Here's what I'm hearing.

Large Bump or small bump. No difference.

Squeak squeak.

It is definitely coming from the front suspension somewhere, but I'm not sure where.

So give me the bad news. I'm guessing the lower and/or lower balljoints are about shot. The truck has 85k miles on it that have frequent trips through rough terrain. If so while I'm in there should I replace the tie rod ends, upper and lower ball joints? Or just the lowers?

If it is the ball joints, I know Moog has really good parts. It's a 2wd Edge, so can you point me in the right direction as far as a part number? I'll look around at Rock Auto and other places for the best price.

I'm relatively mechanically inclined. I've changed clutches, complete brake assemblies, axles (housing not shaft), leaf springs, etc...

I'm somewhat limited on tools. Would standard hand tools plus a few air tools do the job?

From my reading, I'll need to get an alignment, correct? Will I need one regardless of what I replace or just certain parts? Basically, if I only replace the lowers, will I need an alignment? I know if I replace the tie rod ends I'll have to.

Thank you in advance, I know it's a lot of reading but I need to make sure I have my information right.

 

Sounds like ball joints. On my '99, the sealed lower ball joint on driver side actually blew out and lost all the grease. As a temp. fix I bought a needle fitting for my grease gun and shot it up. A day later, no more squeak, squeak.

I jacked it up, set it on jack stands, and "wiggle" the tire back and forth to see how bad they were. They're fine still. I did though, buy the greasable Moog ones to replace them anyhow.

The lowers should come out pretty easy. Get the C-press tool from advance or autozone to press it out. Freeze the new ones at least hour, then pop them in.

Uppers, you may need the entire control arm??

 

Well I'll keep the needle fitting in mind. I haven't had a chance to check them recently, but I will soon. I'm hoping the upper's don't require the entire control arm, but if so then I guess the upper's will have to wait.

The process of replacing them doesn't sound to difficult. Pop old one's out and pop new ones in.

Still have a couple unanswered questions.

Did the lower's require an alignment?

Should I just start with replacing the lower ball joints and not tie rod ends or uppers?

Thanks again.
Also,