Mystery Squeeke

[Gatorblazer]

Have a squeeke that occurs at low speeds less than 10mph. It started out only in reverse, now it is happening (though less frequently) in drive. Checked everything in brakes, everything new up front, rear is ok on shoes, and can find nothing causing it. Greased everything I could find with the spray white lithium, did not stop it. I do have a vibration at 65mph that I think is ujoint related. Could it be that the grease in the ujoint has been vibrated out or begun to evaporate? Or am I just going a little overboard on an old car like my wife says. (love her, but she doesnt know any better)

 

[Gatorblazer]

Forgot to mention that it sounds like its coming from the rear somewhere. I checked the emergency brake, making sure it wasnt to tight, and still think that maybe the lack of grease in the ujoint may be it.

 

[bakken78]

I had the same trouble on my older ford f-150. It drove me nuts because to find the noise you had to be in motion. I took it in and told them that the noise was coming from the rear. They then replaced the u-joints in both the front and rear and said that the noise was coming from the front joint though. They said that because the Axle is hollow it is hard to pinpoint which joint is acually making the noise.

 

[walterd140]

Same for my 94 explorer. Only heard the noise in reverse.... left it alone. Then one day my rear u-joint exploded. Better check them joints (try wiggling the drive shaft, that was my only clue)
Walter

 

[Gatorblazer]

Will do. Any other advice?

 

[Gatorblazer]

OK, ujoints fixed the squeeke, but the vibration is still there. While doing the ujoints, we managed to splinter off a part of the yoke. had the yoke replaced and driveshaft balanced pretty cheap. The front end is alligned, tires and wheels balanced, and I cannot (nor can Express Oil) find any motor or trans mounts broken. Any ideas?

 

[Rhett]

If this is on your 93, you might look at the radius arm bushings...

 

[Gatorblazer]

Forgot to mention that they were replaced four months ago. Still thinking about the rear axle, but not sure.

 

[walterd140]

Hmmmm.... 65 mph vibration? Maybe check the trans mount again. Crawl under & give it a wiggle.

I usually check mounts by getting someone to rev the engine & I get under to look for excessive play / movement. If the motor torques one side too much on a good rev, you have a possible mount issue.

Is it there at 70 mph by chance? If not then it may be a quirk about the motor itself & not a mount at all.
Also, did you do both joints or just one of the 2?
Walter

 

[Rhett]

gator the 65-70 mph 1st gen shake is very common; there are probably 20-30 threads on it over the years.

Bad RAB's are the most common cause, and second bad u-joints. Don't rule out a wheel out-of-round. Also a trick I have seen work is doubling up on the washers on the radius arm.

If you have the 65-70 shake, I would do the search on it and read read read.,
I have fixed said shake in my truck. It had it when I bought it...

 

[Gatorblazer]

LOL A search on the shakes is what brought me to the site! Since then Ive fixed everything but the shake. Its the darndest thing to find. Replaced both ujoints. Ive tried all of these things and its still there.

Good thing is that Ive saved gas driving below 65 all the time. 65-70 is when its the worst.

 

[Rhett]

LOL A search on the shakes is what brought me to the site!

I meant, search THIS site on the shakes. Not google or whatever, that won't help you as much.

 

[Gatorblazer]

My bad, I meant that I googled, and once I found the site, then I searched here. The shakes are so difficult to diganose. (as is evident by the large number of threads)

 

[walterd140]

OK.... vibration at a certian speed is the direct result of something out of balance, creating a harmonic sound. That's my scientific side coming out & saying something is rubbing / vibrating.
Lets see, at 60 mph engine is purring, wheels turning, drive shaft spinning, transmission um, transmissioning.

You ruled out the shaft, how were the yolks on the axle & tranny? Loose or play when the shaft was off? Check the teeth?
Engine & tranny mounts seem fine. When was the last tranny fluid & filter change? Last engine tune up?
How about jacking the rear & remove the wheels for a brake inspection again? Last time rear was serviced? Did you physically remove the drums? Might have a drum out of round. Did you take both sides off at the same time, mount truck on frame jacks & spin the drum. Any grab / rubbing?

Did the vibration start at the same time as your u-joint issue? I wonder if one of the yolks are worn from the u-joint, but this is me thinking out loud.

You probably asked yourself all these questions already, but maybe seeing someone else say it will light up an idea in your head.
Hope this helps
Walter

 

[Gatorblazer]

Brakes I have not checked, but will do so tommorrow. I noticed this vibration the day that I swapped from the stock wheels to a 15x8 rockcrawler wheel. The tire shop said it was tires getting leveled out and it would go away. Three months later, it was still there, even after back to stock wheels. That is when I began the search and found this. Yokes looked good, but brakes are ready to be changed, and Ill check to rest tommorrow.

 

[walterd140]

I think were on to something about the brakes. Seen a lot of posts about out-of-round drums causing vibration.
The fact the tire change increased the vibration may not be anything, tire shop may have been right.
Yeah, I would look into those rear drums, also check how far out the shoes are set. If the drum does not easily slide off the shoes, it may be a sign they are maxxed out on the setting & the shoes have made a 'lip' on the drums. You may have to turn the set bar in to get the drum off. Just remember how many turns you did to get them off so you can reset it when putting them back on. While your in there, check the drum for areas that are shiney vs darker. This will be an indication of out-of-round. Also look for wet spots on the caliper arms. That will show system leakage / caliper needing replacement.
Good luck
Walter

 

[Gatorblazer]

Drums off easy, cleaned everything up real good. Didnt see any spots. Im thinking tires are cupped too bad, but dont hear any thumping. Wife drove it today and didnt notice any vibration, but Ill check it tommorrow.