clicking u joint now squeeking PLEASE HELP!!

[Greencuke]

1066495

as i said before, my front pass. wheel was clicking and the steering was somewhat sloppy. i thought the u joint was going bad, but now the clicking has turned into a squeek, like a wagon wheel that needs oil. what is going on? is this my u joint, or my berrings? what can i do about this ?
reggie[addsig]

 

[Johns89YJ]

1066526

On my '89, I had the same prob. Took it to the shop for new u-joints. Turned out to be the wheel bearing was gone. Ended up buying a new hub since the wheel bearing comes as part of an assy. With the old off and the new in hand, I compared them. I could not turn the old without putting it in a vice. I could almost spin the new hub. Cost was about $150 installed. I saw about 4 MPG increase. [addsig]

 

[DirtDevil]

1066528

Sounds alot like a seized u-joint to me. i'd start takin that wheel apart. Take your hub apart and check it for damage.... now if your gonna be going down to the axle shaft you'll need a spindle nut socket to go any further. make sure you know how all of this goes back together. once you have everything out you should be able to pull the axle shaft out. see if the u-joint rotates freely, it should move freely in all directions. i'm thinking your going to need to replace that u-joint. if you've never done something like this, you need to find someone who knows how to do it to help you out.[addsig]

 

[Snitty]

1066536

its really not so bad.. i just did 2 of them this week. i used a 1.5" socket for the axle retainer... the nut is not quite that big... but it worked quite well... my caliper bolts were half inch.. and the hub bolts were 1/2" 12 point.... those and the 3/4 jugnuts are the only socket sizes you should need for the job. you will most likely need a wheel/axle puller... autozone has them for free rental for a $21.60 refundable deposit... it is part number OEM27037, i don't know how i remember that, but i'm totally sure of it. You definitely have to replace your Ujoints, they are $7.99 each for greasable or $12.99 for lithium packed... If you have to replace the bearing, you have to buy an entire hub assembly, you can't buy just the bearing because they are machine pressed into the hub from the factory. It sounds like you may need one, but lets hope you don't, they are about $129 new. My Ujoints in the front only made a snapping noise, and they were REALLY BAD when i took them out. but i never got a squeak... but my driveshaft ones did squeak a lot... lets hope for your sake that it is just the Ujoint.

PS... all prices above were from Autozone[addsig]

 

[wride]

1066555

don't forget to pack the grease to everything you put back in. It isn't that hard to do. I was a little intimidated by it at first, I askes a million questions and got through it fine. But what do you expect from a carpenter doing mechanic's work. Keep the faith.[addsig]