Suspension Squeaks and Creaks

jchadscud

jchadscud

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Dallas, TX
Did some searching and found some good reads, but still have a few questions.

I get random squeaks and creaks from the front end at low speeds when going over small bumps in the road. I have discovered that there are two schools on this. 1) Let it be and 2) Drive yourself crazy trying to eliminate the noise. I have a RE 3.5" lift with from what I can tell are all polyurethane bushings. It was greased initially on purchase by a mechanic (good Jeep engine guy, but not great at modified suspensions), inspected and greased by 4 Wheel Parts (hope they know what they are doing) and then a few months later I climbed under there and made sure that the boots were full and that grease was flowing out of any that didn't have boots with Lucas Red n Tacky.

After I greased, no noise for a few days, but then it popped back up on the front passenger side. This one has stuck around awhile. I suspect it is in the lower control arm.

Is it better to go with rubber bushings if I'm wanting a quiet suspension and won't be offroading much? Anything differently I should be doing with greasing the poly bushings? OCD doesn't allow me to just let it go! Thanks for the help!
 
Im the same. Tough dealing w clanking or creeks and squeaks. Unfortunately, we’re probably expecting too much because moving parts are likely and often expected to make some noise. The only thing I hear now and again are the ball ends of my stabilizer links moving. In that case, I sprits them with CRC0626 or Fluid Film and it silences them for quite a while.


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Haven't ventured into the anti-corrosion sprays yet. Are they dual use as a lubricant? Do you spray them on the bushings?
 
jchadscud said:
Haven't ventured into the anti-corrosion sprays yet. Are they dual use as a lubricant? Do you spray them on the bushings?
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Fluid Film, I spray anywhere, except the exhaust. The other inhibitor, I’ve only used it on my frame and inner body / tub holes. Im not sure how it’ll do on rubber. I’d imagine its best to kept it clear of my bushings and plastics, in general.


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Urethane tends to do that after awhile. I don't think it hurts anything, but it can drive you nuts. Can you take it all apart and clean it, then regrease it? Get the old grease and crud out, it might help for awhile.
 
I’d like to take everything apart and clean for sure. Anything I need to be mindful of when disassembling these parts? I am definitely a rookie when it comes to the mechanical side.


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One of the many reasons I don't like poly bushings is that no matter how much you grease them, they always seem to creak, groan, and make all sorts of annoying noises. Because of that, I will never run poly bushings again on any vehicle.

So, what you're experiencing is actually normal behavior from poly bushings.

In addition to that, part of the issue is that you have a lifted Jeep with big tires, and these things simply aren't good at keeping most road noise out of the interior (not as good as say a brand new Lexus or something). So some of it you just have to live with. Even mine with the 4" Currie lift still makes creaks and what not from time-to-time. Nothing to be alarmed about, but you know what I mean. I just learn to live with it.
 
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Good read, thanks for posting that! I like how simple they make it sound to eliminate the squeaking. Maybe that works on race cars, but not on my Jeep!


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There's many of us who won't run poly for this reason, I know @Jerry Bransford is one of them. After experiencing poly bushings in some of my previous BMWs, I said I would never run them again in any car I owned. Way too noisy for my taste.
 
Is it possible for a shop to swap out any poly for a rubber with the right equipment or would I be looking at buying a new lift?


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jchadscud said:
Is it possible for a shop to swap out any poly for a rubber with the right equipment or would I be looking at buying a new lift?


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Click to expand...

Depends on the size of the bushings. If the control arms use a factory style bushing (meaning the hole is the same size) then they could swap factory bushings in there. I'm not sure if this is possible for all of the bushings, but it should at least be possible for most of them.
 
Chris said:
Depends on the size of the bushings. If the control arms use a factory style bushing (meaning the hole is the same size) then they could swap factory bushings in there. I'm not sure if this is possible for all of the bushings, but it should at least be possible for most of them.
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X2 on that. There are also some lubricants formulated specifically for polyurethane which is notorious in some formulations for being very squeak prone. Here are some sold by Amazon.... https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=polyurethane+lube&tag=wranglerorg-20

It's natural that Daystar and Energy Suspensions would be the primary resellers of polyurethane lubes as they push polyurethane products that tend to squeak.
 
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Thanks Jerry. Passenger front has been going on for 2-3 weeks now. Before moving to rubber bushings, I’m thinking of trying some of the poly specific lubricants you posted.

Has anyone out there had success with these?


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