Lubing Sway Bar Bushings and other bushings - Bad front-end squeak

[saxtech]

Two months ago, I bought a 2003 Ranger with only 43,000 Miles on it. It was owned by the Federal Government and appears to be well maintained.

My problem is that the front suspension squeaks like crazy (it just started). I looked at the front sway bar bushings and they appear to be a pale yellow-ish color (or maybe beige color). Does this mean that the sway bar bushings were changed to polyurethane bushings ? Wouldn't the stock OEM bushings be Black Rubber ?

I'm not sure where the squeak is coming from.

Anyways, my questions:
What is the best way to remove and grease the sway bar bushings ? Should I get under the truck while raised up on ramps or do I need to jack the truck up and let the front wheels hang down before removing the sway bar bushing brackets ?

ALSO, would simply spraying all of the other bushings with a straw at the end of the silicone spray can get into the bushings or is spraying them ineffective ?

Finally, since I haven't crawled up under the truck yet, are there any zirk grease fittings that I should be looking for on a 2003 XLT 3.0 Flex Fuel ?

Step by step instructions would be appreciated before I tackle this on how to start eliminating the squeak. Please tell me an easy way to remove the sway bar bushings so I can grease them and does this yellowish color to the bushings mean that they were changed to polyurethane ? Do you guys have black color rubber bushings as OEM or are they also yellowish or beige in color ?

PS.....I bought a can of Silicone Spray Lube and a can of Lithium Grease Spray (Liquid Wrench Brand). Which one should I use ? I was planning on using dialectic grease and/or Teflon tape for the sway bar bushings.

Thanks everyone.
Gary

 

[Josh B]

They must all be off somewhere working on designs for the next new one, Gary, but I'm sure they'll be back in time, they always seem to find their way somehow

In the meantime I could only suggest a repair manual, available at most any parts place. I don't think the name much matters either, I have both Chilton's and Haynes for my Explorer and they have mostly the same directions and use the identical same photos.

When I first got my 93 Ranger in 06 I found a Ford Manual (on CD) on Ebay for little of nothing, maybe 6 - 10 dollars, and it's near priceless.
It is actually branded Ford, printed/stamped/burned by Ford, and covers everything in great detail.
However, when I got my 96 Explorer a couple months ago I also found a CD on Ebay, about $12, advertised as Ford, but it doesn't actually say Ford anywhere on the disc or in the programs, and is almost worthless, so be careful with those.

 

[sgtsandman]

The best way to lubricate the sway bar bushings is to remove the bushing from the bar, clean up the bushing and the bar, and use silicone grease on them. It is the only lube I have found that gets rid of the squeak 100% of the time.

As far as the rest, there will only be zurk fittings of the ball joints or tie rod ends have been changed. It is quite possible one of the ball joints is the squeak as well or by themselves.

Word of warning government owned doesn’t mean it was well maintained. Fleet vehicles, commercially operated or government operated, are treated and service like rented mules.

 

[Dirtman]

+1, I lather them with silly grease. Also my 09 came stock with poly bushing, not sure about an 03 but its probable that an 03 has them as well. No need to jack up the truck it's not under much if any tension. Just pull the bolts down and let the bar hang and then clean and grease the frame mount bushings. The end links I wouldn't worry about, if anything just squirt them with silly spray.

 

[cbxer55]

My 98 Ranger, when the front end was squeaking, it was the ball joints. Can't lube them if stock. I opted to get all new upper and lower arms with new joints with zerk fittings on them. Friend and I did the job July 4th weekend in 2018. In my experience, anti-sway bar bushings don't squeak. They just go bad and need to be replaced. Mine, I was missing two bushings on each side. Opted to go to Auto Zone and buy some of their Energy Suspension parts, new links entirely with red polyurethane bushings. Did the same for the Hellwig bar on the back since the bushings on it were shot as well, even though I put it on new in 2002. All you need do with the E.S. parts is get the set with the correct length link.

When I did the bar bushings and links on the front, I put a jack under the a-arm close to the ball joint, lifted it enough to remove the tire, replaced the parts, put tire back on and dropped. Rear bar, I put the axle on jack stands, removed both tires, swapped the end links, put tires back on and dropped. Easy-as-cake, piece-of-pie.

 

[black_demon69]

Antiseize on rubber or poly bushings works in my experience to stop squeeks (just a light coating)

Robot or human?

You can get a greasing needle that will puncture dust boot on ball joint to insert grease into a joint without a zerk fitting.

 

[sgtsandman]

While you are not wrong, that is only a temporary fix. If the ball joints are the issue, they are at the point that they need replaced.

 

[Curious Hound]

I unbolted my anti-sway bars and re-installed them on a shelf in my storage building. Haven't heard any more squeaks (from anti-sway bars) since that day.

 

[sgtsandman]

No wonder you are so unstable.

 

[cbxer55]

While you are not wrong, that is only a temporary fix. If the ball joints are the issue, they are at the point that they need replaced.

You aren't kidding brotha. You should have seen mine. Whew! Ugly! They'd been squeaking for awhile. Boots were already long gone. LOL!! I slopped grease all over them and nope, didn't stop the squeal. Finally just said hell with it and bought all new upper and lowers from NAPA. New tie-rod ends as well. One day job changing it all. Now have zerk fittings on all those parts as well. And silent!

 

[saxtech]

Thanks everyone for your help. I lubed the sway bar bushings and nothing changed (still squeaks badly when I bounce the front bumper up and down). So I took the Ranger to a guy who has been pretty honest with me for years and he said it was the ball joints. He said he'd change the upper control arms with new pressed in upper ball joints and new upper control arm bushings and change the lower ball joints only (not the lower control arms) for $350 labor PLUS parts. I'm gunna just have him do it and save me a headache. I'm just wondering if I should offer him more $ to change the lower control arm bushings also. This 2003 only has 43,000 miles on it. I'm afraid to hear how much more he will want to add the lower control arm bushings to the bill. I'm taking it to him Monday morning so no time to order the discounted parts online :-(

 

[Curious Hound]

In my opinion, I think he quoted a fair price for that work. I don't know if your lower bushings really need replacement or not. But if you ask him to do it, I am inclined to think he will still give you a fair price.

For you to do the work, you would need to buy the ball joint removal/installation tool, parts and spend the better part of a day doing the job. Then pay for a front end alignment. So, is his price fair in your mind, to relieve you of the cost and time of doing it yourself? I just did my own on my F150. But I already had the tool and I combined that project with installing a lowering kit and replacing the wheel bearings. So for me, it was worth doing it myself.

 

[Dirtman]

Let's all hug

 

[Curious Hound]

 

[Dirtman]

I'm the creepy one on the right...