Chasing Amy’s Squeak
Frank Toti, Driveway Mechanic
Famous Jeeps
This is the story of a Jeep with a noise. Not just any noise, a squeak. When Amy brought it to my attention that there was a squeak in the Jeep, I didn’t think much of it. Jeeps make noise...it’s a Jeep thing right? Well, after hearing about it for a couple of days, I had the time to take a look at it for myself. It was definitely a squeak. But strangely enough it would only present itself upon initial startup and would go away within the first mile of driving. Because it was so brief, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where it was coming from. So my first thought was it sounds sort of like a serpentine belt...I’ll replace that and the squeak will be gone.
The serpentine belt replacement on a 3.6 motor is fairly straightforward. I found the easiest way for me to do it was to remove the alternator. Didn’t take too long and the belt was replaced. Squeak resolved right?
Wrong. The very next day, the squeak was back. Still intermittent. But still there. Another week passed and I was finally able to take another look at it. I drove the Jeep slowly up and down the street with my head out the window listening to the squeak. Trying to pinpoint the location. I narrowed it down to the front of the vehicle. When I parked (after the Jeep was warm and the squeak went away) I got underneath the Jeep and lubricated every moving part underneath the Jeep. Squeak resolved right?
Wrong again. Later that evening the squeak returned. Still in the front and now closer to the drivers side (in my mind anyway).
What’s next, well, let’s look at the front brakes. Maybe they’re making noise...no dice there. Front calipers, pads and rotors were all in good shape. I did lubricate the caliper pins and clean everything up but the squeak remained.
Another week of work passed and the internet searches began. Some of the web posts I was reading pointed to the possibility that the front wheel bearing may be bad. It was also at this time that I began doing driveway mechanic videos for The Jeep Life Podcast. What better thing could there be than to produce a wheel bearing replacement video for YouTube! Well, in all honesty I wasn’t looking forward to it at all. (The last time I did a wheel bearing was on a 2012 Subaru Impreza and let’s just say it wasn’t a good time. At all.)
The wheel bearing replacement on the Jeep actually went surprisingly well. (You can see that video here: https://youtu.be/_RRttASRbfU ) While I had the Jeep up in the air, I took the opportunity to once again lubricate all moving parts underneath the Jeep. And bam! Squeak resolved right?
Wrong. About a day later the squeak came back. Very faintly but still there. I really had no idea what it could be at this point. Maybe body mounts/bushings? Nope. Maybe suspension squeaks from road vibration? Nope. Lying under the Jeep hitting the frame rail with a dead blow hammer definitely vibrates the Jeep but no squeak was produced.
The squeak continued becoming more and more faint and for less time until it turned into a grinding noise no longer coming from the front of the vehicle. I gave up in the front end and looked at the rear now...the rear brake pads were shot and rubbing metal on metal. We replaced all 4 brakes with a Powerstop brake kit and all noises ceased. Was that it all along? Was the squeak coming from the rear and echoing up to the front? The rear brakes definitely needed replacing so one could imagine...
The rest of the summer went by squeak free. Even after a few off road trail rides and daily driving. Then the weather got cool again and guess what? The squeak retuned.
At this point I checked over everything that I had previously done to resolve the issue. The parts replaced, everything checked and checked again. I consulted with a few friends and it was suggested to put the Jeep up on jack stands and run it in drive and reverse and try to pinpoint exactly where it was coming from (while also trying not to kill myself and anyone else in the process). My friend Shawn volunteered to use his driveway and his 6 ton jack stands for this.
Well, with the Jeep up in the air, all 4 wheels off the ground, I was finally able to look underneath while things were moving. While in 2wd, at 30 MPH I’m watching the rear wheels spinning, rear driveshaft spinning and no noise at all. Once 4wd was engaged, I got to put eyes on exactly where the squeak was coming from...the rear joint of the front driveshaft. The noise was clearly coming from that location. We had identified the squeak.
But what to do about it? I had already lubricated everything including that joint multiple times. The driveshaft was fairly new (it’s an Adams driveshaft that we had installed after the gears and lockers went in). A call was made to Locked and Loaded 4x4 where Joe Marciano (owner, mechanic, fabricator and all around good guy) told me that the Adams Driveshafts they installed have a tiny grease fitting that is difficult to get to and is often overlooked during routine maintenance. It is essential to grease this fitting to keep the double Cardin joint properly lubricated. The best way to get to this fitting is to remove the driveshaft and use a needle adapter on the grease gun.
A couple of days later on a rainy Monday afternoon, the front driveshaft was removed from Amy’s Shady Lady. The front bolts weren’t an issue, they came right out. The rear bolts on the other hand...not as easy. They’re very close to the joint so I couldn’t get a socket in them. They’re also 5/32 12 point bolts. So I had to use a tiny 5/32 box wrench and get at them 1/4 turn at a time. But they eventually came out. With the driveshaft out of the Jeep and on my work bench, I was able to locate the hidden grease fitting and see just how the double Cardin joint works (which was pretty cool) The fitting was then cleaned up and greased.
So as of right now, with the properly lubricated drive shaft back in place, Shady Lady is indeed squeak free.
A few things I learned while chasing Amy’s squeak:
1: Don’t get discouraged when you can’t resolve an issue immediately. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts to get something right.
2: Don’t be afraid to ask others opinions. I got plenty of suggestions on things to check and if it were not for Shawn’s suggestion to put it up in his driveway, this could have gone on much longer.
3: Don’t be afraid to reach out to professionals. Joe from Locked and Loaded definitely helped by educating me on the location of the grease fitting in this particular application.
4: Don’t assume the worst just because you had a difficult time on a previous similar project. Although the wheel bearing replacement was not necessary for this particular problem, it was a lot easier on Amy’s low mileage JKU than it was on my old 150,000 mile Subaru.
5: Although it’s a great resource for information, don’t believe everything you read about fixing a vehicle on the internet. Did I mention that the wheel bearing replacement was not necessary?