Squeak Diagnosis

[jboswell11]

My jeep has developed a squeak / screech when turning hard left or right while rolling forward, brakes on or off has no impact on the noise (video attached). The sound seems wheel speed related as opposed to drive shaft speed related. I am a bit stumped as to the cause because it seems the usual suspects have been eliminated.

I have done the following diagnostic steps so far.

- visual inspection (nothing obvious seems to be dragging)
- brake caliper removal and inspection (eliminate gravel chunk related noises and general review of pads / caliper / rotor)
- wheel bearing inspection (tire on and tire off) ... no movement detected, however, I did change it out for another spare I had in the garage just to 100% eliminate it as a possibility with no change in the noise.
- U joint inspection — I did not pull the shaft from the diff but the operation felt smooth with not noticeable rough spots as best as I could move it with the axle still in the housing.

Recent changes to this area of the jeep

- New revolution shafts, it is possible that I messed up the install of the u joints and have somehow caused this noise I guess, but they were carefully installed (caps matched to matching cross side, cap bores in ears deburred, checked for smooth operation after full seating and release of the caps).

Next steps

I am at a bit of a loss and am interested in the thoughts of the group for further ideas as the wheel bearings and u-joints seem to be the only potential source of this squeak but they seem OK. I plan to tear the front left axle shaft fully out of the jeep this evening and do a more thorough inspection of the u-joint because I need to replace the hub with the one I removed this morning as it has less miles on it and doesn't seem to be the issue but assuming the joint looks / feels fine on the bench I am out of Ideas to diagnose this sucker

 

[Alex01]

Have you checked the power steering fluid level? My old setup, swapped to psc, would make a high pitched noise at full lock.

 

[jboswell11]

Have you checked the power steering fluid level? My old setup, swapped to psc, would make a high pitched noise at full lock.

I have not checked but will... I can hear a bit of the usual full lock power steering pump noise but this seems different... nevertheless, will check and report back. Thanks for the thoughts, please keep them coming guys... I'm out of ideas.

 

[jboswell11]

Power steering fluid level is fine... I'm starting to think I screwed up with my u joint install on the revolution shafts.. will pull the shaft and inspect, if not readily apparent I will swap with a known non-squeeky shaft and retest.

 

[jboswell11]

Welp, I feel kind of silly but I found the issue. The shafts are rubbing on themselves.. inner to outer as the yokes get close in a full lock turn. The wear patterns are obvious now that I took a tip from my FIL and looked there

So.. two ways I see to fix.. adjust steering stop or file the ears just a bit. Adjusting the stops is easier but I hate to give up the turning radius.. Is there any reason i cant just grind the ear a bit (i sure don't think it will take much)?

 

[Goatman]

You can lose strength, but I doubt a light touch up would hurt. Be slow and careful. I would recommend pulling the shaft to do the work. Helps prevent gouging or excessive damage working at odd angles. Or just try a small adjustment. You might not even notice a loss of turning.