I have a 2000 Dodge Dakota that sounds as if it has swallowed a canary. While driving, it sounds as though there is a chirping coming from under the truck. I usually only hear it when I am accelerating and it gets faster as I accelerate. Recently it has been accompanied by a slight knock at low speeds, almost as if something is binding in the axle.

Has anyone encountered this before? Any ideas what it might be and how to fix it?

Thanks in advance!!!!

 

Rear u-joint. You probably get a vibration too.

 

I haven't notice a vibration yet, I'll definitely keep an eye out for that. How difficult is it to fix that?

 

U-joints are pretty easy, if you've never done one before just make sure someone who has done them is looking over your shoulder.

You can check it by getting under the truck and wiggle the driveshaft, in park or neutral doesn't matter, if there is ANY play between the driveshaft and the rear-end yoke the u-joint is bad.

 

Thanks, I'll check that out tomorrow!

 

Any DIY on this?

 

I got under there and the drive shaft definitely has plenty of play. I am going to attempt to replace the joint this weekend. Any suggestion about what would be a good, sturdy U-Joint? This truck is primarily an On-Road vehicle, but I do take it off-road and I don't want to have to replace this joint on a regular basis because it can't handle off-road conditions.

Ruffneck,
There are plenty of DIY sites out there for this...I can't think of any off the top of my head. Just go to google and search for U-Joint. I saw a few really good ones with pictures of each step. You have a bad U-Joint too?

 

I was gettin' about 50-60K out of the rear u-joint in my old dakota. That was pretty much all highway use. Just go to about any parts store, I always got mine form NAPA, but everyone is about the same. The biggest weakness with the Dakota rear u-joint is that it has 2 different cup sizes on the driveshaft and rearend. Makes it about a $25 u-joint, I always thought the price was stupid high fer a u-joint. Just make sure you get one with a grease fitting, and grease it every time the oil is changed.

 

Got the front drive shaft off today to replace the U-Joints. I got the one off that connects to the transfer case alright, but when it came to the two on the front of the drive shaft connecting to the front differential, I wasn't able to. Also, I noticed that there was some sort of ball joint between the two U-Joints. I brought it to a bunch of places and nobody knew what that part was or even how to remove the U-Joints. My buddy is a mechanic at a dealership and it was the first time he had even seen anything like it. Does anyone have any insight as to what that ball joint piece might be and how to remove the U-Joints and replace them? Thanks Much!!!

 

Not really sure what pice you're talking about. When I suspected a u-joint I was talking about the rear u-joint on the rear driveshaft, that one takes the biggest beating, I never touched the front driveshaft u-joints on my old Dak. Got a pic of the part you're talking about?