Hunting a squeak

[Stevieboy96]

Yesterday a friend picked up a 2014 Ram 1500 quad cab with 30,000 miles. Today he has a squeak. It is every little bump that it makes noise. Have read it could be hood stops and numerous other front end items. Where do we start? He does plan on taking it in sometime but he is busy with school and work. Figured I'd try to help the best I could.

Any hints and tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[thebigcahuna]

I have had a couple of these, some of which I have found. Slight rattle on bumps: loose running board. Squeak on bumps and turns: passenger front panel, bottom corner rubbing on running board. Squeak in the cab: front console part, front driver side. The opposite side of the cup holders where it meets the vertical console.
Hitches are always noisy so if he drives with one in, that could be it.

I have one right now that is behind the back seat, haven't been able to find that one yet. Seems like it is just a noisy truck.

Hope this helps, and let us know if/when he finds it!

 

[jasonw]

My front squeak is my driver side, upper shock bushing. I think I over-tightened it when changing the shocks a while back. Some say easy to do.
Unfortunately, the design of our struts isn't the best. I stripped the hole at the top of the strut tower trying to loosen it up to fix my mistake. (And yes, I was using the proper-sized tools.)

I will soon be switching to Fox coil-overs to take care of the issue, hopefully once and for all.

 

[Ratket]

^ What he said- get some spray lithium grease, and start spraying bushings up front “ Process of elimination” I would start with the control arms, drive it and see if it goes away, if not then move to the strut bushings. This is typical of a “ Lifted or leveled” truck, not so much with factory ride height, but is still possible. Another is the rear brake line, it runs through a little hoop near the rear axle and can squeak with rear wheel travel.

 

[JB1]

I had a squeek in the back suspension area, turned out to be the sway bar bushings. I removed them, greased them, reinstalled....we'll see how long it lasts.

 

[Stevieboy96]

The dealership called my friend and told him it was the after market leveling kit making the noise. They stated it was installed wrong metal on metal. They are replacing for free with a better kit.