How do you check the front u-joints? I had the one replaced a year or so ago on the passenger side but not the drivers. I'm having this squeeking noise as I go down the road. At normal speeds it's hard to hear but there and at low speeds you can really hear it. Any ideas? Does this sound like a ujoint? How can I check them?

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jack up front of truck and put it safely on jack stands. remove tires. put everything in neutral so you can turn the wheels easily and nothing is bound up. grab hold of the inner axle/yoke part with a big pair of pliers. grab hold of the outer yoke with another pair. twist the 2 sets of pliers back and forth. there should be no movement at the joint and the seals should be perfect looking. any play is bad.

 

Thanks man. If it is bad aren't these things a huge pain to change? As in taking the hub and all off? I'm not looking forward to it if they are bad. I have a feeling I can do it as stuff like this in the past has been easy once I've tried I'm just originally afraid to try. Although never done u-joints done ball joints and stuff like that.

 

if you've got an impact wrench,
and the axle nut comes off,
and the bearing comes out of the knuckle, without splitting apart,
then its a piece a cake.

you never know till you try.
be extremely careful with the seals inside the diff.
http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech/hub.php

 

I've got impact tools and quite a large collection of most other tools so that part doesn't worry me.

The seals however do slightly. I've already had them replaced once a year or year and a half ago. That's when they did the passenger side u-joint.

I'm hoping that's not what it is but I need to check it. Would it cause a squeeking if it's bad?

 

worn out, dry, u-joints often make a squeeking noise.

but, other parts can squeak also - brakes, bearings, suspension...
check you brakes first. it could just be the squealers in the pads, or warped rotors, etc.

if you had both seals replaced recently, then the hub bearings would have been removed along with the axles. that would mean they will come out again easily.

 

The brakes are good as I replaced them not long ago and lubed everything up. I did rotors, pads, and calipers. The thing that does puzzle me though is if you lightly get on the brakes the squeeking goes away. It only seems to be when going down the road with no brakes applied.