my dodge truck has a screaching sound coming from the front end when i turn what is it possibly?

Question

figured it was a ball joint not sure would like to fix it myself if possible. hoping some one has had this problem before so i can get a decent answer

Answer 1

screeching?
When I had that I thought for sure it was something in the suspension, then I realized that it was my front brakes... they were shot!
Before you do any deeper digging... just take a look see how much (if any) meat you have on the pads. If they're okay, then it could be something in your steering rack or even your CV joints... but most likely, you would have heard them clicking before the screeching came about.

Answer 2

You might want to check the power steering fluid.

The hydraulic power for the steering is provided by a rotary-vane pump. This pump is driven by the car's engine via a belt and pulley. It contains a set of retractable vanes that spin inside an oval chamber.

As the vanes spin, they pull hydraulic fluid from the return line at low pressure and force it into the outlet at high pressure. The amount of flow provided by the pump depends on the car's engine speed. The pump must be designed to provide adequate flow when the engine is idling. As a result, the pump moves much more fluid than necessary when the engine is running at faster speeds.

The pump contains a pressure-relief valve to make sure that the pressure does not get too high, especially at high engine speeds when so much fluid is being pumped.

A power-steering system should assist the driver only when he is exerting force on the steering wheel (such as when starting a turn). When the driver is not exerting force (such as when driving in a straight line), the system shouldn't provide any assist. The device that senses the force on the steering wheel is called the rotary valve.

The key to the rotary valve is a torsion bar. The torsion bar is a thin rod of metal that twists when torque is applied to it. The top of the bar is connected to the steering wheel, and the bottom of the bar is connected to the pinion or worm gear (which turns the wheels), so the amount of torque in the torsion bar is equal to the amount of torque the driver is using to turn the wheels. The more torque the driver uses to turn the wheels, the more the bar twists.

Answer 3

If you have a loose power steering belt, it might run fine until you turn the wheel. The added drag of the pump working to turn the wheels could cause the belt to start to slip, causing a high-pitched squealing noise. Check the tension of your power steering belt, or serpertine belt if that's what your truck has.

Answer 4

turn on your truck, leave it in park turn the wheel all the way to one direction, if you hear the same noise then turn all the way to the other direction, still hear the noise then you either need power steering fluid or a new power steering pump. if it were ball joints it would knock rather than screech

Answer 5

Could be any number of things. Your questions doesn't have enuf info in it to possibly answer. Take it to a mechanic.

Could be:
- brakes
- something loose in wheel well (tire rubs on it when you turn)
- power steering - pump, low fluid, other
- tires

Answer 6

i had a similar problem with a 71 dodge truck and it was the cv joint and boot. is was really noisy with right turns

Answer 7

I go along with ragnorik. Your belt is loose and squealing when the pump needs power.

Answer 8

check your power steering fluid

Answer 9

power steering pump?

Answer 10

Make sure noone is stuck on the grill :)