2001 ranger front end loudly "Squeaking"

I have a base model 01 ranger. The front end "squeaks" every time I go over a bump in the road or hit a pot hole. The sound matches the bouncing of the shocks. A similar noise can be heard when I turn the truck to the left. The sound is more like a groaning and can be heard over 10 yards away! If you could imagine what leaf springs on an urestored muscle car would sound like you might have it.

My attempts: I began by replacing the shocks on the front end. Failure. I then slit the black boot running to the driver's hub. I sprayed the entire inner rod with WD-40. For about 10 minutes the truck quit squeaking when I turned the wheel. Then, the WD evaporated and the torture continued. So, I attempted using heavyweight gear lubricant. Failure, no help at all.

All I can figure is there is a teflon bushing where the rod comes out and it squeaks everytime the driver's tire moves.

Please help. I drive only when absolutely neccessary.


No, I don't have the car in the pic anymore I wrecked it and I'm broke.

Obviously it was not the shocks. Possibility could be the ball joints which I believe cannot be lubricated. However, it looks more likely that your problem is in the steering mechanism such as tie rods, etc. It may be worthwhile just to let a goo reliable front end mechanic take a look at this, otherwise you may land up trying this and that and costing you more money.

i had a squeaking in the front end also, sounds a lot like what you described. it ended up being the ball joints which are not greasable. The first time this occured i punctured the boot around the lower ball joint and filled the boot full of 10W-80 oil and sealed it up, i did that for both sides and the squeak was gone for a year until the joints completely wore out to the point of needing to be replaced. I would get it checked by a trustworthy mechanic to see if the joints are bad or just sqeaky as mine were. Good Luck

It was the lower balljoint up under the A frame. The boot was slit WD-40 applied and no more noise. I hope others will be able to benefit from this information.

Thanx 98XLT, wish I could have read your post before I drove 2 hrs to have someone look at the truck. Closest "trustworthy mechanic."

I hate to sound like a fink but I surmise that soon you are going to land up replacing the ball joints plus something else. However, if WD-40 works fine, more power to you. Good luck.