Front End Squeak Intermittent

[Bob & Sue 110]

Like the title says a couple weeks ago pulling into a parking lot I heard a squeak at just rolling to about 5 mph coming from the upper ball joint area. The complete front end has less than 500 miles on it all new Moog components it's a factory front end with new everything. Got it home by pulling up & down on the drivers side fender there was a squeak that sounded like a worn out upper ball joint. I greased everything checked all nuts and bolts still had a squeak. Yesterday I backed out of the garage to go up to classic front end shop no squeak got up there they went through all the tests I did couldn't find anything wrong no squeak. 

Later I went up to get some groceries drove over a speed bump it started squeaking again came out from the store drove about 1/4 mile no squeak got close to home squeak again pull in driveway NO squeak.

The shop and I have done every check possible for ball joints, bearings etc. 
Any ideas would be appreciated Squeaks drive me crazy.

[det0326 179]

Does it squeak when u turn the steering wheel?  I had a intermittent squeak in mine that turned out to be CPP steering box. Don't know if you are running aftermarket power steering or not. 

[1969_Mach1 333]

Common cause for that type of noise are the upper control arm bushings.  You mentioned a shop rebuilt the front suspension.  Did they replace the entire upper control arm assemblies?  On these cars the best approach is to replace the entire complete upper and lower control arm assemblies.  The reason I say this is: (1) It's mush easier to do, and (2) The upper control arm bushings thread into the control arm and the shaft.  However, the shaft has a very course thread and the control arm has a fine thread.  When replacing the upper control arm bushings the control arm often gets damaged beyond use.  My thoughts are the upper control arm bushings cut threads into a new control arm during installation and it's typically only works only one time.  Maybe somebody with a lot of experience can replace the upper control arm bushings.  I haven't been able to and have never seen it successfully done without destroying the control arms.

There are specific long 90 degree grease fittings for the upper control arm bushings.  If the shop installed those, you can try greasing those bushings.

It's also possible (but rare) the lower control arm bushings are squeaking.  This typically only happens if the pivot bolt was tightened before the car was sitting at on the ground at ride height which can cause the rubber bushing to break loose from either the inner or outer steel sleeves.

The easiest method to isolate the noise is have somebody bounce slightly on the front suspension while you listen to various suspension components with a stethoscope. 

[Rsanter 152]

Typical of the design on the upper control am shafts.

do you have the grease zerks on them? If so then pump them full of grease and keep them that way.

use hi temp quality grease that is sticky

poor design on fords part, someone needs to come up with an affordable update on these

 

bob

[JET 445 43]

I find the squeak is nearly always caused by the spring saddle bushes, squirt a bit of lube into the bushes and see if the noise goes away.

[Bob & Sue 110]

Thanks for all the suggestions. 

Upper and lower control arms are new with grease-able fittings. Everything on the front end was checked by myself & the suspension shop their specialty is classic cars they had 4 cars there getting new tires put on them no Mustangs 2 nice T-birds 56 concours car 61 show quality for Good Guys show starting today. 

The first thing he said when he put it in the air was somebody just spent a ton of money on this front end ( the PO ). Two guys looked at it for almost 45 minutes at no charge, they said drive it for a while when we put the new tires and rims on it we'll align it for $75.00.

I think I may have found the problem 2 fender to body bolts were loose tightened them no squeak now, we'll see later today at the Nostalgia Race & Show. 

GoodGuys Friday Nite Drags - Pacific Raceways : Pacific Raceways

[Guillaume69 150]

I have had this squeaking issue literally for decades now... Comes and goes. At one point, I thought it was affected by outside temperature, but then I get it in hot or cold weather. It depends.

I too completely restored my front end with quality parts (Moog), and I have my grease pump handy. But it keeps coming back...

I recently read that spring perches bushings can be the cause. And that roller bearing spring perches, in addition to improving overall handling, could be a fix to this squeaky mess.

So I pulled the trigger on these: http://www.virginiaclassicmustang.com/mobile/65-73-ROLLER-BEARING-SPRING-PERCHES-PAIR-P167809.aspx

I should receive them in a week or two. That'll be my next move in the squeaky department.

G

[Bob & Sue 110]

Please post the results and what you think of them.

Before I start throwing money at it I'll probably convert the front end to an aftermarket setup unless it's a simple fix like spring perches. This is just a weekend driver I was more concerned about safety from a failure at 60 mph than anything else. I've had a lower ball joint brake in a 55 Chev doing 40-50 mph it's one scary ride. 

[1969_Mach1 333]

Hard to believe a simple squeak as the front suspension moves is difficult to find.

Front suspension squeaks as it travels up and down are usually upper control arm bushings, spring perches, coil springs where they seat against the top of the shock tower, sometimes a bad shock.  Many like the stock rubber upper coil spring insulators.  The coil springs usually punch through them in a short amount of time and you end up with a metal on metal situation.  The polyurethane coil spring upper insulators hold up well but need a film of grease on them when installed using the synthetic lube sold for polyurethane bushings.  In a pinch, you can use anti seize compound on polyurethane.

Bob and Sue, don't throw your money away on an aftermarket suspension to fix a squeak.  If your squeak continues, invest in a stethoscope and listen for the squeak while somebody gently bounces the front suspension up and down.

 

[det0326 179]

1969-Mach1 you are right, squeaks are very hard to find sometimes. As I said my would squeak while turning the steering wheel.  Would also do it some when bouncing but I think it was because the wheels were turning slightly when being bounced. I chased this problem off and on dor weeks. could not put my hand on any component and say for sure this is it. Finally disconnected the CPP steering box and was definitely coming from the box internals.  

VID_20170712_150302 (6).mp4

[Bob & Sue 110]

18 hours ago, 1969_Mach1 said:

Hard to believe a simple squeak as the front suspension moves is difficult to find.

Front suspension squeaks as it travels up and down are usually upper control arm bushings, spring perches, coil springs where they seat against the top of the shock tower, sometimes a bad shock.  Many like the stock rubber upper coil spring insulators.  The coil springs usually punch through them in a short amount of time and you end up with a metal on metal situation.  The polyurethane coil spring upper insulators hold up well but need a film of grease on them when installed using the synthetic lube sold for polyurethane bushings.  In a pinch, you can use anti seize compound on polyurethane.

Bob and Sue, don't throw your money away on an aftermarket suspension to fix a squeak.  If your squeak continues, invest in a stethoscope and listen for the squeak while somebody gently bounces the front suspension up and down.to the upper spring insulators.

 

Well it's back had my neighbor that has had two Cougars come over yesterday with his help & stethoscope we were able to narrow it down to the upper coil spring insulators. We were able to pull inner fender coil cover off and sprayed it down with white lithium grease quieted it down immediately. For now I'm just going to drive it till fall then find a good aftermarket insulator.

Decided this car just doesn't have the return value to invest in a new aftermarket suspension. I bought it to drive occasionally not show or race. 

Will use the money to upgrade to a new Sanden R134 Upgrade Kit.

[jmlay 80]

Glad you found the issue!

I have a similar squeak in the front of my Lightning. if you ever put up hay you know the sound of a hay rack.... Searched forever & finally rebuilt the front end, everything but the springs. Long & short the issue is the powder coating has worn off the bottom of the coil springs causing the squeak. Oddly it only occurs when it is hot. HOT ids the season in texas right now but I have not herd the squeak yet this year. Guess I need to look for something wrong. :-)

 

[1969_Mach1 333]

Glad you found the squeak.  I ended up with Polyurethane insulators from Global West.  They offer them in several thicknesses and are easily available from Summit Racing and I think Jegs.  The 1/4" thick spacer would be closest in thickness to the stock rubber insulator.  Scott Drake has 3/8" thick urethane insulators.  They look nice and quality looks good.  However, they only fit stock springs and rarely fit over the shoulder inside the shock tower.  When I tried the Scott Drake upper insulators I had to warm them with a heat gun to get them to fit over the shoulder in the shock tower.  But then they would not fit my springs.  If you use a urethane or Polyurethane don't forget a film of the special synthetic grease.  Never know, maybe that's what is causing your squeak.  Good Luck.