2007 Xterra SE
52,xxx miles
No mods.

I am having an issue with a squealing/squeaking noise coming from my front end. The noise is intermittent, although it is more prominent @ ~30-40MPH. It does not matter if the truck is in N, D, 3 OD or no OD, it still makes the noise. The noise occurs when driving straight or turning. When accelerating or completely off the gas. When braking or not braking. While accelerating and braking. It does not seem to be caused by rough roads. It appears to be more common when going from flat road to an uphill when the suspension would compress slightly….although not always the case and it can happen at just about any point.

My fiancé was driving behind me yesterday and I flagged her to drive up next to me. While driving next to me on an empty 25mph road I asked if my truck was making noise. @ ~ 10MPH she agreed that it was making noise although I couldn’t hear it while in the truck. Does it surprise you that she sucks at describing the noise to me?

For month or so I thought I just had some brake squeal. I had the truck at the shop last month for an AC leak, oil change and tire rotation. We both inspected the brakes and they are still good for quite a while. Last night while driving I realized that the squeak/squeal noise would not occur with light braking, but would happen during harder braking where the front end would dip.

What it sounds like: My best description is it sounds like I have a squirrel running around under my hood. Sometimes it sounds like a squirrel running up a chalkboard. (I checked…no squirrel…no chalkboard). Last night about 1/4 mile from my house the noise changed to a clunk then grind. This happened twice before parking.

Some research yields the following options:
Sway Bar Bushings/Links
Control Arm Bushings
Hood Dampers (Even when people swear its from the suspension, etc...) – The clunk-grind leads me to believe that it is not my hood or any components of it.
Shock Mount Bushings

Ideas, suggestions, advice?
Thanks in advance
-Chris

I’m not too familiar with the 2nd gen but...

I’ve found the kind of bushings from your Sway Bar, Control Arm and Shock Mount normally make a crunching sound when they are going bad rather than squeaking.
Is the noise rotational, repeating at regular intervals that change with a change of speed?

Maybe it's a wheel bearing? I have an '06, and my front driver's side is bad, and needs to be replaced. I have two hub assemblies coming in tomorrow (going to replace both to be on the safe side). The things I heard were some crunching noises when pulling in and out of the driveway, and then some low moaning when turning the wheel, although that could be the ball joint in the LCA, which is also being replaced.

I didn't hear any squealing as you've described, however, now that I think back, I had the rear axle swapped out maybe not even a year after I had had the truck. I had heard this metal-like scraping noise coming from the back. The dealership said one of the rear bearings was bad, so they replaced the axle under warranty. I posted a thread here: http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3118.

I hope this helps shed some light on the issue.

Thanks for shedding some light on this for me. The noise appears to be more rotational than anything else.

I'm no mechanic, but here's what my buddy did to diagnose my front driver-side wheel bearing. He jacked up the front end, and wiggled the front driver's tire. There was a LOT of play in it. I would suggest trying the same thing to see if you get the same results.

So my fiance is driving the truck today to do some close to home errands so i didnt have to run the risk of a broken down truck on my 75mile round trip commute.

Apparently it just made a grinding noise upon starting the truck....cant wait to get this sucker to the shop.

A grinding noise without even moving? Oof. Yeah, get this in the shop ASAP.

Front right hub bearing is what it is...

I just replaced the same one on mine. No squeaking or wheel movement, just a humming and vibration that increased with speed.

We couldn't figure it out during the test drive. But when we got back to the shop we threw it on the lift. Brought it up a few feet. Started it. Put it in 4 wheel drive. Put it in drive. Then he put some pressure on the wheels to stop them and the thing squealed real bad.