Annoying Front End Squeak

So I have this squeak happening in my 2012 limited. It sounds like the squeak from the hood bump stops that people talk about, but it seems to not be what is causing my issue. I’ve adjusted the bump stops until I couldn’t close the hood and backed it off some from there and it is still happening.
It seems to happen after I’ve been driving for a while and not at first. I live on a dirt road and will do it on my way home from places but not when first leaving home after the car was parked, I think. Accelerating/decelrating, braking/no brakes, it happens.
I took a video I can post if that’s possible here.

Any other suggestions? The car has a lot miles on it and is still on all the original suspension parts.

 

More than likely you've got some bad bushings. All of the suspension needs to be checked and updated. If it were me, I'd start with lower strut bushings and LCA bushings.

 

Flex plate, known to crack with high mileage, as it gets hot the flex plate heats up and makes more noise as it rubs inside the bell housing.
It makes a funny squeak that sounds a ton like a blown shock at first, then sometimes sounds like a bird chirping. You have an inspection cover but its real hard to see anything in there, pull the starter and roll the engine over and you can see it easy. 250,000-300,000 is where you start seeing the flex plate cracking. Seen a bunch of them crack, broke, and come apart on high mileage 3rd and 4th gens. You basically still have the same exact engine that has been around since 2003, same flex plate, same engine, same trans. I have not had to fix any on the 5th gens yet but.... I have done a bunch on 3rd and 4th gens with high mileage and the symptoms you describe are exactly what a cracked flex plate sounds like.

 

You must be one of those mechanics that would pull the transmission to change a strut. Geezus. The OP said it was high mileage and original suspension. How you went here instead of checking the obvious is bordering on insane.

 

the 4runner will typically go 300,000+ on stock suspension bushings with no squeaks and little to no wear
the noise you hear from a cracked flex plate is EASILY mistaken as a busted shock fluttering or a suspension noise that you cant seem to locate in the suspension, also gets louder as the engine heats up... Ever seen a suspension bushing that gets louder as the engine gets warm?
i aint saying i'm right, but i will say i'm rarely wrong.

 

Thanks. I have had it in recently and they said the lca bushing was getting worn or cracked. Recommended replacing the LCAs but at least googling it seemed like that should be more a clunk? I’ll see what it does today when I leave work to see if I can hear it or not in the bumpy parking lot. I’ve been able to hear it in the car as I’m driving on the expressway with the windows closed, it’s faint but I can hear it. With the windows open and going fast there is too much other noise.

 

Do this.

 

They crack on the outside edges from age, thats noticable and "looks" bad but you can take a 3ft pry bar and really wiggle and put pressure against the A-arms and lower mounts and rarely see any real wiggle in them. As long as the eccentrics dont rust into the sleeves, (up north is bad about it) then the bushings rarely wear even with high mileage. And you are right, normally when the lower A-arm bushings get worn you get more of a "clunk" as the eccentric sleeve wears thru the bushing, and the actual A-arm will move around. Normally when you back up and hit the brakes you can hear a "thug" or "clunk" as the A-arm shifts to one side, when you go to drive the A-arm will shift the opposite direction. I would recommend a long pry-bar and see if you can wiggle anything, i say its unlikely.
Sure, occasionally you will see someone with bushings that are worn, but you're looking at 20-25 year old vehicles when the rubber/butyl starts to actually fall apart. On a 10yo vehicle they dont normally come apart, sure they crack around the edge where you can see but the actual meat of the bushing is almost always great for 20 years
*currently have a 1st gen tundra in for an alignment, couldnt break the eccentrics loose because the sleeves are rusted in the A-arm bushings. 250,000 miles, 21 years old, OEM control arms and bushings, bushings still tight as a new one.
Having to cut the eccentric and sleeve out to remove the lower A-arm and replacing the lower A-arm with a new one because putting bushings in ABSOLUTELY SUCKS. Trust me, lower A-arm bushings dont wear out as much as the internet might think they do. My personal 2008 daily has 265,000 miles on it and stock lower control arms and stock bushings and its TIGHT.

 

Any idea of the best way to upload a video?

 

That's easy. Upload the video to Youtube. Once you've done that, copy and paste the link in your next response.

 

I've had good luck uploading to YouTube and then uploading the file here by copying and pasting.

 

Did you put grease on the hood latch contact point? I know people adjust the hood bumpers which usually causes the hood latch to have more tension, but the actual source of the noise is the dry
metal on metal rubbing of the hook that goes into the latch.

Just a dab of grease will do ya. At least try it before you remove the transmission or cut off the lower control arms.

 

I’ll try this today when it’s squeaking and see if it stops.

Edit- put some grease in the car to grease it while it was doing it and of course not a squeak at all today.

 

After a couple of 4 wheeling seasons of using any “grease of opportunity” anywhere I could find some on the car, I finally decided to get a little tube if lithium grease. I keep it up front, ready to go.

 

I have found my running boards squeaking. I assume from me removing and replacing, but it drove me crazy until I found it. Now that I know I still haven't tightened them yet. I'm at 240k on my 13 Limited and I'm not used to any squeaking or rattling. I'm usually the cause of it if it does. Check rear sway bar link bushings for dirt stacking on the mount, clean, spray silicone and tighten. Any unlubed polyurethane bushings or anything else will squeak. I would spray some silicone into front bushings to troubleshoot. I used the RSO adjustable links and they eliminate bushings.