the problem was!

When you install 5100's, make sure that if you DON'T install the rubber dust boot, at least install the metal spacer piece that's part of the boot.

 

Glad that was it! I told you it would be something dumb, lol! Well at least you know you won't need new top plates anytime soon!

Let us know if we can help you with anything else...

Thanks,
Marco