Cweaver016

I have a 11' XLT 5.0 4x4 off-road with about 60k. This morning after passing the security gate at work with the window down noticed a squeak coming from my front suspension area. After work still did it so tried shifting into 4x4 the sound went away. It was a squeak but got louder as I gained speed but went away after 25-30 mph. What could be the cause of that? The whole way home after going into 4x4 never heard it again. See if it's there in the morning. Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

kobayashi maru

Does it squeak only over bumps or during normal driving? Can you reproduce it by bouncing on the vehicle from the outside? Noises can be hard to localize but since it's a squeak the first thing that comes to mind are bushings and ball joints.

Cweaver016

Haven't tried bouncing it yet. But just normal driving. I live down and around a lot of dirt roads I'm thinking it's a wheel bearing. But could be wrong I'll try bouncing on it to see if it's a ball joints or arms.

Thestronk

Had wheel bearing go in my 12 with only 33k miles. That'd be my guess based on limited info.

Cweaver016

Sounds good. How much did it run to fix it?

kobayashi maru

If it is the wheel bearing I believe you'll need to buy an entire hub assembly which isn't too expensive. There's another thread around here on that topic. However, in my experience bad wheel bearings typically don't squeak. They tend to hum, womp or grind faster with wheel rotation.

Actually I noticed a squeak-like noise coming from my rear suspension earlier today though. Heard it more than once. It sounds almost like a squish or an airy sound along with the squeak.

[edit] Check out this TSB

Vehicle: 2012 Ford F-150
Nature of Defect: SUSPENSION:REAR:SHOCK ABSORBER
Bulletin Number: ASI-44421
NHTSA Number: 10055638
Bulletin Date: Feb 2014
Summary:
FORD: ON SOME TRUCKS, THERE IS NOISE (CHIRP, CLUNK, BOOM) COMING FROM RIGHT FRONT REAR SHOCK ABSORBER, WHEN TRAVELING OVER SHARP, SMALL BUMPS (POTHOLES, FROST HEAVES OR EXPANSION JOINTS, AND MORE APPARENT DURING COLD TEMPERATURES. MODEL 2 ( NHTSA ITEM NUMBER - 10055638 )