I saw a message where a person had the same problem with their 1990
4Runner in 2000, but there was no posting as to what the solution was. Anyway, here's the problem:
My 1990 4Runner is giving off a grinding noise from what seems to be the area of its left front wheel. The grinding noise is not constant, but occurs abruptly with certain bumps on the road. It changes pitch with speed. It will occur seemingly regardless of what speed the truck is moving, increasing or decreasing speed does not stop the sound. Coming to a complete stop appears to stop the grinding noise. At highway speeds the grinding is barely audable, but on city streets it gets quite loud (less road noise to drown it out). The grinding comes in goes in what seems like a pretty irregular intervals. It grinds for four or five seconds at a time, then stops.
Thanks,
-Alex