Metal squeak

Hello, newbie to the forum, apologies for the long post. I hope this is the right thread for my question. I have an 05 with auto trans, V6 & 83,000 miles on it. I hear a metal squeak when I back out of my driveway which is coming from underneath the truck.

I heard the same noise about 5,000 miles earlier and when I took it to the dealer they said it was the front u-joint. I told them to change both since it was there but they insisted the rear one did not need replacing.

They replaced the front one and all was fine, now 13 months & 5,000 miles later I hear the same noise, under the same conditions, louder when backing out of my driveway which is on an incline, barely audible in drive (window down).

Back to the dealer thinking rear u-joint this time but no, now they said the driveshaft is bad. When I asked what specifically was wrong with the driveshaft they would only say it's bad. I'm sorry but before I drop $1,000 at the dealer or any shop I need a better explanation than "it's bad". Any ideas on the possible cause?

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it's common for a driveshaft to "go bad". The problem typically lies in the U-Joints as with your previous case.

Mine did a similar thing, although it clicked rhythmically when in reverse. I pulled the rear driveshaft, replaced the rear U-Joint, lubed everything and problem solved.

You could try greasing the U-Joints one at a time...see if the problem temporarily stops and you'll know the source, although you will still need to replace the failed U-Joint obviously.