Front right suspension squeak

N

Newblue

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Franklin, Indiana
Got a front right suspension squeak/creak that is hard for me to pin down. 2000 V6. It makes a loud creak when hitting bumps or turning the steering wheel or even when braking and releasing the brakes. I have replaced the lower ball joint and the upper control arm/ball joint. Seems like when I put the car on the lift (2 post lift so the suspension sags) the noise will go away for a day or so then come back. Would this be the outer tie rod end, lower control arm bushings, shock?
 
Look for torn boots on the contol arm bushings. Spray each pivot point with some lube... one at a time,,, on all suspension parts and take a short drive with each individual one you spray. Lower shock mounts too. It's a process of elimination. You could also check for proper bolt/nut torque on all the components.
 
04_Sport_LS said:
You could also check for proper bolt/nut torque on all the components.
Click to expand...

I replaced a bunch of stuff on my front end as well, and it was making similar sounds on the way to the alignment. Mechanic's told me some of the bolts were loose (even though I torqued down to spec). I was told I should have re-torqued the nuts after a quick test drive as things will move around a bit from settling.
 
112 LS said:
Mechanic's told me some of the bolts were loose (even though I torqued down to spec). I was told I should have re-torqued the nuts after a quick test drive as things will move around a bit from settling.
Click to expand...

Yeah. The nuts are nyloc type, but after removal and install they tend not to "loc" anymore. I used blue loctite on all the nuts during install. That worked until the alignment was re-done. Then guess what had to be re-done.???

Don't buy the auto parts version of the blue permatex thread locker. It's too thin. Look for the true "Loctite" brand 242 thread locker. It costs more for less but works better and is thicker. Shake before using.

Don't use the red or green version. They are too hard, and make it too difficult to get things back apart if you need to.
 
Something else you may want to check is the bolts/nuts that hold the steering rack to the sub frame. They can work loose and should be torqued to 76 ft-lbs. Symptom of the steering rack would be the vehicle wandering on the road,,, and having to constanly correct it.
 
Just wanted to follow up on this. Turned out to be a bad lower ball joint. I had replaced this ball joint with a Moog one and it made the same creak as before so I was sure that it was not the sound. I got fed up with the noise and pierced the ball joint boot then lubed with lithium grease in a spray can. All is quiet now. I have another new ball joint waiting for me to install when this one starts making noise again.
 
Did you have the joints pressed into your existing spindle? I've heard this can/has caused problems for others.
 
Used a Snap On ball joint press

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Newblue said:
Just wanted to follow up on this. Turned out to be a bad lower ball joint. I had replaced this ball joint with a Moog one and it made the same creak as before so I was sure that it was not the sound. I got fed up with the noise and pierced the ball joint boot then lubed with lithium grease in a spray can. All is quiet now. I have another new ball joint waiting for me to install when this one starts making noise again.
Click to expand...
I had a similar issue with a front end creak when I would brake and then start moving again. It turned out to be a noisy ball joint. I poked the boot with a grease needle and pumped some grease in the boot. It has been dead quiet for over a year. I had sprayed stuff in there but it seems as the actual grease from a gun works better and lasts longer.
 
rgorke said:
I had a similar issue with a front end creak when I would brake and then start moving again. It turned out to be a noisy ball joint. I poked the boot with a grease needle and pumped some grease in the boot. It has been dead quiet for over a year. I had sprayed stuff in there but it seems as the actual grease from a gun works better and lasts longer.
Click to expand...

I install a lot of aftermarket ball joints on Jeeps that have grease fittings on them. I wish I could get ones with grease fittings on them for the LS
 
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