Annoying front end squeak

[treeneedle]

My '97 960 has a squeek in the front end, I will try to describe where it is coming from- the lower part of the suspension may be called the a-arm not sure, it is bolted and below the bolt there is a sleeve then a cotter pin. I have squirted all kinds of lube but no change. Can I remove the bolt then lube and put back together. Thanks for any help.
Don

[billofdurham]

The only cotter pin I can think of on the front end is #28 on the attached.

960 front axle spring support.pdf

(149.32 KiB) Downloaded 143 times

If that is the part that is squeaking you can remove the pin and nut but you may damage the ball joint when you are taking it apart. If you do take it apart without any further damage you should use a new nut and cotter pin on re-assembly.

Bill.

[treeneedle]

Yes Bill that's where the noise is coming from, today it was warm out so the noise was less or not at all. Do you think it is the ball joint or just the metal rubbing, can I take off the nut and spray with lube?

[billofdurham]

Spraying the metal will not eliminate the squeak as that shaft does not turn. I would suspect that the ball joint itself is worn. Ball joint wear usually shows itself at first as a clicking or snapping sound when the wheel is turned and eventually turns into a squeaking sound at the end of a stop, when the accelerator pedal is used and/or also when hitting bumps.

A quick way to check for wear in the ball joint is to jack up the wheel, grasp it top and bottom and move it up and down. Any wear will show as movement when you do this. It is not an infallible test but it may point you in the right direction.

Bill.

[treeneedle]

Thanks Bill I checked the wheel and there is no movement at all when I jack it up, the thing I find puzzling is that that noise disappeared yesterday when the weather was warm.
Don