Technical Write-Up - Squeaking Leaf Spring Fix

[etcthorne]

Well, sort of technical anyway....

I had a "creaking" and "Chirping" leaf spring on the Driver's side. Didn't have to drive the truck to hear it - simply bouncing on the rear bumper adequately demonstrated the maddening creaking noise. While inspecting things to see if anything was amiss, I noticed the leaf spring clamp on the forward end - closest to the front of the truck - was only attached at one side. The inboard side was hanging in the air.

Being a big, studly guy, I sprayed a metric butt-ton of white lithium grease all over and between the leaves (as best I could) and that clamp, and all along the leaf spring. I then Used a C-clamp to close that clamp up tight.

Went for a test drive and had the worst squeaking you ever heard (X1000 times worse than before I had tightened the clamp).

After about an hour of looking through this board for hints (or fingers pointing at me for being stupid re: what I had just done to the spring and clamp), I got the bright idea that maybe those leaves need to move, and by closing that clamp as tightly as I had done, maybe I put the spring into a position where it could not move.

Walked out to the truck with a BFS (Big Freaky Screwdriver), layed it across the top of the clamp diagonally, where you can get some leverage, and loosened it up a bit.

Then, I wedged the BFS between the sides of the clamp and the spring itself and pulled and moved things a bit.

After each try, I would mount the rear bumper and bounce a bit (be nice now, this is a family board). After a couple of tries at wedging the BFS in the side of the clamp and moving the spring laterally back and forth, the creak was gone. Mind you, I did this little wedging and moving thing on the front and rear brackets.

So, I'm thinking the combination of the Metric Butt-Ton of lithium grease, using the BFS to loosen the clamp I had just tightened to the point I could have left a charcoal brick in there and come out with a diamond, and jacking the actual leaf springs side-to-side actually fixed this problem.

Drove around for about 50 miles yesterday - no noise. Went out and washed the truck (bounced on the bumper again) - no noise. I think the key is not to tighten the clamps to the point the spring cannot move or adjust.

I hope this helps someone.

Mark

[etcthorne]

Oh, by the way, I priced leaf springs from Toyota yesterday in a moment of despair until I fixed it - those suckers are over $500.00, so don't break 'em.

In another intestering bit of irony, my Platinum extended warranty will not cover a squeaking leaf spring, or so Toyota told me yesterday.

[The Phoenix]

Thanks for the help Mark. I've added your thread to our 1st-gen FAQ

[Ashley83]

That sucks because my leaf springs just started squeaking.

[duffyatkinson]

I'm new to the forum, so first, a hearty hello all from Riverside, CA.

I had the same problem. My service manager told me that it is a common problem, especially after a dry summer. He also said that the only REAL way to do the job properly is to work on it when the truck is LIFTED up off the wheels. It is then possible to gain access to the gaps between the spring bars and get the heavy duty grease into the space. He said that the ole WD-40/grease trick while it is sitting in your driveway will, for the most part, just make the squeek worse. He's right!

[El Jeep]

Check your rear shock mount bushings as well. There is a TSB on this. If your truck is under warranty they take the bushing out, flip it over, install it again. No more squeaks.

[Hi Volt]

I have a squeak on the driver's side of my '01. Finally found that one of the noise pads on the end of the sping pack was missing ( plastic piece between ends of springs ). This causes metal on metal rubbing and a squeak. The end of the leaf in question has slight lip which allows a big screwdriver to be wedged it with a few taps of a hammer. I then applied some antisieize compound in between the leaves at the point the bushing is missing. Remove the screwdriver carefully of you will get a shot of the antisieze compound shot out at you. This fix lasts for close to a month.

[2XOverhead]

Nice write up, thanks.