rolling squeak coming from the fronted
 

ok I am at my wits end . I have the like rolling squeak coming from my front end . I thought it might have been a hub bearing going and replaced the universal joint on the driver side and I also replaced the Caliber thinking that it might be sticking. I took it all down today checked for areas like the back plate to see if it is rubbing did not see anything to indicate a rub. I check nuts and bolts for tightness to make sure I did not have anything that was loss. I am not sure where to go from here. I checked the drive shafts they seem to be tight and the only thing that I can think that it could be is a bearing in the Diff housing itself. Can any one give me some ideas where to go from here. It is a high pitch like a bearing is going bad ..... One more thing is that this doesn't start till after I have been on the road for a while going at speed. After it has been sitting for a while and then I drive it the wheel squeak will come back. I checked the brakes they are new and the rotors are new all the way around. This noise did not start because of the brakes because they have been on for over a month and a half and the squeak only started about 7 to 10 days ago. The is more like a chirp type squeal like a bearing. only hear it when driving does not change when I go over a bump or when I turn the wheel.

Thanks

I was thinking of replacing the CV joint in the front drive shaft. What I am thinking is that the noise is traveling up the shaft to the front end. I am really stumped by this one. The noise is driving me nuts.

Best not to guess and throw parts at it. Start by jacking up the front end spinning each tire individually as it can be one or both of your unit bearings. If no noise from the unit bearings then remove your front driveshaft and go for a drive to see if the noise is still present.

Noise is still there and getting worse I think or louder. removing the drive shaft did not rid me of the issue. It seems to be coming from the middle of the jeep towards the rear. It is very noticeable at slow roll but only after I have been driving at normal speed for a few miles.

ok update changed out the cv joints in the rear drive shaft and still have this damn rolling squeak. It seems to be getting louder and louder. I am my wits end on this one. Checked the new rotors they are not hitting anything check all the pads they seem fine. I put the jeep up on jack stands rolled all the tires don't hear any noise at all. I am about ready to put a bullet in this damn thing. Could this be a bearing going but that would be a whin and if the pinion bearing were going to you would hear a really loud hum .So this is just not making any sense what so ever. I have torn this this apart except for changing out the e brakes but they seem fine .An they would squeak all the time I would believe . check the axles to make sure they are not bent they seem to be running true and not touching anything. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Also the u joints on front driver side have been change as well as the wheel hub.

ok update Changed the fluids in the front end and reinstalled the front and rear brakes the squeak seem to disappear when I replaced the fluid in the fronted. ok after about 100 miles the squeak is back. The brakes seems to be ok tested the rotor and caliber don't see anything out of normal. I am going to get a new set of front brakes pads and hardware to see if that is causing the issue. ...... The brakes I currently have are z36 prostop with slotted rotors currently.

Maybe a brake pad that was dragging?

all new Calibers as of today and brake pads still have the squeak coming from under the jeep . I am starting to think it is the Transfer case or maybe the trans. It is really hard to pin point. I have tested and tested it and still no locating the issue... I am thinking about taking it to a drive line specialist here in the area. I really don't want to toss more money at it unless we can locate the issue. I have had several people drive it and several mechanic also and they have no clue where it is coming from. I am thinking that just driving it till it fails but we all know that never ends well but I might have no other option.

How about jacking up all 4 corners on jackstands, then very carefully trying to put it in gear to get everything moving slowly while in gear to see if you can pinpoint where the noise is coming from? I would advise you not to be underneath or in front of the Jeep at all. Have someone in the drivers seat ready to apply the brakes in case one of the jackstands topples. If you can narrow it down to one wheel or wherever it's at, that would be better than just throwing money at it. Not sure if you are locked up or not, but if you are...engage your lockers and try to freespin your tires with the engine off. That could potentially help you rule out the trans/transfer case.

Do you offroad at all?

Take both rear tires off, and check to make sure your axle flanges aren't bent. Bent flanges will cause a squeak just as you described. Does it squeak when you're hitting the brakes?

Take the rotor and caliper off, and turn the axle shaft a few full turns with your hand while visually inspecting it. Here's what to look for:

Squeak noise from car while driving is a collection of videos of the different sounds brake pad wear indicators make.

He already replaced the pads and calipers. He's still having the same noise.

I will take the tires off the rear and check for the flange issue. It can't hurt to see if the flange is bent. I am running 35 inch tires on the jeep with the roads that I drive on every day it could be the issue. Thanks I hope that is it because that is only a 450.00 fix and 30 mins to and hr worth of work. We will take it a part in the morning see what we find

You shouldn't have to pull the tires off to see that. Just put the Jeep on jackstands and get the wheels moving. If you have a bent flange, you'll see some wiggle in the tire. I thought bent flanges required a bit more to fix than that. New axle shaft most likely, but just straightening the flange itself would be a major hurdle.

Yeah technically you don't need to take the tires off, but you'll get a better view with the tires, caliper, and rotor off. Then you'll know with 100% certainty.

You can buy new fully assembled chromoly axle shafts for $450 on Northridge4x4. Then keep the stockers as spares.

BoroBora that is my plan . They have pre loaded shaft for a great price best I have found. I am going to take the tire off today to see if I can find the issue. I am hoping this is the issue . If not I am going to take it to a drive line company hear in lorton va to see if they can find the issue. This jeep issue is driving me nuts and I am suborn an will not let it beat me.

Just finished reading through all this and the whole time I was thinking bent flange as well. I had a flange that was just barely bent and causing a squeak that was driving me nuts. Couldn't see no wobble in the tire with the tire on, and it was just barely noticeable at the flange with the tire off. Hope you find the issue and that it's a simple fix.

ok We did the test with Tires on and tires off. I did see a slight movement on the drivers side of the axle when the tires were off.. I did not notice anything when the tires were on. I might take it to a drive line shop to have them put some gauges to see if it is really out or if it is just my eyes. I would at least say that it is on the driver side which is where I am hearing the noise coming from. The passenger side seem to look just fine. I may just go ahead an change the axles out because it will cost me another 150.00 for them to just diag to tell me it is the shafts. I also did notice on the passage side I have a slight leak at the seal .

Maybe you don't need to waste money on paying someone to diagnose. I might have missed it, but what Jeep do you have? If a non-Rubi D44, then I believe the axle shafts are interchangeable from driver to passenger. On the Rubicon D44 they are side specific, I think because of the locker. You could swap axle shafts from one side to the other real quick and see if that eliminates the squeak or moves the noise to the other side. That assumes only one of the flanges is bent of course.

The seal is part of the shaft assembly. You can re-use your shaft and just buy a new wheel bearing and seal, and have someone press the bearing on with the new seal. Or you can just buy an assembled pair of Ten Factory or Carbon chromoly shafts for $400-450 and use your current stock set as spares.

Planning on just replacing the axles with a new set of Yukon pre loaded axles from Northridge 4x4 next week.I am just hoping this will do the trick.

Hey @jaydcljr did the axles fix your problem? I have the same sound. I replaced the pads, rotor and hub/bearing assembly with no luck so far. Thinking about the axle next. Mine comes from the front right and starts after driving it a couple of miles. Really only happens at lower speeds and the slightest brake pressure will stop it.