I've done a search, but only came up with WD-40...

I'm actually asking on behalf of a friend who drives an F-150. His front end (stock suspension) squeaks horribly; while turning, going straight, and over low-speed bumps. We've discussed lubricating all of the bushings, but haven't done anything yet.

I've heard to use WD-40, bearing grease, or silicone spray. I've also heard arguments against using all of the above. Aside from taking the front end apart and individually greasing the bushings and such, what would you all recommend to shoot on the bushings in an attempt to alleviate the noise?

 

white lithium grease, they sell it in spray cans.

 

ugh you may need new balljoints to stop the problem

 

That's certainly not any fun. I'll try the lithium grease first, but it very well may be the ball joints. If it comes down to that, I'll stay out of it and let my buddy take the truck to a shop.

I'm not too sure if the ball joints have grease fittings - if they did, we wouldn't have to replace the ball joints. At least not yet. I'm guessing that they are not greasable...

 

dont worry about the balljoints. i had same problem.
im guessing you have cranked tbars right?
I did and i ended up turning them down alittle bit because of this. The upper control arms could possibly be loose. check those. also the tie rod bushings are most likely really dirty and need to be regreased along with other bushings. thats what i did and all fixed!

 

It's actually on my buddy's F-150. 2WD, so its got coils. I haven't looked at it yet, but he says it's a lubed-for-life chassis.

I will however, check the upper control arms to make sure that the bolts are tight. And they will get a shot of lithium grease while we're under the truck.

 

I had that problem.
It was the tie rod that was making the noise.

It skueaked when turning and basically whenever the suspension moved?

I added a grease fitting to mine and it worked.

 

That's exactly what's happening. I don't know if he's got the sack to put a grease fitting on the tie rod, but that's what it needs.

 

Its most likely your balljoints. If you do quite a bit of off-roading you will eventually break the rubber boot on he joints and get sand and other junk in there that will dry out the grease and make it squeek. Replacing the balljoints on my truck was easy, but my friends full-size was a bit more difficult. Just look at the balljoint itself and see if there is anything you see that doesnt look right or take some pictures, that will help everyone out to decifer the problem.

Justin

 

I would try to lube up the tie rod before i changed tha ball joints.

 

We'll try the tie rods first. If that doesn't quiet the suspension gremlins, we'll look at the ball joints. From everything that has been contributed on this thread, I'm about 99% certain that it's either tie rods or ball joints.