C2 Front end squeaks

[Randy S.]

I had my front end rebuilt last month and today I heard squeaks coming from the front end. The rebuild on my 66 consisted of RUBBER control arm bushings, Moog upper and lower ball joints, RUBBER sway bar bushings and new Delco gas shocks. The only polyurethane bushings are the front swar bar links which are probably 5 years old and I had the shop reuse those.

I am sure the front bushings were torqued when the car was sitting on the ground as we discussed this before the repairs.

I visually inspected the control arm bushings and nothing obviously wrong or missing there.

Any suggestions.

Randy

[Edward J.]

Re: C2 Front end squeaks

Randy, Since you have used the old stablizer bar bushings,I would try to lube them up, dry rubber bushings will squeek over bumps, other wise the only other thing that comes to mind is the coil springs not sitting in there upper recesses correctly.

[Randy S.]

Re: C2 Front end squeaks

I used the NCRS style upper control arm bushings that have the rubber extension on the end facing the shaft. Are these prone to squeeking on the control arm shaft?

If I understand the bushing operation correctly there is no rubber to metal sliding surfaces.

Randy

[Edward J.]

Re: C2 Front end squeaks

Randy, If you think the noise is in that area, ,just push up and down on the car and watch the bushings to make sure the rubber sleeves are not rotating in the outter housing, There suppose to be molded together but somes times on the install the sleve will break loose from the rubber.

My last post I talked about the sway bar bushings if there dry It makes a rubber cruching noise.I hope I explained myself okay. Ed

[John H.]

Re: C2 Front end squeaks

If I understand the bushing operation correctly there is no rubber to metal sliding surfaces.

Randy

Randy -

There is no sliding or relative motion of any kind between either the bushing and the shaft or between the bushing and the control arm; the center sleeve of the bushing is locked solid between the bolted retainer washer at the front and the step on the shaft where it seats at the rear, the outer sleeve is locked solid in the hole in the control arm, and the rubber element in the bushing is bonded solid to the OD of the inner sleeve and to the ID of the outer sleeve. All up-down movement of the control arm occurs solely within the rubber element; that's why it's critical to torque the bolts at both ends of the shaft with the suspension at normal ride height, so there's no torsional stress on the rubber unless the car is in motion.

[Bill M.]

Re: C2 Front end squeaks

Pull the end links (both) from the sta. bar. See if that fixes it.

[Randy S.]

Re: C2 Front end squeaks

Pulled the polyurethane sway bar links and the squeak is still there. That leaves either the control arm bushings or the springs

The soumd seems more pronounced from from the driver side. How do I determine if the springs are seated correctly? I looked at the drain hole on the bottom of the A Arm on the driver side the spring end is covering the hole, therefore I assume seated correctly. On the passenger side the spring is just short of the drain hole, maybe anther 1/2" of rotation to seat like the driver side.

Or is the bottom spring end orientation irrelevant and I should be looking at the top of the spring?

Randy

[Randy S.]

Re: C2 Front end squeaks

Or is the bottom spring end orientation irrelevant and I should be looking at the top of the spring?

Randy

Never mind! Searched the archives ( should have done that first) and found that spring orientation is determined by the top spring stop.

Randy

[Edward J.]

Re: C2 Front end squeaks

Randy, The upper spring part of the spring can sometimes not be seated correctly, there are about 4 tangs on the upper part of frame that the spring seats into and centers the spring in the tower. see if you can get a light and take a peak at the spring.What sometimes happens is when it not seated correctly the spring will rub the tower of the frame. Ed

[Bill M.]

Re: C2 Front end squeaks

I too have heard of the spring rubbing the frame. That is the next thing to look for.

Two more thoughts:

Did you grease the ball joints? (easy)

Is one of the bushings spinning in the control arm (bushing outer sleeve not holding tight to the arm)? (not so easy)

[Randy S.]

Re: C2 Front end squeaks

Thought I'd advise the final outcome on my squeaking front end.

Bill M was right. Turns out the ball joints weren't lubed sufficiently. I took the car to a different shop even though my original mechanic said he greased the ball joints. New shop also advised me one of my upper ball joints wasn't a Moog joint even though I saw it came in Moog packaging at the original shop. Go figure!!

Thanks for all the tips

Randy

[Terry M.]

Re: C2 Front end squeaks

Randy, sometimes something goes wrong with the install (more likely on the loser ball stud, but who knows?) and another part needs to be sourced from the most convenient place. Stuff happens.

[Edward J.]

Re: C2 Front end squeaks

[QUOTE=Randy Swartout (39156);623879]Thought I'd advise the final outcome on my squeaking front end.

Bill M was right. Turns out the ball joints weren't lubed sufficiently. I took the car to a different shop even though my original mechanic said he greased the ball joints. New shop also advised me one of my upper ball joints wasn't a Moog joint even though I saw it came in Moog packaging at the original shop. Go figure!!
Thanks for all the tips



Randy, being in the automotive trade I use moog parts at my shop. and from what I have seen in todays market the reboxing of parts seems to be a common practice. It would not surprise me Moog maybe doing this, Our Corvettes or old and the manufacters maybe be out souring more parts that are not fast movers. Ed