Squeaky Sound on 2018 Four Runner

Hey All! Have a dull but persistent squeaky sound coming from lower drivers side. Thinking it is suspension as the sound only occurs when hitting small bumps. How to properly diagnose and remedy? Thanks

 

Most likely the inner fender rubber shields.
Very common issue.

 

Open your hood and wipe a little grease on the hood latch contact points. This is a common noise complaint, and unfortunately people that don’t know have spent a ton of money replacing suspension parts without realizing it was the hood latch.

ETA: the fender liners are your next most likely cause, as mentioned above. Although the liners tend to sound a bit more “tappy”

 

Thanks to both of you. I lubed the hood hinge contact points and the issue is resolved. On a different note, my Xreas shocks may be starting to leak, but the dirtiness on the shock body may be only weepage. Thoughts? No oil on the garage floor

 

Excellent! I live in a dusty environment so I opted to apply electrical tape around the hood latch and a piece on each rack hood rest bumper rather than a lubricant that can attract dust.

 

Does the tape get caught in the mechanism and get torn up? If not, where did you put the tape exactly? I’ll probably give this a try myself.

 

I do replace the black electrical tape periodically, but not often. I remember the first time I had the hood noise, I was convinced it was a front suspension problem. Finally rocked the vehicle with the hood popped open and no noise. Since I applied the tape, no noise.

 

So did you grease the stops also?

 

Are you asking me? If so, then no, I do not grease. My off road environment is very dusty so the less attraction the better.

 

The noise doesn’t come with from the stops, but some people say that turning them out a tiny bit will preload the latch and make the noise go away.

Personally, I havent turned them out to avoid potentially creating a gap in the weathersealing. I did that on a previous vehicle, and the under hood area was a complete mess after driving in heavy interstate traffic while the roads were sloshy with salty snow.