Tennisjr

Good morning all. A few weeks ago I started a thread regarding a cricket-like squeak coming from the back of my '07 GX. Had several suggestions as to what it might be, tried them all, nothing worked.

THis week I made my wife drive me around while I tried to isolate the noise. Turns out it's coming from under the vehicle, right where the forward tie-down ring is on the right side of the back about 16 inches from the rear door. I thought it might be the ring so I got a wrench and took it off but the sound is definitely coming from under the truck. I crawled underneath but didn't see anything obviously loose.

Any suggestions? Think the dealer could help?

Thanks.

IanB2

Could be something like a heat shield over one of the mufflers/resonators, or a swaybar endleak or something like that. I'd get under the truck, and have someone bounce it up and down and rock it back and forth (make sure you have enough room you don't get squished!!!), and see if you can track it down.

Does the noise only occour when the truck is moving? If yes, could be the rear brakes as well.

Tennisjr

Thanks for the reply, Ian. Yes, the noise is only there when the vehicle is moving and it's only there when the road is bumpy. The noise increases with the smoothness of the road.

IanB2

Does it change with the speed of the vehicle? If yes then it's likely a rotating part, so brakes, wheel bearings, etc. If it's constant regardless of speed then I'd be looking at things like heat shields, swaybar hardware, etc.

I have to change my rear brakes this weekend as the pads are too low, causing a metalic squeaking noise that can be heard when the windows are down, otherwise I would have never known. The truck was safetied within the last year, but the pads wore down a bit since the inspection I guess.

Tennisjr

I appreciate the input. The squeak seems to be related to the smoothness of the road. If it's fresh asphalt there's nary a sound. Leads me to believe some parts are rubbing together somewhere.

fishhuntnc

Have you considered the hangars that hold and stabilize the exhaust system ? They have rubber pieces built in that absorb the road vibration. If one of those was broken or corroded, I would expect it would make noise on a bumpy road but not on a smooth road. And it does run along the passenger side of the vehicle like you indicated.

Rz500

Your description of "crickets" would be twisting rubber in contact with metal. My guess is a noisy suspension bushing or sway bar issue. I had an issue years ago with an ES300 with noisy "squeaky" bushings.

Tennisjr

If it is a rubber hangar or sway bar or bushing what is the fix? Thanks, guys.

IanB2

Smear some grease on the metal exhaust hangar and stick it back in the rubber bushing. Depends on how/why it's noisy.

ROSCOGX470

Had the exact sound but sounded like inside the truck. Turns out it was the hood latch, I needed to adjust the rubber bumper guards. I would have bet money it was coming from the windshield

Tennisjr

Took my GX to the dealer today. Was skeptical they could isolate and fix the problem. They put some kind of stethoscope on it. Turns out suspension air bag clips were bent. They fixed it, gave me a loaner, took most of the day, charged me about $175.

That may sound high but I never would have found the problem and it is worth it to me to have that famed Lexus quiet when I am not listening to Sirius Classic Vinyl.