The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Squealing sound around turns (low speed) and some bumps

Hi all. I've finally gotten my truck out of storage following an overseas tour. I've been driving it since about March, and it's been great. It's my daily driver. I've gotten a ton of compliments and constantly receive a thumbs up as I go through town.

I'm having some trouble figuring out what is causing this annoying squealing sound which seems to be coming from my front end. It occurs mostly when I turn right, sometimes with very little turn in, although it will happen when turning left with the wheel all the way over. But the majority of the time it is from turning right. At any rate, it is not the same between the two directions. I don't have to be going very fast. It often happens from a stop at an intersection. It seems to be a combination of acceleration and amount of turn. Another factor is going up/down hills during the turn. Climbing right turn = definite squeal. Descending right turn = probably doesn't squeal. Normally once the squeal starts, it doesn't go away by simply reducing the amount of turn; I pretty much have to straighten the wheels.

About my truck: It is a '54 3100. I have a Chassis Engineering pinto-mustang IFS installed with disc brakes and supporting a 350 chevy small block. My tires are P235/75R15 and are mounted on 15" x 7" wheels with a 4.25" back spacing (Wheel Vintiques part number 62-5712044). I also have a flaming river tilt column routed to a rack and pinion setup that was included with the CE IFS.

What I've done to try and fix it: I've adjusted the tire inflation from about 32 psi all the way to 45 psi. I'm not really sure where I'm supposed to be, but I feel reluctant to go any higher than 45 psi. I've had the alignment set. It was set when the truck was completed with the restoration, but I also had it checked a couple of weeks ago. The toe was definitely out, and they set it back to 1/32" in. I was excited that this might correct the problem, but it hasn't changed at all. It doesn't appear that anything is rubbing under the the truck.

I'm interested in any bright ideas that might give me some insight. Right now, I have no idea where to look for the problem. Sorry the post is long, I wanted to give as much relevant detail as possible to ward off unnecessary comments like, "Just try going slower." If you need some additional info, I'll be happy to provide. Anything to get this to stop. Like nails on a chalk board, which kids these days don't understand thanks to dry-erase markers. Thanks.

Find someone who has enough experience and knowledge to check something called "Ackerman". Basically, it's the imaginary point around which the vehicle pivots while in a turn. With the wheels turned to the point where you normally experience the squeal, a line drawn through the center of the rear axles and one drawn at right angles to both front wheels as they're turned should intersect at a point several feet away from the vehicle. If they don't, the angle of the offending wheel needs to be corrected by bending the steering arm. Another term for Ackerman is "toe-out in turns". If there's a good quality round track racing shop in your area, that's where I'd begin looking for somebody who really understands steering geometry.

With the amount of steering and suspension butchery you've described, I'm not surprised you're having trouble. Very few people who set out to "improve" a vehicle's ride height and/or handling know anything at all about how to go about it. Just because somebody is willing to solve all your problems by selling you something doesn't mean they actually know what they're doing, or care at all if it works once they get your money in their pocket. Buyer beware!
Jerry

I think the first step is to identify a specific area of the noise. If you don't have to be going fast, drive by someone with good hearing and some truck knowledge. Or they drive and you listen. You can also have someone coast along side on a bike. All done in a big, safe parking lot. You also have to know if it's a rubber sound or a metal sound. A squeak, a screech, a creak, a squeal, a rub, a grind, a growl, a howl and a hoot and a holler...My guess, and probably your guess, is that it's some bushing. Applying specific soap or WD40 to an area, keeping track of exactly where it's spayed, may isolate a bushing or rubber/poly part....or if a metal sound, a different approach is necessary.
I suppose you have put it on a lift and manipulated the suspension/steering to try and hear it? Stood on the front bumper and rocked it up and down? Coasted with motor OFF and see if it still does it? Find a place to coast and go thru all the turns, bumps, hills, as necessary to be sure test is complete.
This will immediately isolate motor related from chassis related noise if you don't have a better method.

You have described it as a squealing sound. That is normally a fan belt squeal or power steering pump whine or both. Especially if it fluctuates with speed of motor. We can be thrown off by focusing on the turning direction, and all that, when it's just a belt. But I don't know what your definition of squealing is. Be sure of that word. Squealing is a longish duration sound and can even be a bearing. Spray the belts, check PS fluid level.
A squeak, on the other hand, is a definite start and stop noise with short duration. That would be a bushing.
Sorry to be so silly about the sound but I can't hear it from my house. Troubleshooting is sometimes an art form and sometimes technical. Please excuse the over-info. Just trying to get your brain storming juices flowing, sir.
I am assuming it did not do this prior to storage and you have done nothing AT ALL to it after storage?
Thank you for your service.
.....and then there is a whiz, a whine, a whir, a whirl, a whoosh, a wail, a wind noise...

Loose wheel bearings allowing the rotors to rub the calipers? Just spitballing here.

My soft rubber front tires squeal during the hot Summer on slow turns, much like posi-track rear tires would do.

Mike B

Since the problem is not equal in right and left turns, I've got a feeling the IFS crossmember has not been installed square with the frame or there's some other sort of difference in the steering, right to left. It sounds like one of the tires is turning at the wrong angle, and the front tires are fighting each other in turns.

THIS PROBLEM PROBABLY WON'T SHOW UP DURING A CONVENTIONAL WHEEL ALIGNMENT.

Good luck!
Jerry

HRL has pointed you to the correct things to look at. I have a similar issue with a stock truck(tire scrub in low speed turns to the right) It is a worn/loose king pin. That lets the left front wheel move and the toe in goes to toe out. Truck steers and tracks straight. It took a lot of looking to find the left king pin moves at the top just a bit. Not what I wanted after I had replaced the bushings(my bad for not noticing the top bushing was easy to push in). The thing is, very few folks understand the Geometry and issues. With the changes you have to your Truck, Consider every thing. Do you have a stager? Different Camber on one side or the other? Any loose pivot points? Equal toe in on both front wheels? That one is tough to measure. Any difference in Caster from side to side? All of these things matter. Lowered? Scrub angle? And centered in the steering box? Lots to look at.

Yeah, maybe Jerry is right. But it seems to me some folks are jumping to conclusions for just a lousy squeal, before anything is known yet. Could be anything from belts to tires to bad geometry install. Poster needs to supply more info, more observation. Turning, stopping, up hill, down hill, moving over the road, causes the chassis and all components to articulate. Even the motor moves on it's mounts. When things move (or rotate), they can squeal or squeak. So far, it can be something simple, up to and including, bad IFS.

Check the dust covers on the front discs maybe one or both are rubbing on the rotor when you turn.


Pete

The "new guy" is a gone guy.

If y'all'da beat my horse to death like all y'all did this guy's, I'd'a went gone as well. (Sorry that I couldn't incorporate the double possessive, compound dangling participle "all y'all's" into this statement.)
I hope he read all the posts. Lots of good info.
Carl

Thoroughness is next to Godliness. We actually have a Dead Horse State Park here in Arizona.