well my left front suspension has been making a squeek while going over any bumps in the road for about the past week. today i was driving home and while i was driving this squeek slowly matured into a cackling sound then built up to making the cackling noise louder and started to feel little jerks in the left front wheel area. the truck is a 97 4x4 and had new ball joints on it two years ago when i bought it. im hoping this is just a wheel bearing cuz im at school right now and only have limited tools. any help/suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

JACK THE FRONTEND UP & PUT IT ON JACKSTANDS ROTATE YOUR FRONT WHEELS & SEE IF ITS MAKING A NOISE IF IT IS ITS PROBABLY THE WHEEL BEARINGS GL BILL

 

Have you ever greased your new ball joints??

 

it's not a ball joint issue. Based on your description, it's either a bad wheel bearing, or a bad CV joint. With the age and mileage your truck has, either one is equally suspect at this point.

If it's a CV joint, it's not a big deal. It'll eventually snap and make a huge mess, but it's nothing lethal when it goes. If it's a bearing, I would definately not drive it. I prefer to keep all four wheels on the vehicle when driving, and always suggest others do likewise.

-Joe

-Joe