I just got finished doing some suspension work on my car. I got it all back together, hit the road, and heard a noise I've never heard before.

While I was driving on the highway after getting my suspension back I started hearing this weird clicking sort of noise. Every 30-40 seconds there would be this squeaky, clicky noise and a blip in the torque to the wheels. It was independent of bumps, load, or steering inputs, but the torque interruption and sound was stronger when the load was high. Nothing I did made it happen any more or less frequently.

Possible relevant information -- during the suspension work I accidentally let the knucle drop a bit low with neither suspension arm attached. It pulled the inner CV boot off its perch but didn't seem to do any visible damage.

I'll be checking for play in the joints tomorrow but I'm asking for recommendations on what to check and what some possible causes of this noise might be.

 

Is it coming from the same side of your bad axle boot?

 

Yes, it is.

 

Problem solved, sort of. It turns out it's the AC compressor fussing when it comes on. Time to learn about AC systems...