Apologies in Advance: Front suspension noise question

[jjeffries]

Hello All, this pertains to my 82 SC coupe with 190K miles. I know that whenever there's a question about a chassis noise, the right advice is to follow a process of elimination, maybe even borrow a set of Chassis Ears. I've already done a fair amount of that - will describe - starting with the obvious progressive emptying the frunk of all stuff and driving up and down a bumpy lane.

My lift has an immobilized project car on it that'll be there for a few more months (shameless plug: see my 87 924 story over in the 924/944/968 section), and I'm using the SC near daily, hence my search for any silver bullets.

The noise is a squeaky/slightly creaky/chirp from the RF. It was there before I did some front end work and remained after, unchanged. That work was Rebel control arm bushings (the alloy/Delrin-type jobs), new balljoints and stock sway bar bushings (since lubed). I did not remove the struts; they were rebuilt with Bilstein inserts maybe 40K miles ago under original ownership, but I don't see in the receipts that the strut-top bushings were replaced. Do those get squeaky? THIS is really my main question at this point. I have done the obligatory, hope-in-vain, wishful-thinking spraying a bunch of lube around the strut top, to no avail.

I don't believe it's from the hood seal/hood; or the bumpers/body. I did replace the trombone with a Carrera cooler but this predates that.

I kinda wince when I see a question like this; I'm a former dealer service manager and have many memories of us chasing noises for customers. That said, it's REALLY annoying - worse in hot weather, methinks - so if anyone else has experienced the same and discovered an effective fix, please advise.

Thanks, John

[JackMan]

subscribed, could it be those control arm bushing? Are they knew?

[Larmo63]

It isn't too difficult to drop the front shocks out and take a look. Something up in the shock tower may be amiss?

[RWebb]

under what conditions does it chirp?

straight? corners?

dive/squat?

what road speeds?

Delrin is notorious for noise and other problems...

[Bigtoe32067]

I’d vote strut bushings or struts since it seems like you replaced everything else.
Good luck
Tony

[Tremelune]

Could be anything. One thought is to buy a $100 GoPro and mount it such that you can see the suspension. Drive around and see if anything visual matches the time of the squeaks. Like so:

https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17855233121101323/

[jjeffries]

Tremelune, good point I'm talking 1980's tech (Chassis Ears) when we have little video cams with sound available all over now (GoPro, iPhone, etc). I'm a dinosaur.

RWebb: undulations in the road make it squeak/chirp; it has become "highly pronounced"

Larmo: agree, I likely need to just man-up undo the struts at the top and take a peek.

Tony: you likely know that I'm going to mention Stripes again, and Sgt. Hulka ... "our Big Toe"

It's funny, the SC has been so reliable and durable that my nose is a tiny bit out of joint that I need to give it some time and TLC.

I hereby promise to update this thread when I take some action to investigate further.

Thanks gentlemen,
John