bcurtman thanks for chiming in- yup both drive shafts checked and re-greased. Exhaust leak is possible but it does not really sound like one,I have a new muffler but had a bit of exhaust rattle on acceleration.

My thought is if I can not find anything tomorrow, is to pull the drive shafts one at a time lock the CDL a do a test drive, that at least eliminates or confirms the drive shafts. At least there is lots of room under there now.

 

It could be the fan hitting the shroud. While in gear hold your brakes and press the gas. If it does it without the truck moving it could be a loose or broken motor mount. You'd think it would do it when it free revs in neutral also, but maybe it's just not to that point yet. I agree that driveshafts are suspect as well, even if they feel ok.

 

When my front wheel bearing was first showing signs of failure it had a very faint chirp which was infrequent at first and it took me a lot of leaning out the window at various speeds upon acceleration- and under load to hear it.
Just sharing Incase.

 

Do the axle angles change with a lift?
Clicking is reminiscent of bad axles as well.
Check for torn cv boots while you're under there.

 

Newtothetwo solid axles so that is not likely to the problem

 

You have CV joints on the front axle shafts. They will make a clicking noise if wornout or extremely dry (boot torn), but normally more while turning a corner.

I've added three inches of lift to both my 01 and 03 and never noticed any need for a front drive shaft spacer. No vibration or unusual noises.

Brian.

 

Thanks Brian, this noise is aft of the front end, but thanks for the correction - I found a video of a D2 driveshaft that made a very similar noise so I am getting there. At least is it not raining right now

 

Well the drive shaft is out - easy job 30-40 minutes and that included setup and clean up.

• The front single u-joint seems to move cleanly with no issue as I worked it old grease came out of rubber seals so that one seems good
• Extension is tight and slides freely lots of grease in there
• The double joint appear to me to have issues the inside unjoint is not pushing much grease from under the caps even with a lot of working movement,as compared to the other 2. There seems to be some occasional "stiffness" moving side to side in one direction ok in the other.
• Movement around the centering ball does not feel smooth to me
• I have not had a chance to test drive yet and see if the noise is gone.

I will supply pictures and road test report later today early tomorrow. In the meantime any other tests or check I can do on the drive shaft, it actually looks pretty good other than the issues noted above

 

I still have the front driveshaft I took out of mine. One of the folks here has helped me greatly. If you need it ill pay it forward and send it to you. It seems excellent.

 

Thank you Bryan that is very kind, but I think I will go with a new one I do not put a lot of miles on per year but a lot of them are literally in the middle of nowhere. But looks like I owe you a dollar and a coffee

Mine is shot, drove around for 20 minutes not a click to be heard, took it pretty easy on the gas mind you but ran her up to 60 km. Drove around the block ,stopped got some gas drove some more not a sound. Circled a cul-de sac a slow speed in both directions dead quiet.
As well I had a bit of an exhaust / Heat shield vibration that is gone too.

To everyone who helped out and gave me suggestions thanks very much for your help.

Now I need to figure out what bushing in clunks but that is easy in comparison.