Front end squeak

[gto64gto]

My son in law has a 2017 Ram 1500 4 wheel drive. I put a 3 inch lift on the front to level the truck about 6 months ago. It was a round puck type that attached to the upper strut with 3 bolts. It was a easy job. About a month ago, his truck developed a squeak at the left front. He took it to the dealer and they replaced the left strut. The squeak stopped. Last week , the right front developed the same squeak. He took it back and the dealer wouldn't fix it. He said it was the lift kit. I went by and talked with the service manager. We are pretty good friends. He said the problem wasn't the strut, it was the lift kit puck rubbing underneath the strut tower. He said he has run across this a couple of times with the 2 inch kit the dealer installs. He said you can loosen the 3 strut bolts and reseat it and it will stop it. I haven't had time to do this yet. Has anyone run across this and if so, what did you do? I torqued the 3 nuts to recommended specs. The truck has around 10,000 miles and it just seems to me that a strut shouldn't go bad that soon. I can see no leaks on the right front. Thanks.

 

[Chief_6.7]

I see this as a possibility but in the many years I’ve done leveling kits I’ve never had this issue. The only thing I would say is take it apart and put it back in. Hopefully someone will chime in.

 

[Ratket]

A 3” spacer is a lot of spacer. It’s not the factory strut so much as it is the spacer. You are changing the geometry and the strut is probably slowly drifting to the side and starting to rub. Honestly those 3” spacers are just going to cause you 10x more grief than they are worth. I would recommend switching to a bilstein or a Rancho coil over and achieve a lvl or pony up for a 4” or bigger lift.

 

[Addicted2fishing]

Although different suspension system my 2008 with similar kit did this. And after the squeak came clunks. I vowed to never cheap out on these types of mods. Like other have said just put in proper stuff or ride stock. It’s the cheapest way in long run


Mods: EGR matte black bug deflector, Westin HDX drop steps, rough county bull bar with 20” LED, custom made NW seat covers in real tree camo, husky liner mats, husky liner mud guards, undercover LUX tonneau cover, Tailgate assist, flowmaster super 40 with resonators, tinted 15% front, LED C shaped tail lights. Line-X 5.7’ box

 

[Lamarsh]

I had an issue that sounded JUST like this on my old Gen3 that I had leveled/lifted with Bilstein 5100s (set full to 2.8"). The squeak would go away when I sprayed a bit of silicon lube into the top plate area where the coil spring attaches into the top plate, but would come back after some time. Eventually, I learned it was a bad top plate bushing, took it into a front end shop and instructed them that I wanted it changed out, and they sort of questioned me wondering if I'm sure that's what it is and they usually don't like customers coming in with a diagnostic, and I asked them nicely to please just change it out, and they did and it completely fixed it. $130 out the door, but you could probably do it way cheaper on your own, I just didn't have the time.

To troubleshoot to see if you have the same problem, try spraying lube right up into that top place area. If it temporarily stops the squeak, I think you can be somewhat sure it's a bad top plate bushing.

I will caution however, that I'm not sure how this will all pan out with using a puck to level/lift. I think you're better off replacing OEM shock with something like a Bilstein, or the full coil over assembly with something like the Fox.