Squeaks...

I was driving to a coworker's house for dinner on Saturday evening when I heard a squeaking sound emanating from my tire area. All I could think of was..."great, what now??". I immediately pick up my phone and think "I'll call dad." I'm sure my father loves to get my calls during which I try to emmulate the sound coming from my vehicle and ask him "so what is it? What's wrong?" ROFL. Despite my efforts, this strategy generally isn't very successful, so we run through a series of questions such as which tire is it, is that the one that you had the bearings replaced in, is the truck driving okay (no shaking), etc etc etc. We decide that I need to pull off the road and inspect the tires from the outside. I determined that the tires weren't loose and that the sound was coming from the rear passenger side. The squeak also only occurs when I let the clutch out...when the clutch is pushed down, there's no squeak! So, I call dad again. I tell him it sounds like a squeegee being pulled across a dry window (which isn't too helpful even though I thought it was pretty apt). Poor dad, he barely bats an eye anymore. He's too used to it. However, given that we drive the same model of truck, he immediately knew that it was a universal joint (whatever that is). He tells me this and is silent. I'm thinking, "Okay, what does this mean?" I'm slightly knowledgeable about vehicles, but only as much as I've learned through things gone wrong on them throughout my driving years. (i.e. I learned at Christmas time that the alternator gauge is also known as the battery gauge). Who knew? When I have auto problems, there are only a few things I need to know: "does it have to be fixed immediately?" , "is it safe to drive?" and "how much will it cost?" :)

Happily, it didn't cost that much, I had two of three universal joints replaced, and I didn't have to take a day off of work to get it done! Plus, I got free lunch to boot! What a day!