Front end creak when weight is transferred

1996 Tacoma, 3.4L manual, access cab, 344K miles

I hear a creaking sound whenever weight is transferred when I stop or the truck goes over a slower speed bump or up a driveway. I *perceive* this to be coming from the front end.

I can sorta reproduce this by jumping on the front bumper. The ball joints were replaced ~30K miles ago. Any suggestions for what to look for / at?

 

So I did a bit of research and think I've identified the culprit: lower control arm bushings. I sprayed a lot of silicone WD40 directly on these and the creaking went away.

Of course, the next time it rains, this stuff will wash off, so I'll need something like AT 205 Re-Seal, but this product seems to be out of stock everywhere. Hmmmm...

 

Did you recently replace the lower control arm bushings?

And yeah, to fully fix the issue, you'll really need to get down there, disassemble, and lubricate the contact pieces by hand with some grease.

 

Did not replace the the LCAs. I have to replace the steering rack due to a leak in the near future. I may do the LCA bushing grease or replacement then. Thanks!

 

Check out the whiteline bushings when replacing them. They come assembled and have saved me a lot of time when I replaced them. And a quick note, is the leak very small? I had some small leaks on my steering rack as well (small but enough to drain the reservoir enough to where it starts making some noise), but after using high mileage transmission fluid for the steering fluid, I haven't had any leaks since December of last year. Might be worth checking out in your case

 

I have one as well- if you lurch the truck- give gas and then get off gas, there’s a chirp. Not clutch related as far as I can tell- does it without the clutch pedal being pushed in or moved. It’ll happen when shifting for that moment when you’re not under load in the drivetrain. Stumps everyone looking for it.

 

Nice! Can I ask what high mileage transmission fluid you used exactly? Did you just fill up an empty PS reservoir with it?

 

I used walmart's high mileage synthethic transmission fluid. It's very cheap and of great quality according the internet. And no, I just continued to fill up when it started making noise. It might not be a bad idea to perform a drain and fill with it though.

 

Thanks @crazytacoman . Yeah my steering rack leak is *very* slow (except when I park on a hill and turn the wheel to the right for some reason). The rack itself works perfectly fine, so it would be much better if I can seal the leak somehow. Thus far, I've tried Blue Devil, Lucas, and Prestone stop leak products which have helped, but not completely stopped the leak.