Front end squeak/chirp/metallic noise only when hitting bumps.

[Jdaniel]

I know this is old but I’ve been battling this issue for the longest and I finally figured it out. My issue was a two part problem. When the front suspension was loaded or unloaded... I would get a squeak. I found my adjustable track bar was kitting the K member. I ground the k member down and that corrected one squeak. But I was still getting a small squeak that was coming from under my feet when hitting bumps. Not as bad as the track bar hitting the K member but definitely noticeable.

My steering has been getting sloppy and I decided to take the front drivers side fender cover out and tighten down the steering gearbox mesh screw. I made the adjustment and made a few test drives. What I noticed is the chirp I was hearing was now gone.

So if you have a front end chirping or squeak when you load/unload your front suspension and have play in the steering wheel... it’s likely your gearbox. Mine is good to go now.

 

[Sterling6.7]

Thanks for the update. How many miles on the truck now?

 

[Jdaniel]

Thanks for the update. How many miles on the truck now?

My truck is a 2011 F350 SRW. IT HAS 119,000 miles on it. The steering gearbox is almost checked out. It wandered pretty badly before I tightened up using the mesh screw. The wheel is tighter but still has about 15 to 20 degrees of play in it. It does not wander now and the squeak is gone.

Glad to help. This stumped me for about two years.

 

[sootie]

You haven't fixed anything by tightening the set screw...just masked a worse issue. Replace the box.

That screw is strictly friction preload. It is not pushing the tapered gears closer together. No "meshing" is happening if you will.

 

[Jdaniel]

You haven't fixed anything by tightening the set screw...just masked a worse issue. Replace the box.

That screw is strictly friction preload. It is not pushing the tapered gears closer together. No "meshing" is happening if you will.

Like I said... the gearbox is checking out. I’m plenty competent enough to know what’s going on inside the gearbox. It’s not an aircraft but I do have an aeronautical engineering degree. Tightening the lash did make the chirping sound go away. This has been an ongoing issue for years with several threads across the internet concerning the noise. I resolved two of the squeaks and I simply thought I would share.