front end squeek

[explornj]

after my last off-road venture I now have a nasty squeek from the front end on the passanger side, not sure if it's comming from the shock or the rubber bussings on the lower control arm, I don't feel anything in the truck driving down the street just hear it squeek. any info on what to check would be nice

 

[jeffseal]

mine does the same thing.

solution: SAS!

i havnt realy looked into it much since i am doing the sas but i think mine is comming from the A arm bushings

 

[Jason_25]

Does it squeak when turning as well? If so, it's probably balljoints. I can't imagine the control arm bushings have worn bad enough to cause a squeak on a vehicle as new as yours. Although, you might try checking the bushings for the shocks.

 

[explornj]

yes it does squeek when I turn, I also get a thunk every now and then, the truck has 51,000 miles on it, is it odd that the ball joints could be bad already

 

[Jason_25]

No not really. The Ford ball joints are pretty weak compared to the aftermarket MOOG ones.

You can see which balljoint it is by having a friend turn the wheel and you getting under the truck and listening. It should be pretty easy to tell.

 

[explornj]

I get the squeek also when I just bounch the truck and don't even turn the wheel, that is what made me think it could be the control arm bussings, I did just have to replace the wheel berring/hub the other day but I had the squeek before I put the new parts in

 

[Muskrat]

Justin, check to see if the torsion bar pads are still in place, doesn't sound like ball joints, might also be the control arm bushings, hit everythign that moves with some litium grease, see if that helps any

 

[Jason_25]

Contrary to what muskrat said, explornj your symptoms are exactly what mine were. It was a bad lower right balljoint. Like I said before, it should be easy to identify if you get down near it (but be careful).

The torsion bar kevlar pad problem is a solid "thunk". Not a squeaking sound.

 

[explornj]

I am going to try and replace the lower ball joint tomarrow
I hope that solves my problem, jason do you have any pointers for getting the ball joint out???

 

[Jason_25]

Be sure to verify the ball joint is the problem before replacing it.

As I didn't do the work myself, and have never seen it done, the only thing I can tell you from reading on this site is to buy the Ford torsion bar puller tool and you either need a press or a really big hammer to get the ball joint out. Good luck.

 

[explornj]

I changed both lower ball joints, the squek is gone but now I have a clunk to find, the problems never end, hopefully it won't be a big problem