Here's the symptoms. They started Sunday out of nowhere. When I turned the wheel left it had a small "creaking" noise and by the end of the day, it was a large noise either way the wheel is turned. Then on Mon I noticed that sitting in it caused considerable squeaking (up and down). Its so loud now that its hard to tell what parts are making the noise. 105,000 m and I'm sure that its all original. WHERE??? do I start?

 

Jack the front end up, turn wheels to locate said noise.

 

Could be: ball joint, tie rods, end links.....where to start is what he ^^ said.

 

try this - open the drivers door for a little added leverage and push up/down on the door to rock the cab back and forth. does it sound like this - squeak squeak squeak. if so, follow the auto trans linkage down from the firewall to where it makes a 90* turn to the rear. the nylon bushings on the end of that Z rod are probably dry or worn out. grease them with wheel bearing grease or lithium tube grease.

...or maybe ball joints...

 

I had the same squeak, it was ball joints on my truck. And man were they shot...

I would look good at the ball joints. If they're original then they are in need of replacement more then likely...

 

thanks for the starting point. ball joint upper decimated. ZLooking for a diy righy now

 

try this:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...placement.html

 

My ball joints were totally destroyed and they had to be torched out.

 

^ Same here.