Yesterday as I was accelerating from a stop light at the top of an off-ramp I heard an odd squeak-squeak-squeak, but it was very faint and went away very quickly. About a mile later when I was accelerating from another light it was very loud and didn't go away when coasting. I revved the engine to make sure it was not related to engine speed, coasted into a parking lot and parked it. I then had my Dad, he is visiting here (checking on his car I think), back up and go forward once and the squeak seemed to be about 3 times per revolution of the tire. At this time I am thinking that something in the diff is wrecked. When it gets towed home I jack it up and turn the wheel while under the car and the sound is only a barely audible creaking, and I can't tell if it is coming from the diff or the hub end of the axle shaft. I pull the axle shaft in the hopes that it is a U-Joint. When I get the axle shaft off of the car one of the bearing caps on the spider is very of center and impossible to turn. I then pull the other U-Joint and go to Auto-Zone and get a pair of Brute Force ones for 12.99 ea. While in AutoZone I manage to pull the stuck cap from the spider and nothing comes out but black dust and lotsa little bits of metal! The counter guy actually hal-shouts "Oh my God!" Yikes. Anyways, to bring this to a close once the new U-Joints were in she's quiet as a mouse. I am just very glad that I heard that u-joint before it came apart. I am gonna do the other side next week. Boy was I relieved that it was a u-joint and not a wheel bearing or differential side yoke bearing. Have a good day guys, I'm gonna go do some Mountain Driving and be glad I am in Colorado.

Later, Bob

 

Don't do any drag racing with that Brute Force, they are not very strong. Glad to hear your problem was simple.