Right Front Chirp/Squeak

[FastBlackRam]

Isn't it sad that we have 40-50k trucks and they come from the factory like this and no permanent fix in sight after a year or two of this issue being present.

What totally amazes me is when I took this to the dealer originally, about 4 months ago, I hadn't yet read this thread. They said they couldn't recreate the squeak. I told them I drive it everyday and believe me it squeaks. I didn't have time that day to take them out to hear it. So I just DIY'd it. Why do they not educate themselves about the quirks of these trucks so they can fix them when brought in for these common issues? I keep saying I love the truck but hate the dealers. Ain't that a female dog?

 

[ILikeBalloons&Cheese]

What totally amazes me is when I took this to the dealer originally, about 4 months ago, I hadn't yet read this thread. They said they couldn't recreate the squeak. I told them I drive it everyday and believe me it squeaks. I didn't have time that day to take them out to hear it. So I just DIY'd it. Why do they not educate themselves about the quirks of these trucks so they can fix them when brought in for these common issues? I keep saying I love the truck but hate the dealers. Ain't that a female dog?

Because warranty work is not a money maker for them. One local dealership basically told me to pound sand for this issue and one is making excuses and wanting to take forever because they have a "process" of elimination they have to follow when trouble shooting. I told them I have stars reports for the same thing from other dealerships all showing what the fix it, the service guy got rather quiet and agreed if I can provide the stars reports they will start ordering parts. The RamCares folks are already on the case for me!

 

[CaptainCJ35]

I plan on hitting the sand tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if my squeak comes back, since I was doing the same thing last year when the squeak first showed up. The time line kind of matches up when I noticed the squeak to when it went away vs. the beaches opening up for OSV. Maybe just the right kind of dust or grit needs to get in there.

 

[FastBlackRam]

Because warranty work is not a money maker for them. One local dealership basically told me to pound sand for this issue and one is making excuses and wanting to take forever because they have a "process" of elimination they have to follow when trouble shooting. I told them I have stars reports for the same thing from other dealerships all showing what the fix it, the service guy got rather quiet and agreed if I can provide the stars reports they will start ordering parts. The RamCares folks are already on the case for me!

My understanding is if it is warranty work or out of customers pocket, the money is the same for the dealership. It's just a mater of who pays for the work. I believe the difference comes from the dealership having to prove to FCA that it is a warranty issue. This should not be a big deal in my mind but I think it is the problem. They need to figure out a better way to handle the process.

 

[SilverSurfer15]

I think the reason that some dealerships dont want to mess with it is that:

1) brakes are a wearable item which is always a grey area for warranty coverage

2) it’s one of those things that’s hard to diagnosis, hard to fix. Then the customer comes back and says you didn’t fix it and blah blah. Constant drama over something that doesn’t effect the drivability

They’d rather work on concrete issues, not little annoyance type of issues like this. All that being said, they should suck it up and just fix it. These trucks cost way too much to not work as they should.

 

[ILikeBalloons&Cheese]

My understanding is if it is warranty work or out of customers pocket, the money is the same for the dealership. It's just a mater of who pays for the work. I believe the difference comes from the dealership having to prove to FCA that it is a warranty issue. This should not be a big deal in my mind but I think it is the problem. They need to figure out a better way to handle the process.

Yeah, I got the feeling from one of my dealerships that they don't want their guys tied up on something like this when they could be working on something out of warranty.

 

[ILikeBalloons&Cheese]

I think the reason that some dealerships dont want to mess with it is that:

1) brakes are a wearable item which is always a grey area for warranty coverage

2) it’s one of those things that’s hard to diagnosis, hard to fix. Then the customer comes back and says you didn’t fix it and blah blah. Constant drama over something that doesn’t effect the drivability

They’d rather work on concrete issues, not little annoyance type of issues like this. All that being said, they should suck it up and just fix it. These trucks cost way too much to not work as they should.

Exactly. I told the service manager at one dealership this when he gave me push back and basically told me to pound sand. I told him, hey these trucks sticker for 50k, I expect a perfect truck and no push back when I come in with a legitimate problem. He could have cared less and then told me "well we are push out about 4 weeks and then we need your truck and I can't get you a rental because of covid" and the excuses kept on rolling.

 

[CaptainCJ35]

Took my truck out to the dunes and beach for the first time in a long time. I half hoped the chirp to come back because it would have explained it's root cause and more reliable fixes. But fortunately/unfortunately... it hasn't.

The chirp hasn't come back, aside from a few very isolated incidents, since last fall. I have to assume... for me at least... it was a weird break-in related issue.

Be very curious to see what happens when I eventually have to get new brake pads.

 

[Bostontar19]

Go over some "predictable" bumps, then go over them with the brakes lightly applied, if the chirp is gone, then it is the brake pads and anti-rattle clips chirping. There is a star case about it my dealer said and a revised set of brake pads / clips are available. I had mine replaced and it fixed it but after 2k miles, it's starting to do it again.


where is the Star Case documentation?

 

[Bostontar19]

Ahh ok, then a similar issue to me and others. The lobe of the pad is squeaking against the anti-rattle clip.....which it's job is to prevent that...ironic.

The original clips that came on my truck had a PTFE coating that wore off, when that happened, the chirps started. The upgraded pads came with new anti-rattle clips that have more connection points, not sure if they are PTFE coated. Why they replaced my calipers....I have no idea? Possibly because it kind of fits a Star Case description that I believe is unrelated.

Good to see the issue happening more though....as bad as that sounds. Gives Ram more feedback and hopefully gets resolved quickly and permanently.

Is there a Star Case for this?

 

[-V1-]

Go over some "predictable" bumps, then go over them with the brakes lightly applied, if the chirp is gone, then it is the brake pads and anti-rattle clips chirping. There is a star case about it my dealer said and a revised set of brake pads / clips are available. I had mine replaced and it fixed it but after 2k miles, it's starting to do it again.

My 2019 Laramie Crew 4x4 is doing this exactly but on the left front. Revised parts do not remedy this issue??

 

[troutspinner]

My 2019 Laramie Crew 4x4 is doing this exactly but on the left front. Revised parts do not remedy this issue??

Ram’s fixes / new parts did not long term fix the issue for my truck. One of the many reasons I’ve since moved on. Still love the looks and interior of the new Ram but their engineering did not test their changes long enough nor educate their servicing dealers.

 

[CaptainCJ35]

My read is that its a very sporadic issue with no permanent solution. It doesn't affect how the truck drives or pose a safety issue... though it's HUGELY annoying if you're one of the unlucky few that has/had it.

I only hear it now on very rare occasions, over substantial bumps, and I drive with my windows down constantly. I may be one of the lucky few who had it and then it worked itself out. I have over 20K miles on my Rebel, the squeak showing up in the first few months of ownership, so maybe it's a break-in thing for a lot of folks.

 

[rjc376]

I have the same problem on the left side of the front end. Sounds like a cricket chirp after hitting small bump in road, at any speed above 20 mph. Noise also occurs when hitting brakes and if the front end "pops up" when shifting from park to drive. Have been back to the dealership 5 times for this problem and they have replaced the left front strut (1st time back) and the upper control arm 3 times (next three visits). They say a redesigned upper control arm is due out in mid September. This started in less than three months of ownership, truck has not been off road, no hit curbs or accidents. The engineers at the factory have even had the dealership install 'frame ears' to track where the sound is coming from with no correction made. If I wanted a truck that squeaks over every little bump I would have bought an old jalopy, not spent the $60k+ for this.

 

[dutchman187]

Taking this in myself for the chirping next week since I"m getting an oil change. It is on the my left front end at very low speeds, typically when I hit the brake. However, I have got it to do it when just sitting in my driveway with my door open and rocking the truck. I also noticed that when not moving, it will chirp the first time I hit the brake, and then subsequently get softer the more times I pump the brake. It is very frustrating to hear when sitting in a drive thru lane. Trucks sounds like a junker as you move along. Btw, mine didn't start until about 15K miles.

 

[dutchman187]

Is there a star case or other troubleshooting info I can bring my dealer on this one? Has @RamCares been able to provide assistance to anyone? This seems like one of those issues where I could save the dealer a lot of time and effort (and thus maybe increase the chances of them not blowing me off) if I can provide some useful information on the issue up front.

 

[Sascwatch]

I had this issue and the dealer replaced my front brake pads and hardware with what was supposed to be a revised version to fix this issue. The chirp returned after only a few hundred miles after the brake lube wore off they applied when it was reassembled.

With winter around the corner I figure I’ll have my windows up so I won’t be able to hear it anyways, if the noise is still there in the spring I’ll get them to look at it again.

 

[ucyoungblood]

Over the last two weeks my Rebel has developed a sort of chirp or squeak in the right front of the truck. This happens rather predictably over moderate bumps in the road, to the point where I can spot a depressed manhole cover, or cracked road surface, etc. and say with confidence... "you'll hear it right there." It's not all the time... it's not on every road imperfection... in fact as far as I can tell, on bigger pot holes and other bumps it doesn't chirp. Just these certain sharp moderate road imperfections. You only hear it with the windows down, and there's no other sign of something amiss while driving. No shimmy, vibration, clunk, rattle, etc. Truck has just over 3200 miles on it. I've only mildly offroaded in it once on sandy fire lanes, and once on the beach, never over 15 mph. Everything is bone stock as the day it left the factory.

I brought my truck to the dealership last Friday and took one of the service guys for a quick drive... sure enough, on queue, the chirp presented itself. Service guy and myself both thought the anti-sway bar linkages might be a bit loose, so he took it in and put it up on a lift. An hour later they gave the truck back to me, saying they tightened everything... sway bar linkages were a touch loose... and asked me to see how that turned out. Unfortunately the chirp is still there. This is my first truck... all prior ownership experience is sport sedans and SUV's... so I have some questions that I'd love to get feedback from the community on.
- I'm inclined to think this is a normal body-on-frame occurrence and may work itself out over time... any validity to that?
- Has anyone experienced and resolved a similar issue? If so how?
- Is there a bigger issue I should be aware of that this chirp/squeak is a precursor too?
- Does anyone have thoughts on where else to check?

It's such a minor thing, but I want to get ahead of it if it's going to become a bigger issue. I greatly appreciate any info provided... thanks!

I had this driver's side on my 2016 ram 1500. was the lower ball joint. I bought a nice upper arm lower control arm kit Detroit Axle brand at 1aauto.com. also they have great videos on YouTube on how to replace them. super easy. don't pay a shop to do this. just arm yourself with 21 through 24mm 1/2" drive and 35mm axle nut sockets. mark the lower control arm alignment nuts perfect and you won't have to pay a shop for that either. im slow and it took me 4 hours per side in my driveway.