Nasty screeching noise from front suspension

[FloridaState]

So there's this REALLY annoying and extremely loud screeching noise that comes from the front part of the -what I guess to be- suspension or something. Every time I go over even the slightest bump, the screech makes its presence known. Go over speed bumps and it sounds like something's dying underneath. Basically any time the front tires hit any uneven pavement and the truck bounces at all, it makes a noise.
It sounds like a really nasty metal-on-metal like screeching noise. I'm almost positive it's only coming from the front, as when going over the speed bump with the rear wheels, it's totally quiet. And when I push down on the front end, it does it as the truck bounces up and down.

So does anyone know what this could be? It also happens a lot when I'm turning. Like as I turn the wheel I can hear it. It's very, very loud and quite embarrassing, honestly. It makes my X sound like a POS when it's not. I notice no difference in driving or ride other than the god awful noise.

Any help would be AWESOME.

Thanks!

 

[FloridaState]

Bumpage.

Anyone have any ideas? It's so embarrassing I want to get this fixed as soon as I can.

 

[my pos mounty]

Heres the deal. It could be a tierod end, a lower balljoint or upper balljoint or the lower control arm bushings.
Heres what you do to try to pinpoint which one it is.
If it is a tierod end, try holding onto it and have someone else turn the wheel. If that is it you will feel the vibration.
I suspect it is the lower balljoint.
Try laying down under (careful now!) the truck and get your ear as close to the lower balljoint as you can and have someone push down on the truck to get it to make noise. Listen to where it is coming from (high or low). If its higher up, it is the upper balljoint. If its low, it is most likely the lower balljoint, but you can try spraying the control arm bushings with a silicone spray or WD40 or something to that effect. If the noise disappears, theres your culprit. This would only give temporary relief from the squeal though, once the lubrication is gone, the squeak will return. If the noise is uneffected by the WD40 spray of the bushings, your lower balljoint is toast.

 

[FloridaState]

Heres the deal. It could be a tierod end, a lower balljoint or upper balljoint or the lower control arm bushings.
Heres what you do to try to pinpoint which one it is.
If it is a tierod end, try holding onto it and have someone else turn the wheel. If that is it you will feel the vibration.
I suspect it is the lower balljoint.
Try laying down under (careful now!) the truck and get your ear as close to the lower balljoint as you can and have someone push down on the truck to get it to make noise. Listen to where it is coming from (high or low). If its higher up, it is the upper balljoint. If its low, it is most likely the lower balljoint, but you can try spraying the control arm bushings with a silicone spray or WD40 or something to that effect. If the noise disappears, theres your culprit. This would only give temporary relief from the squeal though, once the lubrication is gone, the squeak will return. If the noise is uneffected by the WD40 spray of the bushings, your lower balljoint is toast.

Thanks for the response. I'll give some of those tests a whirl as soon as I can.

I took it to a shop today and they said the upper and lower balljoints are what's causing it. He didn't really do much "investigating," he looked at it for literally less than five minutes. He showed me some rubber on I think the upper-balljoint that was toast. He explained it all, but I'm fairly dumb when it comes to things like this, so I have no idea if he was just jerking me around or what. He said it'd be about $1000 dollars to fix.
But I'm up for college right now. I'm going home pretty soon, and I'm going to have the family mechanic look at it and fix whatever is wrong.

The noise seems to have subsided now, though. I noticed the noise a few months ago, but it went away the next day. The thing that's sticking out to me is that both times (this time and last time) that it started, it was the day after a huge rain and I had to drive through a fairly deep puddle both times. I'm thinking maybe water got up in there and did something? Now that it's kind of dried out, it's not as loud? I have no idea, but it's something both instances had in common.

 

[my pos mounty]

That rubber piece is what keeps all the dirt/water out of the balljoint and if it was compromised as he says, then the balljoint is toasted and needs to be replaced.
Did he jack the front end of the truck off the ground and use a long bar to check the lower balljoint? Thats the only real definitive test and if he did not, then he was generalizing your issue as being both balljoints (kinda along the thinking that since the uppers are gone, the lowers must be as well and since the right side is gone, then the left must be)..
Even if it is both lowers and uppers on both sides, I think the price he quoted is on the high side.
Let your family mechanic do it.

 

[FloridaState]

That rubber piece is what keeps all the dirt/water out of the balljoint and if it was compromised as he says, then the balljoint is toasted and needs to be replaced.
Did he jack the front end of the truck off the ground and use a long bar to check the lower balljoint? Thats the only real definitive test and if he did not, then he was generalizing your issue as being both balljoints (kinda along the thinking that since the uppers are gone, the lowers must be as well and since the right side is gone, then the left must be)..
Even if it is both lowers and uppers on both sides, I think the price he quoted is on the high side.
Let your family mechanic do it.

Yeah, the rubber piece was totally screwed up, I actually saw that with my own eyes. It's probably doing nothing right now; it's half-disintegrated and just flopping around. So I guess that means the increase in noise can be attributed to the heavy rain I ran into? Seems as if water and crap got down in there and caused it to be louder, now it's not nearly as loud. Maybe it's dried out or something? No idea.
But no, he didn't jack it up or anything. I just pulled up, told him the problem, and he looked inside the wheel-well and felt around a little, then told me it was the balljoints. So I don't know if the lower is actually bad or not, but I'll let our mechanic handle that. Yeah I'm definitely getting our mechanic to do it. Wayyy cheaper and we trust him, so I know he won't make us get unnecessary repairs.

 

[team]

Thanks for the response. I'll give some of those tests a whirl as soon as I can.

I took it to a shop today and they said the upper and lower balljoints are what's causing it. He didn't really do much "investigating," he looked at it for literally less than five minutes. He showed me some rubber on I think the upper-balljoint that was toast. He explained it all, but I'm fairly dumb when it comes to things like this, so I have no idea if he was just jerking me around or what. He said it'd be about $1000 dollars to fix.
But I'm up for college right now. I'm going home pretty soon, and I'm going to have the family mechanic look at it and fix whatever is wrong.

The noise seems to have subsided now, though. I noticed the noise a few months ago, but it went away the next day. The thing that's sticking out to me is that both times (this time and last time) that it started, it was the day after a huge rain and I had to drive through a fairly deep puddle both times. I'm thinking maybe water got up in there and did something? Now that it's kind of dried out, it's not as loud? I have no idea, but it's something both instances had in common.

This guy is trying to retire on just your truck! Most of the time it is the lower ball joints. I have done about 3 sets this semester (rangers and explorers) and the lower joints are about 17-30 bucks and it takes 1.5-3 hours to do both sides depending on your tools, knowledge, rust and your luck.