Squeak/shake in steering...Ball joint replacement...lower or upper?

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When going over bumps id hear a clunk and the steering feels loose. Now when the car dips i hear kind of a squeak, and the same thing when I turn the wheel left or right. I can really hear it while sitting in place and turning the wheel. Sounds like the driver side.

Trying to avoid replacing both for now if possible...could it just be the lower? Or does the upper go bad at the same time?

I am going to check when I get access to a jack and pull the wheel off so I can take a look at the lower, but how do you know if the upper is bad?

Ball Joint Squeak - YouTube

This is what it sounds like when I turn the wheel.
 
You can check the upper ball joint by jacking the car, hands at 12/6 on the tire, move it in and out. You can look at the joint and see it moving if it has play
 
dNyce LS said:
You can check the upper ball joint by jacking the car, hands at 12/6 on the tire, move it in and out. You can look at the joint and see it moving if it has play
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I noticed you in the old threads about bad ball joints. I am actually near Baltimore also. lol
 
What area are you? Im between towson, hunt valley, all the way to essex middle river
 
I live in westminster, but im at work in Hunt Valley right now. Just drove the car to lunch hoping the wheel didnt fall off lol

Think im gonna park it until I get it fixed and get a ride into work, it has been worrying me a bit.
 
i used to work at the goodyear auto shop in hv. I work down in towson for the time being
 
Thats cool. You work like 10 mins or so from me then. So if you see me spinning out of control in a blue LS, lend a hand. lol

Did you have to replace your lowers?

You do it yourself?
 
Yes, i have replaced both lowers, and the passenger upper. Did the upper myself. The lowers i took everything apart, then had one of the techs press the old joint out and the new one in, then i put it back and aligned it. I usually do all my own work on my car, except that transmission it recently got
 
dNyce LS said:
Yes, i have replaced both lowers, and the passenger upper. Did the upper myself. The lowers i took everything apart, then had one of the techs press the old joint out and the new one in, then i put it back and aligned it. I usually do all my own work on my car, except that transmission it recently got
Click to expand...

Did both lowers and the one upper go out at the same time?

so far it SOUNDS like the passenger side lower, which seems to be the most common rather than the upper, but I guess I wont know until I pull the wheel off. Trying to save as much money as I can so if its just the one lower, thats all I want to replace for now.

Im not great with this stuff but should have a friend to help. Was gonna rent the press or take it to a shop like you did for the pressing.

You had the same squeak as the video I posted above?
 
Its cool rell lol

No, all 3 did not go out at once. The two lowers had minute play since i bought the car in 08. Used to have heavy 20s on the car.

I replaced both lowers at the same time. Then did that upper control arm(with ball joint) maybe a year later. The lowers just made a hollow sound over bumps. The upper had a grinding sound
 
OP the sound could be the intermediate shaft. i never listened to it from that angle but i bet it would be the same/similar sounding
 
jrand said:
OP the sound could be the intermediate shaft. i never listened to it from that angle but i bet it would be the same/similar sounding
Click to expand...

Would this also account for the shake and "loose" steering feeling?

I should be getting a jack today or this weekend so I can check the ball joint for play
 
that i dont know; my intermediate shaft only makes the noise sometimes (usually when its cold) and only at certain points in the steering motion. but someone posted a video where theres squeked throughout the steering motion. i do not have any loose/shaking issues, just a sound very similar to the one i heard from your video. a shot of wd40 on the u-joints for the intermediate shaft gets ride of the sound temporarily. you may have a shaft issue and a suspension issue.
 
jrand said:
that i dont know; my intermediate shaft only makes the noise sometimes (usually when its cold) and only at certain points in the steering motion. but someone posted a video where theres squeked throughout the steering motion. i do not have any loose/shaking issues, just a sound very similar to the one i heard from your video. a shot of wd40 on the u-joints for the intermediate shaft gets ride of the sound temporarily. you may have a shaft issue and a suspension issue.
Click to expand...

Yeah the shaking and the loose play combined with the noise and clunk going over bumps leads me to believe it is a ball joint issue instead of what you are saying.

I am going to check the ball joints and tie rod ends by this weekend. Hopefully get the Moog parts ordered so I can get it back on the road.

Scared to drive it now after I looked at broken ball joint pictures.
 
Idk how close your area is to middle river, but i have a jack if you wanted to ride out there. Or i can throw it in my rental and meet with you tomorrow on my lunch break. just a thought
 
Right now my car is parked in westminster and I been grabbing rides to work cuz I dont want something to break off. From where I work in hunt valley middle river is like 30 mins, so Id imagine from westminster its like an hour. From my work to your work should be pretty close though, if you work in towson.

I will keep that in mind though since you have experience with it, but I should have a jack by the weekend
 
Re-reading this thread now you got me worried about the uppers. You said there was a grinding sound, which I hear when I am first braking, but it goes away, its just when i first start driving and braking.

The clunk and everything was pointing toward lowers, but that initial grind has me curious now. Ahhh
 
No need for a jack now, just spoke to my mechanic, hes gonna throw it on the lift and tell me whats wrong. Rather have him do the work, its cold out and I am not the best with this stuff, but money is tight right now. So I will see what he quotes me, maybe source the parts myself from Rockauto.com
 
Update for anyone who cares. Both my ball joints were apparently going out. He said they both looked like they could fail at any minute but the drivers side was worse.
 
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