Hey everybody, my JK has developed a squeak that is driving me absolutely nuts. It started the other day when I washed the undercarriage with "Simple Green" and high-pressure water. At first I thought there was some residual degreaser on the fan belt and it was slipping a little bit, but it turns out that it is something underneath that I can't quite identify. It sounded like it was coming from my front drive-shaft so I pulled it off; that didn't fix it. i re-greased my rear drive-shaft and all my suspension pieces that have grease-fittings on them.. nothing still. It squeaks any time I roll, but it's subtle when I'm in a free-roll with the clutch pushed in; and it gets louder when putting power through the drive-train. Has anybody got any ideas?

Thanks!

 

Hi Mate

Replace ur fan belt. I had the same trouble and replaced the fan belt (only 29000 kms) and its gone. If it doesnt u still have a spare belt just in case u need it.

Mani

 

Thanks for the ideas; it's not my fan belt. I free-wheeled down a hill with my engine off, transmission and transfer case in neutral, and it still did it. I'm guessing that either my washing did something to one of my disc-brakes, or my "sealed" wheel bearings aren't so sealed.. I'm gonna find out at the stealership tomorrow.

 

From what i have been told the rubber bushings .. (balls) in the drive shafts cv joint have been causing allot of those type problems. I was told at the dealer when i lift mine to definitley change the drive shafts.

 

Same thing here I get a squeek in the rear passenger, and its the rubber bushings . Started when i did the new brakes , Ive lube all the rubbers with silicone and it works for awhile .. Hope its the same thing for you and not something more serious to come ...

 

OK, I got it figured out thanks to a little leg-work, and a lot of goodwill from an outstanding drive train shop in Austin. It was my Teraflex rear driveshaft. I had ruled out the driveshaft because every time I've lost it (4 times in 39,000 miles), it would make a clicking sound. The first three were factory driveshafts, and it was the CV joint that went out. Then Teraflex provided me with one of theirs for free because they had felt somewhat responsible since it was one of their lift kits on Hound. Then I burned the u-joints on that one because I didn't service it well enough for the hot TX climate; again Teraflex took care of me by rebuilding it for free as long as I paid shipping. Teraflex frikkin' rocks.

Anyhoo, this time it was the Center Kit on the CV end of the driveshaft. For those of you who don't know, it's essentially a bearing in a sleeve with o-rings and a retaining spring, inside the double-stacked u-joints on the CV end of these driveshafts (I don't know if they're found on a standard u-joint). It's what allows limited axial play on that end of the driveshaft to dampen vibration and make the u-joints last longer.

I called 4-Wheel parts in Austin and a guy named Chuck had found a drivetrain shop in town that had the right stuff in stock to repair the shaft (thanks to being able to get in touch with a tech at Teraflex), he managed to set up for me to walk in without an appointment and get my driveshaft fixed on the spot. And on the spot means, these awesome folks took it form my hands, went out back, popped my outer U-joint off, replaced the Center Kit, reassembled, balanced the drive shaft at 6000 RPM, re-primered it and handed it back to me for $93. That place is Inland Truck Parts & Service in Austin, if anybody wants to utilize them. Their number is 800-447-3565. I got really lucky on this one, and Hound is back to running good as new! I think I'll read up on it and buy a press so I can fix my own in the future.