Have a 97 f150 that has developed a squeek in the front end...only does this at slow speeds when turning steering wheel one way or the other. Looked and listened underneath while had son turn wheel but can't seem to locate. Just wondering if anyone else has had the same problem or know where to start. Have checked ball joints and they appear to be tight, just wondering where to go from there.

 

oh yeah, i have battled this problem for five years now. when i bought my truck used, it squeaked. i took it to a friend of mine's garage and he told me the ball joints were worn, but not to the point of needing to be replaced. this of course was the factory ball joints which do not have grease inserts. so i lived with it. a year later i put a lift kit on my truck and when i did, i put new aftermarket ball joints with greasable inserts. i thought my problem was solved. think again, a month later the problem returned. i asked my friend once again about it, as well as how often i should grease them (thinking maybe i had not maintenced them correctly). he inspected them told me they were fine, grease them every other oil change. i grease them regularly and the squeak is still there. it never gets any worse or better. i hope someone can answer this for us. maybe it's a defect on 97's.

 

I'd try taking some silicone spray lube to ALL the rubber suspension bushings. If you want to figure out which one, do 'em one at a time, but I'm not that patient. Might not work, but it would eliminate them as the cause.

 

Have seen some claim a needle adapter on a grease gun forcing grease under all the steering joints fixed it.
...not on my '98....

 

try this link https://www.ford-trucks.com/tsb/tsb....t-BC2360970501 It's the pitman arm on the steering box, mine did this years ago-had it replaced....silence!

 

I used a needle to inject grease into the pitman arm boot. Worked like a charm.

 

When my Dad bought his (now mine) 97 new, after 6 mos. the idler arm squeaked like turning on a cat (not that I have tried it but....) He asked me to "look at it" and he had zert fittings installed and presto, no squeaks. FOMOCO's lack of zert fittings = more replacement parts sold. My Dad bought an 04 F150 (that's when I bought his old one) and believe it or not no fittings!! Go figure!

 

I don't know how loud or high pitched your squeek is, but I have actually had some strange squeeking too. I discovered that all the lug nuts were not torqued to the recommended 150 ft pounds. As a matter of fact, it has happened a number of times. When the wheels were taken off to do routine rotations, the people hardly ever torqued them enough, or evenly (that is more important). So, i would start to get a squeek, well, maybe it was more of a grinding. Anyhow, after i fix torque, i hear grinding for a day or 2, then it is all gone.

So, this long winded post boils down to this: look at the factory recommended tightening for the lugnuts, and make sure they are ALL tightened to that. Unequally tightened nuts may cause warping and a strange grinding or squeeking.

I hope this is it!

 

Hey Bunggo, are those aftermarket rims/tires? May have "had" a clearance issue?? Maybe on the brake backing plate. Just thinkin'..

 

sprayed the pitman arm boot with some silicone spray and the squeek went away. Thanks to all for your imput.