Creaking Noise at Slow Speeds/Turns/In Reverse

I've been noticing a lot of creaking noises lately in certain situations and have been unable to locate it or find some specific information on here/internet. It primarily happens at slow speeds on off camber turns and/or speed bumps. It also happens the most when reversing slowly and with or without anything in the bed. At first I thought it was the front body mounts as they have been known to fail prematurely and I've seen a few threads on them. However I took a look at them and they look to be in great shape still and the noise seems to be in the middle to rear. Around 2,600 miles, I had my leaf springs replaced by Toyota as I was experiencing the rumbling when braking. They also installed a steering wheel damper and all has been well since. Now here I am at 8800 miles and the truck sounds like it has 100k miles on it with all this creaking. The truck is mechanically stock and the only "off road" I have done is a gravel/dirt road to get to a campsite. I probably will end up taking it to the dealer since it's under warranty but as you all know it can be extremely frustrating working with them. In any case, I wanted to document the noise the best I could so this is what I did. I took out the spare tire (to eliminate this as making some noise) and mounted a go pro underneath the bed near where the spare sits. I took a short drive around my neighborhood and did a few turns at slow speeds. This angle seemed to demonstrate the noise the best. I also mounted it in the front right under the cab mount bushings and there was no noise. The third video was mounted on the side steps and you can slightly hear some creaking. Does anyone have any ideas or have experienced a similar issue?? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Videos:

Mounted under bed in front of where the spare tire sits:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x7X0i-YSmAtP6iSPGy8TimkB3frtjVpD/view

Mounted on passenger side step facing front:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wiJ8a_XUOX7i-kshTuKu5Y7364OTFKFR/view

Mounted in front:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12CvmTJxvTOWCXOpPg4v9T3RNqjJAdeFj/view

 

2nd gen guy here, and I didn't even read your whole post, sorry.

For me, this is the tell tale sign that the lower control arm bolts aren't sufficiently torqued. They need like 100 or 120 or maybe 16 million ft lbs (I forget) but most shops don't crank it that tight. I've learned to always bring a torque wrench and a breaker bar so I can tighten them in the parking lot right after an alignment. Only once have I found them sufficiently torqued; usually I get several cranks before the wrench clicks, meanwhile the shop staff glare at me from the shade of their bay like I'm a crazy person for wanting my alignment to hold for more than 30 seconds.

Hope this helps, or at least doesn't mislead you. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll take a look but it appears the noise is not coming from the front.

 

Also these trucks creak a lot, they have light frames and thin bodywork because they're the lightest duty pickups you can buy from Toyota.

I'd have to grease my door gaskets daily to keep them silent on any surface except for maybe a shopping mall parking lot... while parked with the engine off on a calm day... and even then, I would still expect some creaky noises.

And I'm sure there are many other 'normal' noises coming from outside the cab on my ~200k-miles-old constantly abused 2nd-gen offroad camping truck, but I can't hear them over the noise of my dash rattling itself apart, nor would I care amidst the excruciating back pain associated with my driving habits.

So if your truck is just being creaky, then turn up the music or learn to ignore it.

I draw the line at noises I can feel through the floorboard or steering column, or which are so terrible that they send shivers down my spine like fingernails on a chalkboard. Otherwise... just tune it out until it gets worse.

But definitely check with the dealership too, just in case! I've never owned a truck that was still under warranty, but if I did, I'd be the first guy in line at the service counter if I even heard even the slightest abnormal noise.

Good luck!

 

haha I totally hear you but for a near 40k truck that is brand new, I shouldn't have to turn up the music to ignore this. Both myself and my wife can feel the creaks through the floorboards and it seems to be getting worse. I will be opening up a case with Toyota tomorrow and go from there. My 10k service is coming up so mine as well see what they say.

 

Continuing to research the issue and thinking maybe the dealer didn't torque the leaf spring bushing at regular ride height after the new leaf springs were installed??

 

I'm sorry nobody more knowledgeable has jumped in here... so here's another two cents worth of my pointless opinion.

Get the right tools, then get under your truck and start torquing these things to spec. You can probably find those specs online... or at least, they're well publicized for 2nd gens. While you're down there, look for other problems that could be causing the noise, too.

Warranty or not, most dealerships aren't going to call in Sherlock Holmes to solve your intermittent non-catastrophic noise issues. That's not to say they won't make an effort, but they have very limited time and resources, even for customers who just bought $40k trucks.

 

Check the rubber bumper stops under the front of the hood. Took about a year for the dealer to figure it out.

 

I don’t understand this argument.

The average car prices in 2019 was 36k, while trucks was almost 50k.

These aren’t expensive vehicles in today’s market.

Don’t get me wrong, it shouldn’t make strange noises...I just don’t understand how the price of a Tacoma is a factor.

 

Mine does the same thing. Creaky guy.

 

Well I guess I should a took a look under the truck before posting this....Not only is the passenger leaf spring front nut completely loose but I am missing both of the back nuts on the same leaf spring. Unreal. Time to contact Toyota corporate again.