This is a continuation of an issue that several of us have had with the SAW coil-overs squeeking after a year or two of use.

First I should mention that the squeeking definitely changed with temperature. I don't hear it at all on some days. Other days it's obnoxious.

I was in Moab for much of last week so I'm just now getting around to posting this. Just prior to last week's trip, I regreased the lower heim of each of my SAW coil-overs so they wouldn't squeek on the trail. I was shocked what I discovered at that time. The drivers side heim was completely destroyed with almost 1/8" of play between the heim's spherical "ball" and it's outer shell. I don't have a replacement, so I just greased the heck out of it and reassembled it, knowing I'd replace it soon. It started squeeking again after a few days of use.

What's most surprising to me is that the passenger side heim is completely fine. It's actually fairly tight with no play in it at all. I have no idea what the difference has been between the sides to cause such an extreme difference in wear. Both sides squeeked at least some, but the driver's side (the destroyed heim) squeeked louder.

The heim looks like there's just a snap ring holding it in place, although I haven't messed with replacing it yet. It'll be a few months before I get back to that due to all the business travels I'll be having. So don't hold your breath for the next followup.

I'm really not a fan of heim joints (especially after the Rockstomper swaybar disconnect mess a few years ago). I thought the SAW's would be better since they don't experience vibration across the heim itself. It's ALWAYS under compression even during bumps since the springs are always pushing against it. So I'm even less of a fan of heims now. I don't have any good solution or any ideas what to do with the SAW heims except to replace them.

So far I have not had any trouble out of my SAWs other then the body rusting up and not being able to adjust them anymore.

I do have a 2000 Taco 2.7 in the shop now so I can develope a supercharger fuel kit for the 2.7 and 2.4 supercharged trucks.

He has one of those sub frame lifts and has SAWs on it. His lower heim are squeeking their ass off and when I drive it down the street a lot of people turn and look at the rickity sounding truck.

I have squirted a little bit of lube on the heims and the squeeks go away for a couple of days, but comes right back.

Gadget

www.GadgetOnline.com

I'm just glad I am not the only one with this issue! I can't wait to take mine off. (I've been saying this for awhile now. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> )

Could this be an issue with wet / cold climates? I went out a minute ago, threw the moving pad on the ground and checked it out (as much as you can see when they are mounted) and they look just fine on mine. No squeaking, nada...

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Mike

Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad to dig into it. Just jack up the front, take a tire off, and put the stock bottle jack up-side-down between the fender and the upper A-arm. You only have to jack it down a 1/4"-1/2" to get the lower mounting bolt loose. I never adjusted the SAW spring height or messed with the top 3 bolts. I regreased the lower heim while the rest of it was entirely still in place.

Mike,
I think mine have been noisiest in warm weather and quieter in cooler weather. I'm not sure about the wet/dry argument. Certainly a possibility.

Another weird thing about mine is my ARB solenoid for my front locker is over on the driver's side behind the bumper. I've previously noticed some evidence of gear lube splattered around there. So this is a different issue I have to deal with. But if any of that happens to spray onto the lower A-arm and lower part of the coil-over, it might contribute to the issue with my SAW heim on that side. There's a big leap of faith to arrive at that one, but I suppose it's possible.

Maybe these particular joints just weren't made for long-term use and wear. I see some Heim Joints (aka spherical rod-ends) with grease fittings and some without. After giving it a bit of thought, there may not be a whole lot of lubricant in there and no way to replace it when its gone. If its metal on metal with little or no lubricant and a bit of abrasive dirt, the movement of the suspension is eventually going to grind it away.

SAWs were developed for the off-road racing world right? Seems like they need something that can take a lot of punishment over the short term, but may not need 100K mile longevity. Perhaps the SAWs were designed with that in mind and recreational users (including me) are using them out-of-spec so to speak. Maybe racers tear them down and replace them as a part of normal work of rebuilding shocks that have taken a lot of other abuse so its just a fact of life for them. Thats not something that most of us are used to. Thats my two-cents worth but not really an answer.

How many miles did you have before you noticed the squeaking? I don't put that many miles on my rig and haven't noticed any problems, so I'm curious how many more I've got to go.

Swayaway does have a version of the shocks with the urethane mounts, you might want to give them a call and see if they can be retrofitted to yours. So far on my suspension, I havn't had any problems with wear, but I'm doing a test to see exactly how long they will last without any lubrication at all.

I average about 25K miles per year on my 4Runner. I don't know how old they were when I first noticed a small amount of squeeking. It seems like it was within the last year. I originally installed these SAW's in May, 2001. (Mine was probably the first 3rd gen 4Runner to have SAW's). Swayaway has changed several things about the design of these over the last few years. Heck, it's possible they've even changed what heims they use.

Bruce,
Thanks for the idea about the polyurethane bushing alternative. That's certainly a possibility.

I got the "squeaks" about 2 months ago after a wash and the warm weather. They both squeak really bad. I took the wheels off today, inspected them and shot the heim's with lithium grease. They seem tight, and the squeak has gone away for now. For some reason the drivers side coil has been "sand blasted" by something from the road. The red paint on the coil is chipping off.

Has anyone asked SAW about this squeak yet? I'll call them next week if anyone hasn't. I'm sure they have heard of this by now.

Mag chloride, perhaps?

I have not called SAW. Based on their history, we might not get anywhere going that route anyway.

I posed the question on COTTORA, but I haven't got anything back other than one guy who indicated he has taken his apart and mentioned that we'd need some kind of seal replacement kit. He was going to look for the directions, but we'll see.