Weird Squeaking Noises

[Raf99]

^^^ Agreed. Someone post a pic of a failed lower ball joint

[Accrdwgnguy]

Can't say I've had one that was bad out of the box. I used Dorman brand, cheap from local parts store with lifetime warrenty. Over 300k miles combined on all the Hondas I've owned over the years and not one suspension part failure on the road.

My 2 cents but definitely disagree with you here. The cheapest suspension parts are a serious safety hazard and have no business being on a car. On an "Ultrapower" brand tie rod end the stud was made of such low quality metal it wouldn't even torque to spec (which was like 30 ft-lbs) without stripping. On some UCAs, the ball joints were actually moving around in their cages, you could see the whole assembly wobbling around in there. These parts were brand new. Obviously no quality control whatsoever. If you have a upper ball joint break loose while driving it would not be good. Do yourself a favor and buy better parts. They are not that much more expensive.

[illinois_erik]

deeve had ball joint dust covers go bad with the car sitting static lol, i suspect the first set of no name ebay UCAs i got had the same manufacturer, the boot, bushes and joint were toast in 1200 miles.

the thing with parts suppliers even moog is theyll get a lot of say 10,000 pieces, 2500 of those will not be within their specs or QC parameters, so instead of scrapping them, they get sold, then you get your discount pieces and thats why sometimes youll have a cheap item die in 6 mo while the other one you bought at the same time is still good. theyre just called white box parts. ive gotten two items in the same packaging but varied wildly in quality, or the boots are different color/elasticity. it happens.

[Losiracer2]

The thing with the cheap china/mexico/taiwan parts is the quality of the rubber they use for the boots.

I bought some Autozone UCAs and Lower BJs and after 6months to a year, the rubber is already dry rotting and cracking, which will eventually get dirt in there and cause premature wear on the BJ causing it to fail.

If you go look at any early 2000s Acura/Honda, like I just did recently for a Hub over rotor setup, the lower balljoint rubber boot was still perfectly intact, just the joint itself was worn out over the course of the 250k miles the car accumulated.

So it pays to get good quality parts. You'll most likely never need to change them again, unless you tear the boot accidentally. Honda BJs aren't that expensive, I picked mine up for under 20 bucks at the dealer each. The UCAs will run a lot though since you'll pay for the bushings, metal A-arm and the BJ.

I keep with the Autozone ones since the UCAs only take me 10 min to change out, and I've got lifetime warranties. But lower, I'd only go Honda, not even Moog or Beck Arnley, I don't care how good they are, they always outsource and chances are high that you won't always get a quality part.

[masospaghetti]

Just wanted to throw this out there. Ball joints almost always fail due to contamination when the boot tears, not because of wear. If you see that the boot has failed (or has started to crack) but haven't driven on it extensively the joint itself is probably fine. You can get just the replacement boots on Amazon for about $10 and its a heck of a lot easier to change a boot compared to the lower ball joint. Just pack it up with grease, put the new boot on there, and good to go.

Here is the replacement for the lower BJ: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o04_s00

[oni_cb7]

OP stated that his car makes squeaking/squealing sound while turning the wheel.

However, not a single person mentioned to check the power steering pump (a known issue that causes these types of noises). Maybe I am missing something?

Or, maybe the OP needs to check his power steering pump as well.

[irelandmc]

OP stated that his car makes squeaking/squealing sound while turning the wheel.

However, not a single person mentioned to check the power steering pump (a known issue that causes these types of noises). Maybe I am missing something?

Or, maybe the OP needs to check his power steering pump as well.

Funny, that's the first thing I thought when I read the OP. "Sounds like a PS pump going bad/running low on fluid." If the sound goes away with the engine off = PS pump. If the sound stays with the engine off = suspension.

Or, pop the PS belt off and see if the sound goes away. Same result: no sound = it was the pump, still sound = suspension.