I can't afford to replace it now and want to quiet the squealing that occurs only when I turn right. A mechanic sprayed something on there about a month ago that caused the squealing to stop for about a week, but don't remember what it was. It's a 2002 S.D.....any ideas?

 

grease with a grease gun/??

or was it in a aerosol can? could have been silicon spray.

 

Can you get any grease into the ball joint? Aka, with a grease gun?

If that ball joint "lets go" while you're driving down the road, you're going to have a much higher repair bill incoming.

 

Time to find the money and get it fixed right. A squealing balljoint means it's not lubricated and needing to be replaced ASAP. This is the precurser to failure, and this can cause an accident.

 

I'm guessing a silicon spray. He just sprayed a little here and there while another mechanic was turning the wheel until the squealing went away.

 

A mechanic who checked it out shook some things underneath the truck and seemed to think that the only problem with the ball joint was that it isn't lubricated. Do you know if that's reason to replace it, or does it just need to be lubricated?

I tried getting grease in but it's a very tight fit and am not positive if I got enough in (assuming not since it's still squealing). I actually got my grease gun stuck on there for about 10 minutes and finally pulled it off and am reluctant to get it stuck on again. I've seen people online spray WD40 or inject grease through the rubber boot and it stopped the squealing.

 

So lubricating it won't fix it?

 

Generally no. The joints are grease lubricated, and if they don't have a grease zerk there's no good way to get grease back in there and properly lubricate the joint. You can spray something lighter that will quiet the squeak, but the joint will still wear extremely fast.

Have you checked for end play at the wheel?

 

check for wear, if its a tore boot you can duc tape it to help hold grease in to make it last longer.

 

If you want it to stop squeaking until new b-joint time you can cut the boot out if it has one, wrap a piece of rag around it, tie it on with wire, and oil the rag. Just spraying is never a good idea.

 

I'm assuming (now) that your ball joint has no zerk fitting on it to put grease in it. The sealed ones are basically throw aways once they start making noise. The noise is the 2 parts grinding and striking against each other, instead of riding on a cushion of grease between the parts. Those joints are never meant to ride metal-on-metal. And once they start, they wear out very fast.

There is nothing you can spray or soak into that joint that will take the place of the grease.

When the ball joint fails, it usually (but not always) comes completely apart. This is catastrophically bad, as your suspension and steering are tied together at that point, and when it goes, you lose both. No one, not even a shop can "predict" how long you have before it fails completely. All it can really take is one good, deep, unseen pot hole in the road and that ball joint is bye-bye. When it goes, you will lose control of the truck, and very likely cause an accident.

What we're trying to tell you is that it's just not worth the risk. If you can't afford to fix it now, that is understandable, but please park the truck until you can. It's just not worth careening into oncoming traffic, or jumping a sidewalk and mowing down pedestrians.

Let alone, you can cause much more costly front end component damage as it comes apart and steering linkages bind and bend, and the front tire folds under the truck.

EDITED TO ADD--

And you really should replace both sides. If the one side is making noise, the other side will be following close behind it. When you replace them, get the non-sealed kind, with a zerk fitting in it, so you can put grease in the joints as part of your regular maint on the truck.

 

my friend would tell me just to turn up the radio.

 

Thanks Tom! There is a grease zerk but it's hard to get to. I thought I got some grease in there with a special gun fitting but it still squeals so I must not have. The mechanic who originally diagnosed it didn't jack up the truck because his bays were full but shook some things underneath and came to the conclusion that the ball joint was still fine but dry. He suggested replacing it anyway, btw, but I don't necessarily trust him because I went out and bought a grease gun fitting that he should have in stock to grease zerks while doing their oil changes.

 

Thanks Skip!

 

Thanks Slim! There are zerk fittings but a little tough to get to and obviously the previous owner never got to them.