[1996 Cherokee XJ inline 6]
For about a week now I've been hearing a constant loud squeaking from (I think) the front drive shaft. I put a 3 inch lift on there about 4 months ago. Could that have been wearing on the u-joints? What I don't understand is why this is happening to the front driveshaft and not the rear, as it's rear wheel drive.

 

May want to be checking the hub bearing/bearings.

 

pull the front ds off see if noise goes away, if so have the ds rebuilt.

 

could also be the front axle shaft u-joints..........

 

If it sounds like a bird chirp that's the front drive shaft center bearing. $75 for a rebuild kit.

 

Yeah, you can possibly shoot some grease into the centering yoke without taking the whole thing apart, but you might as well replace it

Actually, the centering yoke isn't quite that expensive if you get it online

http://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/p425...10_series.html

but pull the front shaft off and drive it to make sure, you can check everything for play as well
I can remove my driveshafts in less than 5 minutes (each)

 

You will hear a front driveshaft squeak bc the front shaft constantly spins.