justen920

When I trun to the left my driver's side front wheel has a high pitch chirp noise come from it at low speeds. I have checked my ps fluid and looks good. Sounds like it is coming close to the wheel or behind it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

Eat Beef

axle u-joint or hub/unit bearing

tryNto

Axle U-Joint most likely cause...

justen920

Thanks. How long can i go before replacing that?

S.TX.MEGA

I went about two weeks before I changed mine. Had to wait for payday. Would have done it sooner if I could have. Didn't want it to fail and possibly damage the diff or the axle seal, maybe even a hub bearing.

justen920

I have been looking on here for directions on replacing them, does anyone have the link? I will do it next week. Thanks for the help.

jamesbfishin

Just beware, mine went from making a chirping noise for 2 days to spitting out needle bearings on day 4, they can fail completely very fast.

papaduck

Maybe someone else can post a good write up. I'll try from memory.

Start by loosening the Axel nut while the wheels are on the ground. You will need a 3/4 drive 1 11/16 socket. I used a 1 3/4 six point.

Put the axel on jack stands, remove the wheel, axel nut, brake caliper and tie it up out of the way. Remove the rotor, dust shield, and ABS sensor.

Next comes the hard part. Do not use a puller on the hub bearing, you can ruin it. Loosen the 4 bolts about 2 threads. Use a socket on one of the bolts with an extension and have someone turn the steering wheel (may need the motor running) and make sure the extension pushes against the axel housing. The hub should move only a little. Rotate around all 4 bolts. As the hub is pushed out of the knuckle back the bolts out a little farther and repeat the process. I didn't know to use this procedure when I replaced my axel u-joints and used a hammer, worked but took longer.

Once the hub is out, the axel will slide out. Replace the u-joint. Be carefull putting the axel back in. Grease the splines and keep it away from the sides of the axel houseing so as not to pick up any dirt and do not damage the diff seal.

Use plenty of anti-seize and reasemble. Hub bolt torque is 149 ft/lb and axel nut is 265 ft/lb (IIRC).

Good luck.

justen920

Thanks everybody, I pulled my wheel off and played with the axle and no noise. So then I pulled out of the driveway and started to turn left and I felt a shake at the wheel. My steering was not sloppy but once I put it into gear and turned it felt as if I ran over something. This noise does not happen when I go in a straight line, only when turning. Maybe ball joints? Or is there a wheel U Joint? I will take it to a trusted place on Tuesday and see if they can help. Any suggestions are very helpful and I really appreciate your input. I bought an extended warranty to cover everything so I will just take it in.

BigIron70

Sounds like front axle u-joint to me.

papaduck

Jack up the wheel and with the steering turned to one side rotate the tire by hand. If the u-joint is failing you will be able to feel it as it will get easier then harder to turn the wheel. If the steering is stright ahead the u-joint will not be flexed.

Just because you can't see anything wrong, one of the bearings could be dry of grease.

Polaraco

While you're doing all that, check the wheel bearings too. If you have to go in there, you may as well do everything at once so you only have tio take it apart once

I agree on the U Joint

S.TX.MEGA

Sounds just like mine did. It was the drivers side U joint that had run dry on grease and was very stiff. The factory joints are not greasable so I bought a small grease needle that slips under the seals on the cups. It was about $4 at Autozone. Hopefully I will never have one fail because of lack of lube again.

justen920

Thanks again for the support, I will keep you posted what they find on Tuesday.

justen920

I just got the quote and it was more than expected. Ball joints, tie rods and bearings are shot. Luckily I have an extended warranty and it is only going to cost me $600 out of pocket with a one time $250 deductible and upgrade of parts they refuse to cover. They wanted to put in cheap parts and I refuse to go through this again in another 5 years. I plan taking it in for the slightest things from now on. The tranny is slipping a bit and that is next, $25 deductible for that and I should have a rebuilt beefed up one on the way. Now all I need is an injector to go out and I will be set and will have got my money out of them. When I get the build sheet I will give you more information. He is also going to check all u joints while he is down there and maybe upgrade those.