hey ppl....

my 2000 f150 has developed a bad case of the squeeks. problem:

every time i hit a speed bump, crack or minor defect in the road my front suspension emits a very loud and annoying squeeking noise that is driving me nuts.

my truck has 43,000 miles on it. the front suspension is all original parts. i don't think it's the shocks b/c they seem to work okay still. the ABS light on my dash went on around the same time as the squeeking began (it's still on), but i don't know if this related or not.

i also received a notice from Ford a few months ago about replacing the balljoints or something. could this be the problem? how much will this cost in parts and labor, and should i take it to the dealership or have a mechanic check it out?

Thanks!

 

The factory balljoints are not lubable, thus they will in time wearout and squeek. I would definately have them looked at. If they need replaced there are several tips found in this site as to how to do it. I didn't feel confident in my abilities and proper tooling so I had a local shop do mine. They replaced both left and right upper and lower ball joints. It cost close to $700.

Good luck

 

When my ball joints went out it costed me 300.00. It was just the drivers side.

 

thanks guys, always a huge help as usual. yeah i was kind of wondering if this was a common problem. i think only my passenger side may be creaking but it probably wouldn't hurt to replace both sides at the same time. i'll look for those installation tips....maybe i can save some flow by doing it myself

 

I just changed my drivers side ball joints. The truck has 270,000 miles on all original front end parts. The upper was fine (it carrys little load and comes only with the control arm). I figured better safe...

The ball joint had been squeeking for the last 10,000 miles. I had poked a hole in the boot and lubed it. The noise would go away for a month or so then come back. It had 1/4" of up and down play in it. I have very slight play in the pitman and idler arms. The other ball joints and tie rods are tight. I think I'm going to change everything and get an alignment just to be safe. That lettter from Ford and recent discussions here make think that the tie rods go bad with little/no notice. I bought Ford ball joints, and the mechanic at the parts desk was surprised by how long my ball joints had lasted. Although everyone knocks them, I've had very good luck on several car with no lubeable front end parts. If the replacements don't hold up, I'll put in Moog greasable parts the second time.

The lower ball joints are not hard to change and should have little/no effect on the alignment. You do need snap ring pliers, a BFH, prybar, and a ball joint press (+ a jack, stands and other typical mechanic tools). You can rent the press from Autozone for free or buy it for about $50. The job is pretty easy and a average DIYer should be able to change one side in less than 2 hours.

 

i had that same squeak. i had grease fitting on one ball joint so i greased it and then the idler arm had a grease fitting on it and i greased it as well. And then i sprayed some lubricant on the upper control and lower control arms rubbers. The squeaks are gone. But am still gonna replace ball joints and pittman and idler arms.

 

I had the same annoying squeak. I'm taking it in this morning and having the drivers side ball joint replaced with greasable ones. $250 parts/labor/alignment...

The squeak only started after having it up on a lift getting a Flowmaster 70s installed. Why would it only start after this?

Oregon Boy

 

I drilled and tapped the ball joints and installed zerks. go easy and put grease on the drill bit and tap to keep metal out of the joint.


spray the front antisway bar bushings that hold the bar to the frame rails with silicone. my trucks sounded horrible when going over speed bumps. aliitle silicone did wonders.


my truck has 118,000 miles original suspension

 

I've been reading what everyone has posted about the dreaded front end squeek, and I have had this problem for about a month on my 98 F-150 2x4. I replaced both outer tie rod ends, the pitman arm, injected grease into the upper and lower ball joints, and silconed sprayed the upper and lower control arm bushings, but the squeek won't go away! In fact it sounds even louder now. At first just the drivers side would squeek when the front bumper was pushed down or if I drove over a bump in the road. Now both sides are squeeking. Any ideas?

 

Replace both lower ball joints....

Hold a 2x2 piece of wood to each ball joint with your ear against the other end and have someone push on the bumper and the sound will amplify through the wood. You should be able to pinpoint the squeak that way.

 

Have you checked the shock bushings? Or better yet, are your sure the shocks themselves are good? Shocks get very noisy when they go bad, I know I go through them like butter because of the amount of stress that my suspension goes through on jobsites. And goin muddin .

 

I just got both lower ball joints replaced. Cost 160 for labor and about 50 dollars for parts.