I took my truck in for the clock spring recall today, and asked them to attempt a repair on my squeak that occurred while turning and hitting a bump, crack, etc. This squeak has been described and remedies suggested in several threads here on the TDR;
Dash Squeak
Squeak in Front End While Turning???
Squeeky steering wheel help 
Steering Wheel woes 
Squeak in dash--sometimes
They did the clock spring recall in under 30 minutes, guess they are in practice, even showed me the old one, not exactly what I had envisioned. The service writer at first told me no squeak found, but I happened to talk to the tech on the way to the service area to get my truck. As soon as I described the squeak to him, he immediately said sounds like an intermediate steering shaft, and went to check to see if they had one in stock. They did, and he installed without any test drive or further questioning. That fixed the squeak, and he told me it IS the upper u-joint, just as has been reported here. If you are still under warranty, I would take it in for the replacement. The bad news is, I think it is the same old shaft, so I expect the squeak to return eventually, but knowing it is the upper joint, I can always lube. Mine had this since day one, so maybe they either squeak or they don't???
I give 5 stars to TS&S in Bend, OR for this fix. Credit where it is due. I have had mixed results there before, but I think they are really trying hard to please the customer.
The tech that fixed the shaft (not sure if he put the clock spring in or not) just happens to own a 2001 ETH/DEE truck built within a week or two of mine, super cool
. While he was putting the shaft in we had a good chat. Found out he only lives about 1/2 mile from me. I encouraged him to join the TDR, but his buddy is a member (I have no idea who that is) and he looks at the site and his buddy lets him read the magazine.
We chatted about wandering, stiff shifting 6 speeds, lift pumps, fuel senders, etc., you know the stuff we chat about all the time. He was aware of bigger fuel line solutions, parallel or booster lift pumps, etc. He claims that except for the pump which would be there on a FI gasser, the mounting, etc. is present on our diesel fuel sender modules. I know the FI pumps are too high of pressure, but it seems to me that DC ought to step up to the plate and retrofit a low pressure pump onto the existing module. That would be a clean in the tank install that would cure the current lift pump woes for good. He thinks the present lift pump location (far from the tank) is because the lift pump is part of the motor from Cummins, and DC didn't want to mess with relocating it. BTW, he highly recommends a FP gauge. I gotta do that soon
.
Anyway, very good conversation, glad to know there is some good dealer personnel out there, after hearing all of the bad reports.
Shelby
Linear Mode
