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Topic
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2004 Silverado 1500 2 Wheel Drive
Right front suspension developed a chirp that sounds like an angry mouse. Stayed up late watching all the ETCG suspension and noise video.
The plan: Sounds to me like a rubber bushing. This weekend will get my son to help me. Will jack it up. Do the top & bottom wheel shake for ball joints, left to right shake for tie rods. Will take off wheel and inspect. Bushings I know about are upper & lower A arm, stabilizer bar link, shocks. If I see problems will fix them. Will spray silicone lube on rubber parts to see if it gets better.
If it is an angry mouse will make video and post to YouTube
Any other ideas? Tx…
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If it’s a chirp that gets more frequent the faster you drive then it’s probably the U-Joint in the drive shaft.
Tx, will check them out. My u joints are factory; to replace them I will have to burn out the plastic stuff they used to lock them in. Maybe saved ’em all of 10 seconds labor on the assembly line.
You can jack up all four tires and check if you can hear the chirp as the drive shaft turns. You can rent a press from your local auto parts store like Auto Zone. Here is a good video on how to get it done.
[video width=550 height=309 type=youtube]SPRfBJCERnQ[/video]
Not sure if this got resolved or not. But some car makers had a problem back in the day…The rubber bushings that hold the sway bar onto the car/truck would slightly dry out. When the car is bounced up/down you could hear what sounded like a mouse squeak.
The solution was to drop the sway bar from the mount. Slide the bushing off the rub point and then wrap teflon tape around that part of the shaft. Carefully slide the bushing back onto that mount point and re-secure it.
This was fairly common on some cars back in the late 70’s and early 80’s if memory served. And yes, I’ve also had the mouse squeak from U-Joints on my own truck!! So that is 100% something to be checked out before something gives out.
Just adding some ideas to the mix.
S-
Look for orange dust around suspension parts. If you find this it often indicates a loose part. I cover this in detail here.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car
If the noise happens when you turn the wheel as well I’d be taking a close look at the ball joints.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Found it. Drivers side outer tie rod end. My son and I will replace it, then out for alignment.
Edit: Replaced it. Under 30 minutes. Slop & chirp gone. Gonna get an alignment Monday. The new rod end had a little longer length on the part that screws onto the tie rod, so I don’t trust my “count the thread turns” method. Local alignment shop charges only $70, then he will try to sell me two of everything on my truck. Oh well, he has to feed his kids, can’t blame him for trying.
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