[Alderson]

$600 US... I live in Canada, oh man.
I'll grease them up and hope it lasts for a good amount of time.

As for the grease.. can I use the multi-purpose grease that I use for my balljoints? At least for the time being until I get some better stuff.

 

[ferraiolo1]

Yep that will be fine. I installed zone UCAs on my last truck. They were similar to RCs. I just made sure I greased the heck out of them before install. Had them on for 40k and never made a noise.

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[Alderson]

Alright thanks. One last question, where exactly am I greasing? Cause there's the metal washer, then the rubber, then another metal washer in the slot that it sits.
I'm not sure if the washers are able to be removed or not.. I clearly don't have a clue what I'm talking about, stop me

 

[ferraiolo1]

Any point of contact with the frame.

I did forget that I had annoying squeak on my last truck. Used spray lube on those bushings once a week. Then when I replaced the UCAs it went away.

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[Alderson]

Alright...So update -

Literally tore my entire suspension apart.
-Took the tie rod end out of the knuckle
-Disconnected the knuckle from the control arms and took that off
- Took off the sway bar end links
-Even went as far as to loosen/remove the bolts on the strut/shock

So...
After disconnecting the UCA, I yanked up and down on it..It was smooth as glass, no squeaks and there was no abnormal resistance (grinding)
Checked the CV Axle by rotating it and bending the knuckle in attempt to test it out, still nothing
Checked the hub by spinning it around, nothing
Loosened the top 3 nuts for the strut and removed the two bottom ones of the RC strut from the LCA and then yanked down on the LCA with a pry bar, no noise

I went ahead and greased up the sway bar end link because it's fairly rusty and I figure the plastic bushings might be a bit of the noise.

After reassembling everything, the noise is still slightly there, I can still here it, but just not as much as before.

Two concerns that I found, which might be the cause of the problem -
Sway bar angle/sway bar end link
rubber bushing for the strut

The sway bar angle and end link cause the endlink rod to rub against the sway bar
The rubber bushing for the 7.5inch RC lifted struts (I don't have the spacer for the front suspension lift) on the bottom is peeling out for whatever reason.

 

[Alderson]

Does Bilstein have lifted shocks? Or should I just buy the 7.5" RC spacer from RC and pickup some Bilstein shocks?

 

[Jasen]

Yes Bi;stein has shocks for lifted trucks

 

[Alderson]

I think they only go up to 6'' though.
I contacted RC and sent them pictures of the rubber bushings that are spreading out from their lifted struts on my truck and the guy said it's under warranty and he's sending the pictures to the quality control team and they'll get back to me if they're going to send me new struts or if I can get the spacer, that way I can upgrade to better shockers.

The squeaking went quiet after I reassembled the suspension but now, 24 hours later.. It's back to what it was, EXCEPT that when I turn the wheel, it doesn't make the noise, only when I'm going over bumps.

I bought a stethoscope tonight, so I'll try to pinpoint the issue tomorrow after work.

 

[Alderson]

Alrighty so...

Felt the vibration in the upper control arm when someone was pushing down on the truck to make it squeak.
So, removed the upper control arm and greased the crap out of it, overgreased it if that's even possible.. I even put grease on the truck frame and bolt.

Suspension still squeaks...

So... I assume that it's the inside bushings of the UCA that I can't reach with the grease gun and my finger.

What do you guys recommend?

 

[Alderson]

Confirming that it is the UCA. Used the stethoscope along with physical touch to confirm.
I bought a can of white lithium grease and just unloaded on the bushings with no luck.
Re-torqued them, no luck.

I called Rough Country and they're sending me out 2 bushing kits for the drivers side (They won't send me for the passenger side since it's not squeaking...yet)

So, I'll be putting those in whenever they arrive and I'll update when that's done.

 

[ferraiolo1]

Ever get this figured out?

 

[Alderson]

Ever get this figured out?

Yeah. It was the UCA bushings. RC sent me 2 new ones but before I put them in I loosened off the nuts on the UCA, jacked it up and lowered it before retorqueing them. I also sprayed them with white lithium.

No more squeaking, and I have 2 new bushings incease it ever comes back

 

[ferraiolo1]

nice!

 

[laszlo462]

Awesome, now I know what to focus on when it comes back on mine.

 

[Stevemansur]

I have a similar squeak that occurs over slightly tough terrain. Yesterday I drove in the rain and it disappeared for a little bit (until my truck dried off). I greased the body mounts previously and it wasn't those. My truck gas 16000miles on it and it's not the wheel hubs or the lower arms. I have the fox2.0s on it and I'm guessing it could be an upper ball joint so guna replace the arms with aftermarket ones. Also thinking to swap out all sway bar links and bushing for moog thermoplastic ones. Any thoughts? Especially on the part where the squeaking goes away when wet.

 

[Alderson]

Instead of doing all that, just recreate the noise by having someone push on the bumper while you hold the suspension parts, you'll feel a vibration in the squeaking part.
My squeak came back with the cold and salt on the roads. I'm just going to pressurewash the bushings, spray them with white lithium grease and then coat that in some all purpose grease as a protector

 

[Alderson]

I seemed to have solved the issue for good now.

I did as planned.

Powerwashed it clean, dried it off, coated it in white lithium and then used some chassis grease in a can to spread all over the bushings/white lithium to use as a sort of protective layer of grease.

Truck doesn't even make the slightest of noise now.

 

[bryn0727]

Well, I'm not sure if this is even the case, but worth a try.....I had step bars installed on my 12 GMC Sierra Crew Cab and shortly thereafter I had that same type squeaking sound with my truck.....sure as ****, it was my cab body mounts in which the step bar brackets bolted. I had to loosen them up and apply some silicone spray to stop the squeaking. It did it everywhere I drove for two days, it drove me nuts!
So if you've got step bars installed or recently installed some I suggest trying to loosen up the bolts and use some silicone spray on them...it maybe your issue!

^^^X2...

This is a thread that helped me (see page 2)... Creaky Noise

ABQ_CHEVY wrote:
So the dealership determined it was the ball joints and they are replacing them. Should get the parts in the next few days and hopefully get rid of those creaks soon.

DO NOT LET THEM REPLACE YOUR BALL JOINTS!

I had this same issue and that's exactly what they told me was wrong but it wasnt. Luckily this forum helped me out after I did some research. Had this exact same issue less than a month ago and fixed it for $0.

As someone else mentioned previously your mounting brackets for your nerf bars are rubbing on the body mounts. All you have to do is loosen the bolts and you can slide the entire nerf bar (probably more inward towards the center of your truck) about an inch which will clear the two pieces from rubbing. Do this to both sides and try your parking lot test I would put money that this is all the problem is.

Hope this helps!

 

[Thomyyates]

Any update on this problem?

New to this forum my 11 just started giving me this same aweful noise comming from the drivers side I have 155000km on mine and think I've narrowed it down to the lower control arm bushings. Any thought?

 

[SierraHarley]

Read the thread, he already updated this thread on the problem over a year ago.