Light Racing UCA Ball Joints

[CXS]

I recently replaced my worn out Old Man Emu suspension with a new one properly sized for my truck as it is now. Nice to have the lift back but my front end is squeaking like an old rail car. It's hard to narrow down exactly where the noise is coming from but it seems like it's the ball joints of my LR UCA's. I suspect the new setup may have transferred weight to the UCA's simply because it seems to make sense. i.e., replace an old part with new moves the stress to a new location?

Anyone have this happen? I'm not interested in hearing about better UCA's or complaints about this brand. I have them and they've been fine until now and I can't afford a whole new setup. The bearing are around $50 each which is not bad.

TIA!

 

[LTDSC]

When I had my spc arms they squeaked often at the bushings and the bj.

 

[afalex1]

Grease the sway bar bushings first. Might be a cheaper and easier fix. They typically squeak first.

 

[CXS]

My sway bar bushing are new, I disconnected it to eliminate it as a problem. No change with it disconnected.

 

[CruzadoBlanco]

My sway bar bushing are new, I disconnected it to eliminate it as a problem. No change with it disconnected.

depending on how old the arms are you might have one of the old revisions that tend to dryout and bind at the bushings which causes squeaks and then causes the arm to fail fully. you should pull the arms off and grease them. my LR balljoints lasted all of 10k miles but never made any noise except for the occasional pop when they got real bad.

 

[CXS]

Interesting, I have the good bushings and this noise is bad. These have been on for probably 40K right now. I haven't determined if it's the UCA or the lower ball joint yet.

 

[RaceTRaCk]

I went thru my first LR ball joints in 10 months due to play. I replaced them and its been fine for a few months. I too have at squeak as well, I believe my its from the LR bushings as the noise is higher up on that area. I only get it when both tires go over a speed bump at the same time however.

 

[having fun]

My LBJ's did the same thing, changing the spot they normally riding on would be my guess.
I would upgrade the bushings while your at it also, you'll be surprised the difference in the ride there.

 

[Greydog]

My LCA ball joints were horribly squeaky, happened very quickly. I tested the theory by spraying wd40 into the joint and the noise immediately went away.

Does it make the sound more when turning or more when the suspension is only moving up and down but wheels are straight?

Mine was screeching mostly when turning, was the lower BJ.

 

[CXS]

Mine was screeching mostly when turning, was the lower BJ.

Yes, that's what's happening. I'm leaning towards the LBJ as they're original with 185K and I upgraded the bushings to the "good" ones.

 

[CXS]

Now I'm really confused. I went for a drive to try to identify the noise and it's completely silent. WTF!

Edit: Okay, that turns out to be pretty common indication of ball joint failures.