Rotational Front-End Squeak under 10mph only in Drive (1 Viewer)

[skii]

Good Day Gentlemen --

1995 LC80

Symptom: Under 10mph engaged in Drive a rotational squeak is present until a full stop. The noise DOES NOT occur in reverse or in neutral rolling forward but only in Drive. When accelerating the noise naturally increases until it disappears at higher speeds.

I have greased the U-Joints and Driveshaft but that had no effect. It isn't a brake issue as tapping on and off has no effect. The brakes are new along with a birf job and bearings etc last Spring.

I've sat down under the truck and next to it while someone slowly crept forward and the noise is coming from both of the front wheels or so it seems. It seems like the suspension is under a strain but its very difficult to pinpoint.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Man, are you sure it doesn't continue in neutral? Because I have EXACTLY the same thing going on and I figured it something spindle-based like the brass spindle bushing not getting greased or a seal going bad or something. It seems to get worse the longer I drive (heats up). Driving me crazy, especially when crawlin around with the window down.

 

[skii]

It definitely doesn't continue in neutral and even after a long drive there's no noise until I slow to almost a stop. It certainly is bothersome, especially pulling into the garage.

My problem is that if I tear into it I won't be able to emulate the condition unless I'm in Drive and moving, otherwise its fine.

 

[Frankencruiser]

Got a rock in your brakes?

 

[skii]

I very well may, many stone roads up here. Even so the squeal is evenly displaced and would the noise of a stone in the brakes dissipate at higher speeds?

 

[Trapper50cal]

yeah, mine only happens between 5mph and 15mph

 

[Frankencruiser]

I've had a rock in the brakes only make noise at low speeds. It doesn't match all your symptoms, but its easy to check.

 

[atomicshawn]

So when you are moving forward and slip it into neutral the noise goes away?

 

[Trapper50cal]

Yeah, plus, in my case, I have the Powerstop rotors that are drilled and slotted so a rock is a good guess.

 

[skii]

So when you are moving forward and slip it into neutral the noise goes away?

Yes indeed.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Yes indeed.

That's weird, I gotta try that out...sounds like an inner axle seal or something where the lack of axles turning alleviates it....

 

[atomicshawn]

can you explain, "it feels like the suspension is under strain"?

 

[skii]

I shouldn't have said "feels like" but "sounds like". The squeak turns into more of a moan as the tires slow to a stop.

 

[JEH97LX]

I've had similar issues in the last month to varying degrees. I had a rock catch between the rotor and the brake cover/guard while offroading. It intermittently squeaked and then went away while still on the trail. A couple weeks later it must have readjusted because I suddenly had a grinding sound at which point I found the culprit. I was really concerned I had lost a bearing, nope just a rock, whew. Rocks can get into anything so I'd definitely check for that.

The other culprit you might check is a sticking or frozen caliper. If one side is wearing out a lot faster than the other (which happened in my case), it's fairly easy to catch by comparing the pads from different sides. I didn't catch this until I tried getting my calipers back on. No chance and when I checked the DS side, the pads were still like new unlike the worn out ones on the PS side.

I also had to change out the U-joints. I had checked and greased them, but once damaged it was too late. I can tell you that the drive shaft won't feel loose until the load is off. I didn't catch it with a quick wiggle check. After deciding to just change them out anyways, I found the hard to grease joint was shot. I had narrowed it down to drive line simply because it only happened on acceleration, usually fairly low velocity like from a stop sign or rolling speed.

 

[hawaiicruz]

I know you said it only happens in drive, but I would check the wheel bearings. Mine made a similar low speed squeak when they were loose

 

[atomicshawn]

I think the first thing I would do is lift it to try to pinpoint it with the tires rolling in the air. There is a good chance though that you won’t be able to duplicate the noise if it goes away in neutral.

So we gotta think what changes when you take it out of gear? All the same components are still moving outside of the transmission, but there are torque and pressure changes. Just thinking out loud here… Does what you are doing with the throttle effect the noise?

Like the others, I keep going back to the brakes. And like hawaii recommends, I would lift it and check for play in the front wheel bearings. I wonder if torque changes in the axle would allow the rotor to move a bit if the bearings are loose. If so this could change brake contact points and create the noise only in gear.

 

[atomicshawn]

I also wonder about the front differential. Have you checked the fluid condition lately?

 

[skii]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I got it lifted and there were no stones in the brake areas. The brake pads have equal wear. The usual bearing test proved to be fine. When I manually rotated the hub there was no noise or anything out of the ordinary. The only cause for concern was when I moved the hub back and forth there was an element of play in the drive-shaft, almost a 'clunk' before the drive-shaft started to rotate.

If it were a bearing issue wouldn't the noise still sound in neutral or even reverse? As atomicshawn stated something happens when engaged in a forward gear, whether that be Drive, 2 or L the noise sounds equally. Maybe I need new U-joints? There is play, a looseness, in the drive-shaft.

 

[atomicshawn]

Can you tell if the "play, a looseness, in the drive-shaft" is from the cv joints, or in the diff gear?

 

[skii]

diff gear I suspect