Tom

Tom,

Q I own a 2000 Ford Ranger with 64,000 miles. I hear a noise when the

front-end bounces (squeaking). I inspected the front end and found no loose
parts. Ball joints and tie rods are fine. I used a grease gun with a needle
fitting to inject grease into the ball joints’ rubber boots since they don’t have
any grease fittings. The noise went away. Does this mean the ball joints could
still be bad?

Tony—New    York    City

Tony,

A Yes, the vehicle might have a bad ball joint. You need to get it up on a

lift, unload the suspension, and properly check for looseness of the ball joint,
which involves shaking the wheels right and left and up and down. If there’s
excessive back and forth or up and down play when you check it, then the
ball joint socket is worn out and it should be replaced.