177K

I drove over a speedbump slowly and I heard loud squeaks from the front suspension. Nothing from the rear. The only parts I can eliminate from the suspect list are the shocks and hub assemblies because they only have 25K. When I drove over the bump quickly, there was no squeaking.

Is this happening just because it's cold out? School starts next week, and I'm torn on whether I need to start buying parts right around the time I need to start buying textbooks as well.

 

Is it a 4X4?

Jack it up so you can check and diagnose.

 

Yea, it's a 4x4.

 

Might not be anything. IMO frigged temps could cause a temporary squeak. As long as it's temporary, I wouldn't worry so much.

Ball joints squeak when bad, - usually all the time when they get to a certain wear point.

There's some checks you perform to confirm a problem, -

 

It was the ball joints. I caved and bought Autozone stuff. I just couldn't pass up the discount. Outer tie rods, UCA, and lower ball joints.



Do I really need the camber bolt kit?

 

Id put my money on ball joints if the front end sounds like a rocking chair.

camber kit allows for the front end to be adjusted during alignments. I recommend doing it while you have the UCA off, and then immediately get an alignment done.

 

If your stock, you should be able to get away with what you have. Just make sure you mark both sides before removing. Don't forget....

 

Factory has those metal squares plates that prevents movement. No need to mark it if you are just putting them back in. Just think of them as "keys" and the plates need to go back where they came from.

 

Yea, restricts up and down, but not in and out right? That's what I'm referring to. Yea, I don't remember the plates, just the little notches Ford stamps where there's room for adjustment. On the 4x4's anyway.

 

Up and down is restricted by the slot itself. Plate locks in and out travel.

 

Yea, I was really wondering if I should get the camber bolt kit. Will the alignment be within spec if I use the factory plates and put them where they go?

From what I understand, the bolt kit allows the service tech to adjust without having to muscle the entire assembly.

 

Do it right and get the kit. Without it, most alignment techs will do a half-*** job or try to sell you the kit anyway.

 

I was calling around and asking places about that. They're charging half an hour labor for the install of the kit on top of the parts cost. LAME.

I bought some Moog K8740's today, so now I just need some free time.

 

Yea, I just did mine a few months back, wasn't bad-

 

Got the job halfway done today. Just need to put everything back together.

I had a heck of a time removing the spindle from the lower ball joint. Even with a pickle fork and a BFH. What I ended up doing was hammer the pickle fork between the ball joint/spindle and then I used my jack stand handle as a lever to pop the spindle off.