Chirping sound from front drivers side

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Tbay LX

Tbay LX

10 Year
Joined
May 26, 2013
Threads
18
Messages
89
Location
Thunder Bay, ON
Website
www.aarontatorphotography.com
Hey guys, I seem to have developed a chirping sound from the front driver's side. The truck was left sitting for a month and a half while I was out of town, and now she's giving me a piece of her mind. The chirp speeds up and slows down as the truck does, and seems to get louder as I break. When stopped, there is no sound. I checked for debris in the tires, nothing. From what I've read, bearings tend to make more of a washing machine sound than a chirp. Any suggestions on where to start looking?
 
Did you accidently bump the diff lock button?
 
Could it just be a little brake disk rust where the caliper was stuck for a month?

Try to give it a couple solid stops and see if it improves.
 
Hrmm, so its wheel speed dependent and not engine RPM dependent right?

It has to be something that rotates with motion.
Wheels, Brakes, Axles, diffs, driveshaft.

What is the condition of your brake pads?
Have you checked around the brake assembly and U-joint for debris?

It's odd that it developed after sitting. A sound clip would probably help as well.
 
I've had the rotor guard (thin metal piece) get bent during a brake job and it rubbed on the rotor.

Pull it back away from the rotor and see if that fixes the chirp. If not, then I would consider getting the rotors turned.
 
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I have a chirp on the driver's side too, though I think it's aft of the driver's seat. can't hear it with the windows open. it goes away or becomes unbearable at about 20 mph. been driving me slightly bananas for a while.
 
I may have been wrong in my assumption that it was from the drivers side, My passenger said they heard it from their side as well. I'm heading out to buy some jack stands, so that I can turn things by hand and try to figure out where it's coming from. It was high time I buy some anyway (driving back and forth an inch at a time during lube jobs to try to find grease zerks was getting a bit old). Hopefully whatever is chirping doesn't break during the 45 min drive... Here's an audio clip, the times you don't hear the chirp are when there was nothing on the road beside me to reflect the sound.
 
Sounds like early warning of brake pad depth. Check brake pads, fronts are good down to 1mm thickness. They have a metal tab set to rub at that thickness or less that make that sound.
 
2001LC said:
Sounds like early warning of brake pad depth. Check brake pads, fronts are good down to 1mm thickness. They have a metal tab set to rub at that thickness or less that make that sound.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but doesn't that stop chirping as soon as you start to depress the pedal? That's the impression I got from doing some research. This keeps chirping until I stop completely. Actually, it gets slightly louder as I break.
 
Tbay LX said:
Yeah, but doesn't that stop chirping as soon as you start to depress the pedal? That's the impression I got from doing some research. This keeps chirping until I stop completely. Actually, it gets slightly louder as I break.
Click to expand...
Don't know why it would stop by depressing, if tabs are rubbing. If rotors not turned last time brake pads were changed, rust or dirt on rotors/pads, it will likely stop when peddle depress. Mine sometimes have chirped and then just stopped (dirt I suppose).

I check pads every 3k, while doing rotations of tires, since I now have 100k on front pads & turned rotors. It is very easy to pull one wheel at a time and look. Check easiest first, then work through system.
 
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Brake peddle and steering vibration while braking are signs of rotors in possible need of turning.

Not a bad Idea to check end play of WHEEL BEARRINGS, while on stands. Especially if early warning, of brake pad tabs, are not contacting rotors (not cause of chirp). Easy enough to do on stands, just pry off cap. My 2001 was gaped at DS.10MM & PS.08MM last time I repacked bearings at 120K, had to shim to get that. Off topic a bit, but, FSM states: wheel bearings not reusable. I've been repacking the factor wheel bearings a few time now, 160k miles on odometer. Used higher toque then FSM recommend, needed last time I packed, to get fish scale test even close to FSM. Needed too add shims/rings to reduce gape because (prior to me) torque was set to low on wheel bearings causing chatter, IMHO and that of my mechanic.
 
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