So this is my first post but a little background I was a Jeep specialty mechanic a few years ago and know the ins outs of cj's yj's tj's and xj's but these jk's are a whole other beast... So I put a set of smitty xrc rocker guards on and a tera 1.5" leveling kit last week and then I did spidertrax 1.25" wheel spacers with the factory wheels and mtz 285/70/17 tires, and now all of a sudden Im getting a creaking noise thats coming from the front passenger side and almost sounds like a front axle u joint on a typical d30 going bad but after checking that and every nut and bolt under the front end I have found nothing that fix's it. It mainly happens under initial acceleration and some slow turns (1-5mph). I wanted to see what everyone's input on this subject is. My gut feeling is its something to do with the spring but everything's been sprayed down with lube and not a thing has changed. Any possibility the rocker guards could be making this noise when the body flex's a little under acceleration?
Thanks for the help in advance!!
Also, When making the jeep bounce by pushing and pulling on the front end there is no noise at all and when I rock the Jeep side to side there is no noise...

 

My vote is the wheel spacers. Try running without them for a little if you can. Or at least make sure they are torqued correctly

 

The wheel spacers are torqued correctly and have been checked multiple times.. Do you think maybe putting anti-seize between the wheel and spacer may help if its them just shifting a little?

 

I doubt it's the wheel spacers. I have a similar squeak and my spacers are just fine.. I'm thinking U joint or possible wheel bearing... Hopefully someone will chime in...

 

Wild goose chase, but here is what I got. You might try, so at least you can exclude these items, but check all the bolts on the cowling between the hood and windshield, check your windshield bolts, check the bolts inside on the "A" pillar, one is a bolt one is a screw, check your side mirror bolts. This may not be the source, but then again, it could. I've found loose bolts in these areas on my 2009. This probably won't help, but it only takes a few minutes.

 

I have checked all of this over It makes no sense that this all of a sudden started to happen a week after the leveling kit. The jeep has 1200 miles on it so Im doubting U joints and all of the flanges and caps look perfect still. The noise is like a chattering creak under the passenger floor pan..

 

Check the torque of the suspension bolts. Too tight can cause the creaking that you describe.

 

Well I just talked to the guys over a Teraflex and they said to try and loosen the control arm and track bar bolts when its on the ground and then retighten.. hopefully this will work and it makes sense since I installed everything on a lift.

 

Is the spring oriented properly in the mount?

 

The springs are in the bucket just fine they do appear to be bowing out a little bit though.