hello i have a 99 ford ranger 3.0 4x4 no modifications added. well everything was fine until suddenly there is a very loud squeak coming from the front suspension or the steering not sure which but im pretty sure its the driver side that its coming from. with the vehicle off or on it makes the noise when i push down on the front of the truck (as if i was testing the shocks). but it really makes the noise when i drive it & turn the wheel back and forth (like if i was weaving in and out of some cones for an obstacle so to speak). its REALLY loud and very annoying. let me add that the under side is a mess of rusty parts seeing i live in MN and they salt the roads every winter. i just replaced the brake calipers in the front recently but i know thats not the issue. also it just started doing it as the temperature dropped below 0 for a couple days. i dont drive the truck everyday.. well not that often at all so it sits most of the year i only drive it in the winter time. last year or the year before i recall it made the same noise but not as bad and it went away right away until now. any ideas would be great thanks

 

Pushing down on the front of the truck and it's squeaking? Makes me think it's something to do with your suspension. Check your ball joints, tie rod ends, shocks for torn boots, leaking, excess grease.. get under there and see if you can pull on things and see any noticeable play.

 

I had the same problem, turned out to be the sway bar bushings

 

i was just messing with it and it seems to do it when jjust siiting in park and turning the wheel either direction. i was under there and lubed the crap outta all the pivot points and bushings but still no go... maybe after the lube penetrates longer, hopefully itll go away.

 

You should post a video or something. Bushings get dry and crack.. lube won't really help that if they are already gone. Whichever ones are cracked need to be replaced.

 

I'm going to go with the noise being the ball joints. Mine did that in park too but also when I'd push down on the hood above the wheel wells

 

Come to think of it mine squeaked too.. then when they got real bad it was a clunk sound.

 

yeah i dont know yet what it is but here i wasnt able to get a video cause its dark out and snowing right now but i got a quick audio clip of the sound its making.. the truck was in park engine running and i was just moving the steering wheel back and forth from about 9 to 3 o'clock positions.
i dont know how to post any audio clips on here so its in my dropbox and heres the link to it https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/.../Voice0007.aac check it out and let me know if it sounds like the squeaing u all heard or not. thanks

 

or not. well i drove the truck for a good 30-40 miles and the noise still exists so lubing all the pivot points and what not didnt help any. once the weather gets above 0 again imma crawl under there and try to pin point where its coming from.
but either way with this truck when repolacing the ball joint, the entire arm needs to be replaced apparently so either way ball joint or bushing, they both get replaced during the replacement of the arm/ball joint. correct me if im wrong on that.

 

Yes, it should be a one piece replacement on the upper control arm. It has the bushings already and ball join pressed in, all you have to do it unbolt and bolt in the new one.. get alignment afterwards. Just check the boots, and bushings.. if you see tears, cracks, or something like that.. it should be replaced.

 

yeah im pretty sure there is a torn boot or 2 under there. the truck has a bad case of rust underneath. the previous owner didnt care for the truck at all. so would it likely be the upper or lower that needs replacing or both?

 

It's possible both. If neither have been replaced and you can swing the cost, it might be worth doing both at once. I would recommend Moog brand.. or any that are serviceable (have grease fittings so you can add grease).

 

well its not really worth putting any more $$ into then need be so i wanna replace only the parts i have to which the arms alone are over $100 as is. i still gotta get under there and pin point the noise but its to cold outside and im without a garage.

yeah Moog would be my choice in brand for sure. its stupid how they make them nongreasable. its a major moving part... just another way to make a $$ off a guy. lol.

 

You don't necessarily have to replace both sides or all at once.. just replace the one or ones that are bad for now. You can just replace the ball joints, but you've got to get it out and press it back in.. a lot of work, but also a lot cheaper.

 

My 2002 is doing the same thing, exactly same noise, did you figure out what it was yet

 

yeah i know this.. and thats what imma do.

a lot of work or not.. it is possible to just do the ball joints? if its much cheaper and not as much involved (less parts to remove & replace) then ill probably try that.. if its to much of a pain ill just replace the whole setup i guess.


and scott1469 no i still have not solved this issue as of yet but will post my findings and what it was once i get er done.

EDIT: ok i think imma just go with replacing the entire lower control arm.

 

That s a lot more work than just doing ball joint, whole other animal

 

why would you replace the lower control arm? thats just dumb. If its a lower ball joint you can get it out in seconds once you remove things that are in the way then rent a press for free at an autoparts store to put it back in.

Upper control arms with serviceable ball joints aren't 100 a side unless you plan on throwing money away by purchasing them at a retail store. Get them off of Rockauto.com, the moog lifetime warranty still applies.

 

well my haynes, chilton manuals, and alldata auto repair 10.5 program all state.... "The ball joints on the Mountaineer, 1995-99 Explorer and 1998-99 Ranger are integral with the control arm. If the ball joint is defective, the entire control arm must be replaced. Refer to the appropriate control arm removal and installation procedures later in the section."
Mine being a 1999 Ranger, im led to believe thats the way it needs to be. but hell if u say i can do just the ball joint and loan a free press then im all for doing it that way definitely.

 

I would think it's the lower ball joint not the top

 

Yeah, that's not correct lol. I've had a 98, a 99, and an 04 and I've never swapped a lower control arm but all of them got new lower ball joints at some point.
The uppers, yes they need to be replaced. When I did the uppers on the 98 and 99, I switched over to the 01+ style passenger side control arm because the original was a 2 piece set up, I went over to a 1 piece. They're like $50 a piece on rock auto and once you have them, you can opt to just get a ball joint for the moog arm, since they're serviceable

 

Because EVERYTHING else on my truck is new. Lower ball joints, upper control arms, rack and pinion, inner and outer tie rods, and shocks. Sway bar is disconnected. Truck still makes a nasty squeak when getting in and out or turning.

You should see my lower control arm bushings. The rubber is dry rotted all over, and pieces are falling off now. So I bought new bushings, and pressed them into a spare set of lower control arm bushings.

I do NOT recommend wasting your time pressing new bushings into your lower control arms. Just pay the extra money for a new set. The savings aren't worth the hastle.

 

You're an exception lol.
I've never had the bushings squeak on any of my 3 trucks and the 98 sat for 2 years on dirt. Surprised it wasn't rotted to hell especially with the winters up here

 

My truck has been in Florida for all of it's life. Spent the first 7 years in south Florida. I imagine the heat has a lot to do with my bushings.

 

well i was able to get out there & check it out and im pretty sure it is the driver lower ball joint thats the culprit. i jacked up the driver side & pulled the wheel off and put a stand under the end of the control arm right under where the ball joint is and had a friend turn the wheel back and forth and there was no squeaking at all. im gonna get a new ball joint and loan a press for it and change it out & hopefully thats it.