I am new at this so bare with me, I have a 2003 f-150 Fx4 supercrew. It has 38,000 miles on it and i do live in cleveland Ohio. It has been through 2 harsh Cleveland winters. Yesterday at the local drive thru window i noticed at low speed squeal coming from the front driver side don't know if the passenger side is doing it yet. I checked to see if it was the dust shield because i have had that bend and rub on the passenger side, but that wasn't it. I don't know if it is the bearings, u-joints, half shafts or whatever you call those in the 4x4 system.
I hope to get some good input, thanks again.

Sorry, also is it common to have to replace brakes at 38,000 miles, they are vibrating real bad when I apply the brakes.

 

Could be the front axle shaft ujoints, could also be main ujoint and the sound is just reverberating to your side and it sounds like its towards the front.
Could be brake pads dragging.

Check the joints and see if they are dry. If so lube em and see if it helps. otherwise, check the pads to make sure they aren't dragging too much.

 

Mine is doing the same thing. From inside the truck it sounds like its coming from the drivers side, but when I listened to it from the outside (I had my son drive the truck), it definately is coming from the drivers side. I jacked up that side and spun the wheel. It sounds like a dry seal and it seems to be coming from where the axle shaft enters the front differential. It only squeaks some of the time, and I think it occurs more when its raining out. I have no idea if there is a connection, but that's just an observation.

 

Does the noise change when you apply the brakes? If so, it is likely related to the brakes. Your mileage is in line with the brakes needing replacement. The front drive axle doesn't have traditional U-joints, but rather CV joints (like a front wheel drive car). I haven't heard a lot about these going bad, at least not with low milage.

 

Teejay it doesn't change when I apply the brakes, but it only squeals or seems to at very low speed, the faster i go it seems to fade or I just can't hear it anymore over the other noises like the road or wind. I kind of figured I would need the brakes because off the way the rotors look, but I thought brakes lasted longer then 38,000 miles, Oh well, thanks for everyones input.

 

From my experience, brakes that come with any vehicle from the factory never seem to last very long, kinda like the tires they use always seem to need to be replaced sooner than you would think. My 2000 F150 with almost 39k on it is in need of new pads as well, they just started squeaking the past couple of weeks. I'm probably going to get to it in the next few weeks as I don't drive it very much. It wouldn't hurt to look at them and if you do put new pads on have the rotors resurfaced as well.

 

I am curious to see if you have found any solutions to this problem. I have a 99 that has a very similiar problem. I have replaced the brakes as well as the bearing assembly, the noise is still there. Is it the CV or is it internally, inside the diff?


Cope

 

43k on my 2002, still got factory brakes and tires

 

Hey guys sorry, I forgot to let you all know what fixed my problem. One day while doing an oil change and tire rotation in the garage I noticed that when I took the front passanger side tire off the wheel kinda turned and low and behold there was the noise I had been searching for. The good news about the noise was it was coming from the same 4x4 seal on the diff. that was leaking and the dealer replaced 11 months earlier. I called the dealer and asked if the can correct this noise and luckly the seal and labor had a 12 month 12,000 mile warranty and I was at 11 months and 11,000 miles, thank god!!!!!F-150 Supercrew Fx4 5.4L 2003
Stock except: FIPK & OEM harley chrome grille