SOLVED: Loose bearing chirping/squealing sound driving me insane!

I cannot figure out what this darn sound is.

It only happens mostly during deceleration and around 20-30mph. It is speed dependent and not rpm as it squeals louder and faster during highway cruising at 65mph.

Sound seems like it is originating from the front of engine towards passenger.

I have replaced power steering pump, water pump, ac compressor, alternator and all pulleys including tensioner pulley.

Please see attached video, any insight would be extremely helpful...

 

Serpentine belt slipping? Doesn't sound continual in video but seemed to go after bumps. What shocks do you have? Checked the body mounts?

 

New belt and tensioner, plenty of tension on belt.

It is very intermittent and happens even on flat areas without bumps.

Bilstein 5100, body mounts are good. The sound increases in frequency as speed increases.

 

U-joints?

 

I had chirping from bad radiator support bushings. The sleeve was riding up and down on the frame

 

They're freshly greased and I swapped them out only a few months ago.

I will check that tommorow!

 

Shotgunning is alive and well and it’s expensive. Whatever happened to troubleshooting

 

I had issues with all of those components due to high water crossings + mud just hit 200k and have been replacing parts as they implode in the last few months.

Radiator supports are good...

I was able to recreate a consistent sound. If I cruise exactly at 30mph, there is a very loud chirp every 5 seconds. On deceleration it almost sounds if I have a bunch of fine gravel in between the brake rotor and dust shield.

No driving vibrations, power loss or driveability issues at all. I really am stumped.

 

Found some interesting belt wear.. I wonder if the harmonic balancer could be going out? I would imagine I would have much more vibration issues if that were the case. No wobble from anything though.

 

If its speed dependent and not RPM then I would say u-joints or maybe the carrier bearing

 

I have 1 greasable spicer and 2

$25 spicer 5-1330x u-joint kit 1330/SPL25 series (OSR)

spicer 5-1330x in the driveshaft and a relatively new spicer carrier bearing. Prerunner so no front drivetrain components. I greased the front one earlier. I may have to pull the driveshaft to double check everything.

 

So I went and double checked the drivetrain just now. The carrier bearing was a bit loose and I could see a bit of the boot was exposing some of the bearing. I used some red and tacky grease with a straw and shoved it into the exposed areas. Problem solved for now.. This marks the 4th CB ive gone through in 3 years.

Due to the lift, even with the carrier bearing as far back as I can put it, still doesnt meet the required position and bearing sits further back in the boot.

I will weld up some relocation brackets out of 10/12ga flat bar and push the mounting point for the bearing 1-2" from the existing mounting location.

Thank you all for you time and input.... This was the hardest thing to diagnose because I have never heard a CB scream like this before. I suppose the pavement reverberated the sound and tricked me into thinking it was coming from the front..

 

How much are you lifted? Also I know there are two P/Ns for the CB in our trucks. Depending on if you are 4x4 or 2WD. Could be the mounting is slightly different on one vs the other

 

I am lifted approximately 2.5". Fender to hub measurement is 23.5" front and 24" rear.

I am running a 2* axle shim and cb drop. No vibes whatsoever and ultra smooth acceleration but the bearing doesn't seat very well. Just enough for the lube to dry out and compromise the CB.

Here's a picture I just took, very hard to tell it failed from looking at it. It is slightly off center and I thought it was because of how I flipped it initially when installed.

I just checked when I purchased it, this cb was purchased in October 2020 so it failed within a short amount of time.

Disregard the crappy exhaust clamps.. I need to weld my exhaust together already lol

 

Is this the "Swiss Cheese Effect" where all the manufacturing tolerance "holes" just lined up against you and the problem fell all the way through?

Never hear of anyone else with issues like this where the carrier bearing drop spacers didn't solve alignment or angle issues, let alone having to move the carrier bearing back significantly.

Have you seen the "construction adhesive packing" carrier bearing mod? Did this with mine and it's been going great.

 

You may be a candidate for a single piece drive shaft.

 

Yeah my setup hasn't been a typical set it and forget it kind of deal. The trails around here are rough as well so my truck sees alot of driveline stress.

I used to run a driveline spacer in between the rear flange and pinion gear which helped tremendously but pushed the DS into the transmission too much for my liking.

I have seen that mod and considered it as well. I may have to do that next.

I am also in my 3rd transmission mount... Need to finish my swap so I don't have to drive it as hard.

I'm holding off until I get my 4x4 swap done and ill have a one piece fabbed up at that time.

My buddy is running a TW 4" aluminum on his 2wd and hasn't had a single issue. Much jelly lol

 

Whats the Spicer P/N for the CBs you've been ordering? I believe 5002007 is for the 4x4 trucks, while 5002334 is for 2WD. Im not sure what the pre-runners require. But you can check out the dimensions of those 2 on Danas website and see if you can find an issue there.

Edit:
https://www.danaaftermarket.com/spi...bearing/5002007?catalog=PIMS_NA&partType=PART
https://www.danaaftermarket.com/spi...bearing/5002334?catalog=PIMS_NA&partType=PART

Also, is your cross member tweaked? Maybe moving the bolt holes forward..

 

$61 Spicer 5002334 Center Bearing

Spicer 5002334 is the PN.

Actually I was thinking the bracketing that the cb is held onto is a bit bent. I was thinking of welding a new bracketing cage for the cb and pushing it back a bit as well.

I would attempt to bend it back but I don't doubt it'll get tweaked again in short order.