a weird squeek/ chirp from the rear
 

hello everybody. hope everyone had a good thanksgiving. well anyways down to business... late october is when it all started happening. i started to notice a slight squeel. almost like a chirp. i drove around maybe thinking it was my brakes. well turns out it chirped either slowing to a stop or accelerating. idling there is no squeek so i know its not a belt. it will stop chirping or atleast it gets quieter when i get past about 20mph. it doesnt do it when i turn. the chirping gradually gets faster the faster i go within 20mph. ive been told it was my u joints. i replaced those with precision heavy duty u joints mid november. didn't do it until i found out about a week ago that it was doing the same squeek/ chirp again. it sounds like its coming from the rear. i've already cleaned the brakes. truck has 192500 miles on it any ideas at all please help its driving me nuts and ive been searching all over the forum. thanks guys for takin the time.

wheel bearing.

do all of them. that's the issue. i guarantee it.

congrats on owning an 01 Standard Cab 4.0, very rare.

hmmm didnt think about that and sorry i own a sport trac not a standard cab haha ill go change that

well i forgot to add i put new wheel bearings in the front 2 wheels during late march.

well good. that means the fronts are good. now do the back lol

ha very true. how much more difficult is it to do the rear bearings rather than the front? im gonna go see if they have any how tos.

but now im thinking how will it work on a solid 8.8?

Could also be a pinion bearing, don't rule that out.....

The rear bearings are totally different than the fronts. If you can DIY for the fronts, you can do the rears.

They are normal caged type bearings in the housing with an outer seal. You'll need a seal puller (easier than screwdriver and worth the 30 bucks) and rear wheel bearings adapters for a slide hammer. Pretty sure Advance or places like that can loan all that stuff.
Also need to pull the rear diff cover to get at the C clips/ center pin out, good time to check out the pinion bearing/diff condition.
I'm sure there is a write up here or TRS, or buy a Haynes/Chilton. The procedure will be in there.

thank you so much for your input. ill bring it by my shop teacher and see what we can figure out. by the way i look at your sig and i see ranger with some stuff. are there still some parts that you have?

I do, post or PM me what you need, I still have a lot of interior stuff.

pm sent