"Squeaky" '01 Tundra following new shock replacement

I have a 2001 Tundra that just turned 80K on the clock and it needed new
tires and shocks recently. I had the tires installed at a local tire dealer
but they did not have access to anything but OEM shocks. I went to my
freindly neighborhood parts shop (independently owned, not a chain) and
within 24 hours he had four new Monroe shocks for the truck.

He recommended an independent shop to install them which they did that
morning. While pulling through my parking garage at work the next day, I
noticed that the truck was squeaking from every quadrant, making it sound
years older that it really is.

I figured it was the new rubber gaskets and patiently waited for some rain
to drive through, thinking that after the rubber got wet it may 'set' and
the squeaks would be gone.

SInce we are in a moderate drought here in North Georgia, there has been no
rain in weeks so I stopped back by the shop who installed the shocks to see
what they would recommend.

"Just give each rubber grommet a quick squirt of WD-40 and that should take
care of it" was the answer.

5 minutes with a can of WD seemed to fix the squeaks, but my question is
two fold.

1) Why would brand new shocks with new rubber mountings squeak in the first
place? and

2) I cannot imagine this fix being permanent so am I destined to be
crawling below the truck every few months to add a spritz of WD to the
noisy mounts?

TIA for any information or suggestions.

pr

PS-the shocks have made the truck return to its former Interstate form...it
rides beautifully and handles so much better. The Goodyear Fortera tires
make one fourth the noise of the former Toyo tires and I have gained 2 mpg
to boot!

Oops, sorry....

Used wrong e-mail addy on original post....

pr

I have never encountered a shock squeak that couldn't be solved by just
tightening the bottom bolt or the top nuts down. I think that the
Monroe shocks that you have may not be a good fit. A squeak is an
indication that parts are moving relative to each other which shouldn't
happen with shock mounting points.

I encountered a similar problem with my 84 Nissan 4x4. Monroe claimed
to have aftermarket OEM replacement front shocks for it, but they kept
wearing out. Every time I went to buy a new pair, they had a different
part number and/or a different design. Eventually, I had to go to
Rancho offroad shocks after three sets of Monroe wore out (no one else
made shocks for that truck)

My 92 Toyota 4x4 had a similar problem, but not as bad. I went back to
Toyota front shocks, and the wear has improved as well as the ride. I
think they often try to fit "similar" shocks into as many vehicles as
possible and sometimes get poor fits on a few vehicles.

Crash...

Thank you for the quick reply. I guess I should have come here first for
some advice before doing the shocks but if the squeaking is due to a 'bad'
fit I'll just keep dousing it with lube to keep it quiet until they wear
out and by the sound of it, Monroes wear out pretty quickly. Oh well.....

pr

crashq wrote:[color=blue]
> I have never encountered a shock squeak that couldn't be solved by just
> tightening the bottom bolt or the top nuts down. I think that the
> Monroe shocks that you have may not be a good fit. A squeak is an
> indication that parts are moving relative to each other which shouldn't
> happen with shock mounting points.
>
> I encountered a similar problem with my 84 Nissan 4x4. Monroe claimed
> to have aftermarket OEM replacement front shocks for it, but they kept
> wearing out. Every time I went to buy a new pair, they had a different
> part number and/or a different design. Eventually, I had to go to
> Rancho offroad shocks after three sets of Monroe wore out (no one else
> made shocks for that truck)
>
> My 92 Toyota 4x4 had a similar problem, but not as bad. I went back to
> Toyota front shocks, and the wear has improved as well as the ride. I
> think they often try to fit "similar" shocks into as many vehicles as
> possible and sometimes get poor fits on a few vehicles.
>[/color]
Just a note to say that Monroe and Rancho are the same
company...Tenneco.


Ken

[color=blue]
> Just a note to say that Monroe and Rancho are the same
> company...Tenneco.
>
>
> Ken[/color]

That doesn't mean that they are the same product, however.