Squeaky sound....???

[Dr. Jerryrigger]

So my girlfriends 89 Toyota Cressida is making this squeaking sound when it drives over bumps, coming from the front wheels (it's rear wheel drive). It sounds like a dry ball joint but a higher pitch (though I've only heard that on a small truck, so it might sound the same for this car).
The sound had no relation to turns, just bumps in the road. It only seems to happen when going over 25mph. I cant reproduce it by jumping on bumper while parked. It seems to be happening independently on both sides i.e. pothole on left make sound on left wheel, pothole on right make sound from right wheel.

So I assumed it was a dry ball joint, and popped a little hole in the boot, so I could spray some white lithium grease in it (only one one side of car). Oil squirted out, so it was clearly not dry, adding the thinner grease didn't make the problem go away either. So now I really should replace that boot I put a hole in... But I still don't know what could be making this sound... and how dangerous it may be.

[GasSavers_Erik]

Does it have a front anti sway bar? Those rubber isolation bumpers can crack and fall out leading to rattling/squeaking when going over bumps.

I also have seen the upper tin strut dust shield come loose and rattle.

Maybe you could purposely brake while you are hitting a bump and see if that changes the noise- then go from there.

[Dr. Jerryrigger]

Originally Posted by Erik

Does it have a front anti sway bar? Those rubber isolation bumpers can crack and fall out leading to rattling/squeaking when going over bumps.

I also have seen the upper tin strut dust shield come loose and rattle.

Maybe you could purposely brake while you are hitting a bump and see if that changes the noise- then go from there.

It has a anti-sway bar, but I would expect a problem there to also make sound while cornering hard (I have tried it, only squealing from tires ). I also didn't notice anything out of place there on a quick visual inspection.

Also tried brakes, I'd say no change, though I'm not 100% happy with that testing.

I was thinking it could be control arm bushings... But I also know nothing about strut dust shields... or struts.
It has to be something that would go bad on both sides from 22 years of live (and only 75K miles). It would seem logical that it's something like the sway bar that's connected to both sides, but the sound only comes from the effected side.

[trollbait]

When the anti-sway bar linkages on the HHR started making noise, it was while only going straight.

[Dr. Jerryrigger]

Originally Posted by trollbait

When the anti-sway bar linkages on the HHR started making noise, it was while only going straight.

Interesting, I'll have to look into that. I hope that's it, so I don't have to fix anything . Though I likely will, as it's not my car.