Control arm bushing noise help

[996guy]

Hey all,
I have a 1983 SC coupe that has developed a super loud creak in the front end. The car is fairly new to me and I’m not sure what the PO may have done but I’m guessing the control arm bushings were “upgraded” to something that would stiffen the suspension up. I think I’ve isolated the noise to the control arm bushings. I can have someone push on the fender while I put my hand on the flange and the bushing and I can feel a chattering between them. I tried to spray them with silicone but it had no effect. I posted a video of the noise to YouTube, the first noise is pushing down and the last is me pulling up on the fender. Do you agree with my assessment? If so, what bushings do you recommend that will be quiet and hopefully cheap since I’m on a budget? Cheap is secondary to quiet, it’s driving me mad.
https://youtu.be/Xt_qg3qBlcE

Thanks for any advice!
Dave

[PeteKz]

Rubber will be the quietest and least expensive. You will need a lot of lubricant, and lubircating language, to get them in.

[996guy]

Sounds like you agree that’s my problem. Any specific brand you like, are the URO ok? Can I remove the control arm without removing the ball joint? Just remove the wedge bolt through the shock so I don’t have to buy the castle tool. The ball joints are solid so I wasn’t planning on replacing them.
Thx for the help!

[Trackrash]

It's a common problem on these older 911s. The bigger issue is it's actually the torsion bar that is rubbing that is making the noise due to the worn bushing. So inspect those torsion bars for wear.

The good news is the bushings are now available and it is not a hard job, relatively speaking, to replace them.

Now that you are in there you may also want to do the ball joints and strut inserts (shocks), sway bar bushings, and wheel bearings. Might also be a good time to bleed the brakes and check the pads.

[996guy]

Just did the pads and bleed. I’ll look at the rest while it’s apart. Any thought on the URO bushings?
Thx

[911obgyn]

Get the hard rubber Uro, if you go that way, i got standard and they deformed after a year. They offered to replace them but i still havent got round to it yet. Check to see if you have turbo tie rods it would be a good time to replace them if they are the original.

[PeteKz]

The biggest concern with the rubber bushings is how well they hold up (pun intended) over the long term. The original rubber bushings were very high quality rubber and lasted a long time because they stayed in their original shape and compliance, and stayed glued to the inner and outer cups--as many can attest who have removed them at great effort.

The bushings wear out in three ways: (1), they become detached from the inner or outer cups, and then wear due to friction; (2) the rubber gets compressed over time so that the spring plate collars displace upwards until they touch the steel cover; and (3) the rubber hardens and cracks with time, which leads to (1) and (2). Thus, the longevity of the rubber is really important, and unfortunately, very few aftermarket rubber parts of any kind (seals, gaskets, weatherstrip, etc.) match the OE material quality.

I don't have direct experience, because I went to the Rebel Racing bushings, but there was another thread last year in which someone talked about the Elephant Racing rubber bushings and they had been installed for some years and were still holding up. Search for that discussion.

Unfortunately, you can't tell anything about the inherent material quality by looking at or squishing the new bushings. You have to go on reputation and on others' experience.

[996guy]

Thanks for all the advice!
I found some paperwork that says it had ball joints and turbo tie rods recently. Any reason I can’t take off the control arms by removing the wedge bolt since I don’t have the castle tool?

[PeteKz]

Yes, you can take off the control arms by removing the wedge bolt. If the ball joints were replaced recently, that should be easy. If not, they can be really hard to separate.

[Dpmulvan]

Originally Posted by 911obgyn

Get the hard rubber Uro, if you go that way, i got standard and they deformed after a year. They offered to replace them but i still havent got round to it yet. Check to see if you have turbo tie rods it would be a good time to replace them if they are the original.

I tried the hard rubber uro ones and couldn’t get them installed, maybe I got a bad set.
Even with the proper tool and boiling water. Ended up in the trash.

[996guy]

Thanks guys. Great feedback. I'll try to tackle it this weekend if I can get the bushings here in time.

[996guy]

I got after it this am and ran into some issues/questions. I can't seem to remove the wedge bolt. I put a nut on the end of the threads and beat on it for a while. I'm worried if I bash on it too hard I might get into a bad situation. I also tried using a c-clamp to press it out. Nothing. Should I put multiple nuts on the threads and hit harder? Give up on the wedge bolt and buy the castle tool and remove the ball joint from the a-arm? Admit I'm over my head and pay somebody?
Also, It turns out even with the torsion bar removed the bushings still make the same noise. They appear to be poly bushings, I'm guessing that's the issue.

[GH85Carrera]

The poly bushing will always be noisy.

Elephant racing sells the new rubber bushings, and the tools to push them in. That is what I did.

An air compressor and an air hammer push out the wedge pin with ease. Look near the top, on the right of the forum, while on the main page of the forum, not in a thread. You will see "search this forum" and click that, and then do the Advance search. Just type in suspension bushings or whatever you want to search. It will find threads that match. Every possible suspension change has been tried, and in on the forum.

Good luck.

[996guy]

I ended up borrowing a ball joint tool. Definitely a pain to change out the bushings but got one side done and it fixed the noise.
Thanks for the search tips. Kind of a weird way to do it.