996 C2 Noisy Suspension - 55k miles

[Hilux2400]

I have a noisy or squeaking suspension on my 996.  I thought it was coming from the back and changed the drop links and sway bar bushes. At first I thought I had solved it, but now it seems to have come back and is fairly elusive.  I now think it comes from the front.  The strange thing is that it does not happen when starting from cold for the first 10 miles or so and then it kicks in.  It's not loud, just annoying.  I cannot find anything that is loose or with unacceptable movement and the shock absorbers are working. The noise is noticeable over cobbled surfaces when travelling slowly. 

 

Could it be:

 

Something inside the shock that starts to occur when the shock warms up?

 

What about rubber creaking rubber bushes?  Is there any means of lubricating these such as spraying with silicon lubricant? 

 

I have also noticed that the problem is not apparent after driving in wet weather, which makes me think water is acting as a lubricant for the exposed bushes on the lower suspension.

 

Thanks for reading?

 

H

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

[Dennis C]

My guess would be that your bushings are worn out.  

[rb101]

Is it a squeak or a groan? My lower control arms can made a groan when they went bad.  Try pushing down on the suspension on each corner and see if you can isolate the noise.    

[Hilux2400]

Thanks for the replies.  I have done the following and the noises have disappeared.  I sprayed the metalastic bushes with silicon lubricant and also the bump stops at the top of the shock absorbers.  

 

I remember having a similar problem with these types of bushes on a car many years back and I used to treat them as every service with lubricant suitable for rubber.

 

As the noise was not present in wet weather I concluded that water was in some way acting as a lubricant.  I trawled for other postings and discovered that this is quite a common problem.  What foxed me was that all the joints were good and not showing any play.

 

H