Grinding / squeaking sound coming from front end after installing 2” lift spacer

Hey yall!

Still learning the ins and outs of my truck by installing most of all my aftermarket parts myself and saving a ton of money. However, hit another snag lol

Just like the title says, after I installed new Bilstein struts with a 2” spacer lift, now I hear a very loud grind and squeak whenever I’m driving at very low miles. I thought it’s because the sway bar end links are too short so I bought aftermarket freedom extended end links but it didn’t fix the problem. I did buy a KSP upper control arm but when I measured it against my OEM upper control arm, they were exactly the same size so I returned it. I also read online maybe it’s one of the ball joints on my OEM upper control arm that needs to be regreased.

I’m trying to upload a short clip but this website won’t accept movie media. Any tips would be appreciated. And TIA

 

As far as I can tell, there is nothing rubbing / grinding with the suspension, sway bar, UCA etc. Should I just replace the upper control arm with an aftermarket made for 2” lift and see if that will fix it?

 

Post photos of your current suspension setup, including one from the front showing your CV angles.

 

Here is my current front struts Bilstein 4600 setup with a pic of my OEM end links and CV axel without the wheel taken off. Let me know what you think?

 

Oh! You're 2wd so no CV axle to worry about.

It looks like something is rubbing on your sway bar in the 2nd and 3rd photos, but that could be old based on the corrosion.

Is it when driving straight, turning, or all the time? Does the grinding sound change as you increase or decrease sound?

 

I got my wheel alignment at Christian brothers the other day so the car drives straight. It just makes a squeak and grinding when I’m turning or driving at low miles. The grinding is more of a “whoosh” sound but also still sounds like metal scraping each other as the wheels rotate. And it sounds like it’s decreasing as I speed up.

I thought buying the extended sway bar end links would fix the problem but it didn’t. I’m thinking if I should just shell out for aftermarket performance UCA to see if that will fix it. Also, the strut is not touching the sway bar in any way so it’s really annoying to drive with that kind of sound. Does new struts squeak and grinding when you first install them? And lastly, I saw some grease oozing out of the top ball joint from the UCA which is why I’m thinking they need another greasing when I was installing the extended end links.

The noise is pretty loud, my son says he can hear it when I pick him up from school everyday haha

 

Jack the front of the truck up off the ground, spin each tire forward and back to see if you can reproduce the sound.

If you can reproduce the sound on one side but not the other, remove that tire.

Check for anything caught between the brake rotor and brake pads and between the brake rotor and dust shield.

New struts shouldn't grind, but their bushings can squeak.

If you fully tightened your UCA or LCA bolts while the truck was still in the air, it can cause the bushings to squeak under load.

 

Got it! Going to try that right now.

Will report back soon!

 

There is a tendency for people to grab the dust shield when working on front suspension. They’re thin enough where they bend super easily. It might just be bent into the rotor and can be pushed away and bent back into place. That would be a quick fix for OP if that’s the source of the noise and it would be a very specific noise. Describing noises on the internet isn’t easy though. I’ve tried.

 

Just jacked up the car and the grinding sound is coming from both front tires. Took both off and I see the brake pads are touching the rotor. Could that be causing the metal grinding noise?

I installed the front struts myself and it didn’t make a grinding noise with my old stock OEM struts. Could adding a 2” space lift to the front cause more stress for the brake pads to be worn out faster? Please see pic for reference. Thanks in advance!

 

I know I didn’t grab the dust shield when I installed the front struts so I know it can’t be that.

And I just googled it. I was supposed to adjust the brake lines to accommodate the 2” lift since it changes the geometry of the truck and also to bleed the brake fluid as well to remove any air smh

Just called an auto shop to help me since this is way beyond my beginner knowledge haha

Thanks again to @GHOST SHIP and @Naveronski for the help!

 

Brake pads are fine as long as you can spin the wheel.

 

But when I spin the wheel, it makes the “grinding” noise. I’m assuming it’s from the brake pad touching the rotor or caliper needing alignment. I keep googling everything and it keeps coming back to that.

Any tips before I take it to the shop would be greatly appreciated

 

Pull the pads out and spin the rotor to see if it still makes noise ,maybe it’s your wheel bearing.

 

Quick update: Couldn’t sleep all night and kept researching why it’s making that grinding noise. And I kept going over the steps on when I installed the 2” lift spacer..

I know I didn’t grab the dust shield with my hands but I totally forgot I jacked up the bottom of each axle so I can get the UCA to fit the knuckle! I’m crazy embarrassed and found the culprit! I peeled back the dust shield so it’s not touching rotor and it solved the problem!

Thanks everyone who chimed in! See pic below from my stupid mistake haha

Take care everyone!

 

Don't be embarrassed, and good job diagnosing it! Hopefully someone will find this same thread later when they do the same thing.

If it makes you feel any better I've been wrenching on everything from brake jobs to engine builds for like 10 years now and I still end up kicking myself when I bend a dust shield every once in a while. It's real easy to do without realizing, the clearances are pretty close sometimes.

 

It’s not a stupid mistake,a stupid mistake would have been taking it to the dealer . For sure it would have been a bunch of parts and money. Good job on solving your issue.

 

It was seriously driving me crazy! Haha Took my son to school this morning and no grinding no whatsoever! I know he was proud when I told him I fixed that “grinding” issue

Thanks for all of the support yall! I’m sure I’ll be back on here asking for more help in the near future!

 

Great to hear you found/solved the issue!