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Old 03-13-2009, 12:28 PM
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Midnightride42
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ball joints

quick question....is there anything else in the front end that would make a really annoying creeking/squeeking sound. Kind like worn out bed or rusted door hinges?

I thought it was the front shock, but replaced them all and it still does it.
when you have the car off and sit on the front bumper or get out of the car you can hear the squeek same thing when you rock the car side to side. You can hear it too when turning the steering wheel.

I greased the lower ball joints and tried greasing the uppers. No luck. I looked at the pitman arm the rubber boots were solid. I got needle plyers and put grease in there just make sure.

Steel creeking.

Plan on doing the ball joints both upper and lower this weekend.
Just want to make sure there is nothing else that could break and leave me stranded or in an accident. Dont really care about the sound, just want to have a safe enjoyable truck.

Thoughts?
 
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Old 03-14-2009, 12:33 AM
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sound could be your sway bar linkage bushings sacked out. or controll arm bushings. be carefull what balljoints you use. I used trw's from advance, and they lasted 2 weeks, the second pair 1 month, then i got motorcraft, and a year later they are clunking again. ive heard to use the moogs.
 
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Old 03-14-2009, 08:37 AM
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had that on a 98 mustang. looked for along time. finally decided the rubber bushings on the sway bar were problem. took them off, painted antisized on both inside and outside and reinstalled- no problems for 4 years.
 
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Old 03-14-2009, 10:17 AM
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I'll second the sway bar bushings as a possible source. You might try a little lithium grease in there as a test and then get some new ones if that was it.

Also second the ball joint advice. I went to O'Reilly and got Moog's at a reasonable price. I just told the guy that I didn't want to send my money away to some out-of-state warehouse, but would rather support my local economy, HOWEVER, I was not going to pay full retail. If he got a little closer to the online price (I had looked at Rock Auto) then I wouldn't mind paying a little bit extra since there would be no shipping. He came down to the next lower price which is a step below retail but not the full discount they would give a shop. Saved me time waiting, saved me money off retail, and if something goes wrong I can return them locally.

I have used this "local economy" approach recently in several instances and have consistently gotten lower prices. Plus, I really would rather see the people in my little town get credit for the sale than people in some other town.
 




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