The other day my 97F150 4x4 started making a noise in the front end on the drivers side. It's not really a squeek or a grinding sound, kind of in between. I would say the pitman are but i jsut had the safety inspection done and the mechanic shot grease into it for me. Also, it soes it mostly when going over bumps or if i push down on the drivers side. If i push down on the passenger side everything is ok. I'm thinking bad shock but i just out them on this summer. (Stock Ford replacment though ) I figured i'd get some opinions first anyways.

 

Hey PJF....

Had similar problems with my '01 with 29k miles on it.....

I read a ton of stuff on here about the pitman arm, thought that might have been it. Turns out I needed an upper ball joint on the driver side.

The truck had sounds as you described when I would turn OR hit bumps of any kind. The simple weight shift of someone getting into or out of the truck would also do it. Just got the truck back today, and problem fixed.

Hope this helps.

 

Yeah thst's what mine is doing as well. I hope it's not the upper balljoint, i just put new ones on in july. I'll have to go take a look. Thanks for the info.

 

Hey pjf,

Also had same prob. on my truck. Turned out to be rubber bushing on top shock mount wore out. Only one bolt to take off to check, might be worth looking at.

Just a thought.

 

Thanks for the ideas guys. The fronts shocks are new as well as the mounting hardware(rubber and nuts on top). My upper balljoints/control arm are new. Is it possible that they are over-tourqued or something? The noise only started a week ago and won't go away. It's been hard to take a look because it's cold and snowy here. (Saint John, New brunswick)