Squeaky Dakars : Any advice from others with the Dakars ?

I had that squeak as well. I did the zip tie fix....that one went away and now i notice the squeak is isolated in the bushing area.

 

Highly unlikely. Rubber bushings don't squeak, and don't require maintenance, absorb vibrations well, which Toyota uses them. Most likely the sound is the metal leaves rubbing against each other.

Jack your truck up by the frame so the suspension drops out hammer a screwdriver between the leaves and spray your favorite lubricant of choice. Do all the leaf ends with metal on metal.

The sound will go away.

Do one side at a time. You will have to repeat this periodically as the lubricant wears away.

Don't forget to block your front wheels.

 

Bushing itself will not squeak the pin that is dry will.

 

Are you speaking to rubber or polyurethane bushings?

FYI that pin is really a sleeve and it doesn't move.

This is because 89 ft.lbf of torque holds it. It never moves in the shackle or frame bucket. Whenever the suspension flexes the rubber will stretch and allow rotation. The sleeve and rubber are fused at manufacturing.

With a polyurethane leaf spring bushing, when leaf flexes, the sleeve is still held fast by torque, and the polyurethane rotates around the sleeve. And yes the poly can and will squeak anytime there is a metal surface against it that moves and not greased.

 

This is exactly why I referenced torque value. Incorrect torque value leads to space between the surfaces that should be tight. Even though you have the sleeve it will become a friction zone since torque values were not followed or greased properly. Many different things come in play when certain installation details are not followed or missed. Most people don't use torque wrenches. The other majority assemble without using lubricants or cleaning mating surfaces.

People have a tendency to over complicate issues that are easy to correct. I have a tendency to over complicate my communication which leads to confusion. At times...If you think about it will make sense

 

@IronPeak4x4
@crazy joker
@DrFunker

I'm going to reconfigure my leaf pack in the near future. I figured I might install the isolatrs while it's apart.

I called around to talk to some shops in my area.

One shop wanted $350 to install the isolators. ROFL I told them it was a $400 leaf pack.... crickets...
Another shop will charge me $3 per hole and $2 per pad. Pretty good!

In talking to them, Both shops said it saves me money to disassemble the spring pack and bring in only the leaves to be serviced.

Also, the second shop I talked to said they would make me some custom u-bolts. (10"x3.25"x9/16" rod, grade 8), asked him how long it would take to make them. He laughed and said 5 minutes. ROTFLMAO
Cost is $20 per ubolt so $20 x 4 = $80

Just thought I'd share what I found in my area.

FWIW, my leaf squeak has been fairly minimal as of late.

 

Adding the pucks was one of the best pre-install things I did.
Wow $350??
I think you will notice a nice difference in them.

 

Roflmao right there with you
.. could buy a drill press and tackle the job yourself for that!!!

 

@HolyHandGrenade @Manual man74 @Sub-Zero @The Hunter @stairgod
Is there anywhere near us that can do this for us?

 

I'm not letting the squeaks bother me. You can do it yourself easily enough though.

 

I'll tell ya I showed up back at the shop before they were finished I walked to the back they had one side done. 30 minutes later and the tech had broken down the leafs, drilled and inserted the pads, greased, reassembled them with a new new center bolt. The bolt looks cut so they had some kind of hydraulic nipper, or big ass bolt cutters. The place I went builds new springs, but it shows how quickly the process can be if done . So 350$ my ass!!

 

I would ask them how they are coming up with that figure,, you could disassemble the leafs yourself, for instance, time? Parts? It doesn't make sense!!

 

Maybe go to a machine shop instead ?

 

The guy belly ached about the cost of carbide drill bits. Springs weren't their only business.

The second shop was.

 

Don't worry about the squeaks... They come and go... But there is a leaf srping place in I think wall nj that does everything.

 

Perhaps. I have cobalt drill bits but not carbide ones.

 

My leaf pack is still relatively new, so no squeaks YET. That said, based on @DrFunker experience, I called around my area for isolators before installing the leafs and found only responses like the first shop you called.

I opted to install them and hope for the best. (I WISH I'd found a "$3 per hole and $2 per pad" deal!)

 

One thing,I was at Yodaman, the best guy in the north Bay for 4x4 work. He has a rack of done up older tacos out front and is often out of the shop wheeling up in.the Sierra or moab... anyway here's a shot of springs he's waiting to install and you can.see that isolators are industry standard, maybe not for those aussies...:

 

It's not hard to do yourself, but at only $5 per hole/pad, that's an easy decision. Good find.
Thanks for sharing the u-bolt info. That option would be great if you don't have time to wait for shipping.

 

Theres no isolator on the leaf wrapping the front bushing in your pic

Thats where the Dakars squeak