when getting into car, sitting you hear the first squeak.
when turning the steering wheel to the left the squeel is very load. when driving in a straight line and going over small to moderate bumps/holes you hear a squeaking.
is this ball joint, tie rod, or spring?
how do I tell if its the ball joint or the tie rod?
it started about 12000 miles ago and has been getting worse.
what to do?
You pretty much describe the same problem here. http://community.cartalk.com/posts/list/2129500.page
Tester
Sounds more like a ball joint than a tie rod end to me.
I suggest taking the car to your mechanic and asking him or her to inspect the ball joints and the tie rod ends.
Then you’ll know for sure.
If you touch the different parts while an assistant jounces the car, the one with the strongest vibration is the offending part. The squeak is caused by a vibration of the dried out components rubbing against one another internally. It is either a ball joint or tie rod end, but definitely not a spring.
PS: Do NOT do this test with the car on a jack. Leave it on the ground or use a drive on lift.
My first suspect is usually a sway bar bushing due to rubber drying and hardening with age.
If the problem is a sway bar bushing that’s not a critical failure type of thing but more of an irritant.
Sometimes loosening the sway bar clamps and applying a little silicone based grease will fix them right up.