New Struts, Concerned

Hey y'all! New to this, and don't know much about anything, but trying to get into it and don't have anyone in my world who knows anything about cars....

I recently took my 2014 Tacoma into the dealer for maintenance and they told me my front right strut was gone and needed replacement. Was a crazy price and I couldn't afford it so I Googled the process and watched a bunch of videos and decided I would do it on my own. All seems to have gone well... I replaced both front struts at the same time and it went just like the videos showed. BUT, now I hear a squeak/ groan when I turn/ when breaking comes to a full stop. I dont know if I am being paranoid now, and if this sound is normal and I didn't hear it before because I never drove around paying so much attention/ with the radio off.... Handling is good. I have intentionally hit potholes to see if it would all fall apart, and it hasn't. No clunking. No thuds. AND, I need new tires (getting them next week) so I will have an alignment ASAP.

Question is: Is the squeak/ groan something to be concerned about? Did I fuck up? Is there something I should look for? I really want to be able to care of more of this stuff on my own. Did I start too big without a knowledge base?

Please don't just hate on me. I want to learn.

 

Welcome! First step would be to double check your work. Take your wheels back off and make sure everything was torqued down and put back properly. Since it will be in soon maybe ask them to do an inspection of the front end for you.

 

One thing to check, did you do your final tightening of the lower bolt, the big one on the lower control arm with the weight of the vehicle on the wheels/tires? Those bottom bolts should just be finger tight until you set it back down, then tighten and torque them.
Like @AJKlug1 said, look everything back over and let us know what you find.
In my opinion, no, you should not be hearing squeaks and groans.

 

Thanks for your insights @winkel and @AJKlug1 !

I popped the wheels off and all seemed good, with the exception of my upper right control arm. Nothing was wrong with it, just a bit looser than I would have thought. I tightened the bolt and will see what that does for my sounds. BUT I did not know that I was supposed to only finger tight the bottom bolt while it is off the ground, and then fully torque it down with the weight on it. Unfortunately I only read that after I had the wheels back on and all buttoned up, so I will be popping it back up on the Jack Stands and re-doing that part of the process.

Hoping these sounds go away and I can feel comfortable driving it.

 

Yes as the guys ahead have said you shouldnt be getting any squeaks or anything like that. Usually that noise is coming from the upper or lower control arm bushings. They could be on their way out. Nothing to really worry about now. I would guess you can throw some grease or Lubricant on them and should not hear them anymore. Otherwise doing struts is relatively entry level type stuff. So congrats on that and getting into the hobby.

 

UPDATE: Thanks for all your help on this, folks. After torqueing down the upper control arm again, and ensuring the lower bolts were torqued, the sounds have gone away. Nothing was super loose, but after a few more pulls all seems to be working well. No more sounds, and all is in order.