klutchdust
Orange, California
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Joined: 06/09/2004
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Old school u joint check that has served me well for many years. First find a nice level spot, block wheel so vehicle cannot move forward or backward, release parking brake and place in neutral. This releases any tension that may be on the driveshaft. Go underneath and try to lift, by hand, the drive shaft at the joint location. Does it click, move ? if not you are ok, if it does replace the joint.
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SJ-Chris
San Jose, Ca
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klutchdust wrote:Old school u joint check that has served me well for many years. First find a nice level spot, block wheel so vehicle cannot move forward or backward, release parking brake and place in neutral. This releases any tension that may be on the driveshaft. Go underneath and try to lift, by hand, the drive shaft at the joint location. Does it click, move ? if not you are ok, if it does replace the joint.
Great suggestions...thanks! I'm going to try this.
-Chris
San Jose, CA
Own two 2015 Thor Majestic 28a Class C RVs
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SJ-Chris
San Jose, Ca
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Update and some pics...
There was a little break in the rain so I was motivated to inspect my squeaky RV to try some of the suggestions from all you above. No solution discovered yet, but I wanted to share an update and some pics as they might be meaningful towards your continued help/suggestions.
First thing I did was I started up the RV and with my foot on the brake I shifted to reverse then drive and back and forth a couple of times. I was listening/feeling to see if there were any unusual noises or sounds. That all seemed normal and nothing out of the ordinary.
Next, I turned off the engine and I put the RV in neutral. I put blocks under each wheel front and back so I could safely crawl underneath to investigate, for some pics, and to try out klutchdust's suggestion of trying to move the driveshaft.
Here are some pictures...
These first two are the carrier bearing/housing: (how does it look to you?)
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/Ticj3KGl.jpg)
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/KXXWrfjl.jpg)
There are 3 u-joints on my RV driveshaft. Here is a picture of the first one (front, closest to the engine):
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/1dVrf5Ql.jpg)
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/v1Atbc1l.jpg)
(Side issue/question: What does this oil/grease suggest?)
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/5c8LOgVl.jpg)
Here is the middle u-joint:
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/73pfYAzl.jpg)
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/ob18Vywl.jpg)
Here is the rear u-Joint:
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/RwDn7UEl.jpg)
How do all the above pictures look to you?
Next I tried to see if I could lift or move the drive shaft with my hand at the u-joints. They appeared rock solid and the drive shaft could not be moved up or down or side to side. Then I tried to rotate the drive shaft with my hand. It would move about 1/8th to 1/4th of an inch and stop. Is that normal? I didn't see any grease at the u-joint locations themselves. After taking the above pictures I crawled out from underneath.
Hmmm....am I making any progress? Do the u-joints and carrier bearing look and seem okay to you based on the pictures and me trying to move the driveshaft? If so, perhaps those are not the culprit??
Next, I decided to take it for another test ride to try out a couple more of your suggestions. While driving, when it started to squeak I put the RV in neutral and coasted. Shifting to neutral and coasting had no impact on the squeaking noise (it continued squeaking). (Question: when in neutral, is the drive shaft spinning?). I also tried applying the emergency brake a little bit while driving (and squeaking) and it didn't seem like it had an impact on the squeaking noise.
Another test I did while driving... When it started squeaking I continued driving with my foot on the accelerator but I also applied a little pressure on the brake with my other foot. While doing this, I didn't really hear much difference in the squeaking noise. It sort of seems like if the issue is the brakes then a test like this would have produced some different result (like maybe the squeak would go away, or get louder??).
Thoughts?
Some have suggested perhaps the idler pulley. Here is a picture of my serpentine belt. Anyone see anything of interest?
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/EtHcVIEl.jpg)
Is this the tension pulley here? Is the idler pulley above it? How easy/hard is it to replace? Is it easy/hard/worthwhile to replace the serpentine belt at the same time?
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/H5jprFgl.jpg)
Thanks all!
Chris
* This post was
edited 12/02/22 06:54pm by SJ-Chris *
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enblethen
Moses Lake, WA
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Joined: 01/05/2005
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Carrier bearing looks good. no sign of heat.
I don't like to see grease on u-joints that do not have Zerk fittings.
Leak on transmission output shaft could be bearing failing in transmission or drive shaft wabbling. Seal may need to be replaced.
Rear u-joint and differential seal looks good.
Last photos are of the serpentine belt tensioner and idler pulley.
Bud
USAF Retired
Pace Arrow
2003 Chev Ice Road Tracker
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ernie1
Sacramento,California,USA
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Have you checked the bushing in the tailshaft of the transmission? Maybe the oil around that area is due to a bad bushing which is hammering the seal to a point that it's leaking. If you can get your hands on a chassis ear tool it will find the problem quick.
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Gjac
Milford, CT
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Chris your u joints and carrier bushing looks good, you can put a wrench or socket on a breaker bar on the tensioner pulley and remove the belt or just relieve the tension and wiggle each pulley to see if there is any play in them. Also you asked earlier how to check the break squealers, sometimes with out wheel liners or hub caps you can see them with a bright light and a mirror on the end of the break pad. Also if the pads are thin say a 1/8 or so they could be rubbing. Taking the tire off to check to check is not that hard either. While it is jacked up you can wiggle the tire to check you wheel bearings also. Good luck.
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Deb and Ed M
SW MI & Space Coast, FL USA
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OK, I'll chime in with our adventures with "strange squealings". A month after our trip to Alaska in 2006, our 2004 Class C started to sound like a cat was being killed underneath "MeowMeowMeow" and it was loud. (Attracted the attention of pedestrians) Your sounds are very similar, just quieter. It started at around 15 mph, and stopped at higher speeds. We too did all sorts of crazy things trying to track it down including me pedaling as fast as I could on my bike to pinpoint the sound from outside the MH. Finally decided it was a carrier bearing near the middle of the MH, took it to a truck shop for service. They said yes, the "sealed" carrier had lost its seal and the harsh volcanic dust in Alaska had gotten into the bearings. They replaced the carrier, and all was well.
As an aside: we were told this was NOT covered under Ford's drivetrain warranty, because the frame had been lengthened to build the MH and new bearings had been added. We contacted Gulf Stream, and they put us in touch with the company near Elkhart that did the frame lengthening - they were SUPER-nice and offered to replace the bearing for free - would even let us arrive the night before, and would be the first service the next day so that we could be home that night. We decided to have it replaced at our expense locally, because we had a grandchild due to be born and didn't want to be gone. It ended up costing us around $300-ish; but I was really impressed by the willingness of the company (whose name I have forgotten) to help us out!
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SJ-Chris
San Jose, Ca
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Interesting update.....OP here....
Well, it's been raining so much here in California that I haven't bothered to investigate this squeak any further yet. I was planning on checking the brakes to continue looking for the issue. It has been sitting now for about 2 months. I decided today I would take it out for a drive just to make sure it is still squeaking. I was surprised to discover that there was no longer any squeaking! I was able to get up to 40-45mph without any squeak. Stopped. Started. Accelerated. Coasted. Couldn't hear any squeak...it was gone.
I guess I will have to wait for a few more days and then try it again. Hasn't rained in about 5 days. I know problems don't usually cure themselves, so I'll be planning/expecting it to show up again sometime...
-Chris
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enblethen
Moses Lake, WA
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Water has "lubricated" your problem. Dry suspension bushings would be my guess at this time.
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klutchdust
Orange, California
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\My thought was if there was metal to metal contact it may have rusted and now preventing the squeak.
When I did have an engine squeak and eventually realized it was the idler tensioning bearing. ( it grenaded the day before I was going to change it) It didn't change frequency regardless of what the engine RPM was. I was nursing it along with a few squirts of lube every few days until I could get to it. This was on my commuter vehicle.
Some times A serpentine belt will do the same regardless of engine speed. Old school, rub a soap bar on it and then start it up is a good diagnosis. Of course now they have belt dressing. When I remove a belt that is still useful and replace it with a new one I store it in my vehicle just in case. I also did that with my Polaris Ranger which is belt driven.
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