Hello fellow Ford Fans. I have a 1979 F-150 with a C351 motor. Just recentley I have noticed a short high pitch squeal when I shift from park to drive. This noise is not consistant but does happen more times than not. The truck drives great and I cannot notice anything wrong. The noise appears to be coming from the drive shaft......Any ideas on what this could be?

Thanks,

Kiley

 

Might be a good idea to check the u-joints, look for any rust trails.

 

Hank - Thank you for the info. When your say "rust trails" - do you mean evidence of rust marks running down the drive shaft? As I am sure you know, with a 79 year model I believe the entire truck under body is rust......

Thanks,

 

The end caps of the u-joints contain needle bearings. After much time the lube in the end caps is consumed and the needles start to run dry. When that happens the u-joint will sometimes start squealing on take off and since there is no longer any lubricant left the surfaces of the cross that go into the end caps wear much faster and if the is any moisture in the air or under the vehicle rust starts taking place and will leave rust trails at the u-joint since it gets flipped out with driveshaft movement. Sorry for the long winded explanation.