JbStep

New here but avid reader for years. Recently having what appears to be a nearly identical "cricket" squeal on my truck. Except mine is mainly at idle and typically goes away with a little pedal or acceleration. Checked everything and oddly enough I am 90% certain that the sound is coming from the plastic front fender cover below the headlights. The molded piece that sits in the front bumper and is rounded under the headlights. My final test, hopefully today is to put a few tie straps around it and see if it goes away. Will report results. Hate for my first post to be ignorant and stupid, but the direction my investigation as taken. My truck has similar mods as yours and I have vibration at idle as the installer did not do a great job on the muffler. Apologies, it appears my first post here did indeed make idiot status. I did not see the part where the steering pump fixed the issues. I'll sit in the corner with my dunce cap for a while and read the experts posts.