Here is an other post that I found. Not sure what what he is talking about. Do you? And could this be my issue? BTW today I did chnage the left side hub bearing. Found a bad upper ball joint too. But the noise is still there and driving me crazy.
Message:
First. In order to determine if its an engine noise or drivetrain noise turn the truck off with it in nuetral while you are going about 20: but remember no more power steering so be careful where you do it.
Mine was the drive train and I always heard it on its been a problem since I got it: Dealer fixed it about once a year but after the warrenty expired I found my own my solution!
Steambucket. Your symptoms are exactly what mine were so I'm hoping this will help.
After replacing all my U-joints with after market greasable ones I realized that I just spent money on something I didn't need to but good long term insurance. The actual source of the noise isn't the U-joints though. On the front drive shaft coming out of the transfer case there is a what Dodge calls a double cross joint (two u-joints in a row). In between these U-Joints is weird ball and socket with a pin that goes into the ball. Almost like your hipbone and socket. This is what squeaks because its not really protected from the environment the grease dries quickly and gets dirt in it. When you complain at the dealership they squirt some junk in there and its good for a 100 to 1000 miles or so. I took mine apart and cleaned it and greased it real good. No more noise. Mine doesn't have a zerk fitting for greasing this like some so you might just be able to grease it and not take it apart. I have no idea what the function of this ball and socket is but I'm guessing it helps keep the U-joints aligned without vibration or something to that affect. Anyways its a pretty easy fix if you have a little time.
Hope my years of frustration and final satisfaction of solving this problem helps others.
Joel
Saturday, March 6th, 2010 AT 9:32 PM
