Front suspension creak

[Alex86911]

Hi Guys, I was out driving on the weekend and started to notice a creaking from the front left of my 86 carrera coupe. It almost sounds like rusty metal creak, almost like a gate. I can duplicate it by bouncing the car, but it does not do it turning the wheels.

I did a bit of searching and it seems the most likely cause would be the a-arm bushings, causing the torsion bar to rub the inside of the a-arm.

My question for you guys is what bushings to use? The car is strictly street/daily so comfort is important.

Also, is this a fairly straight forward job? Something I can do at home? How long would something like this take?

Lastly, I read a bit about putting a small spot weld somewhere to help center the torsion bar? Can someone explain this a little better for me?

Thanks for all the help!

[GH85Carrera]

The Elephant Racing folks are your answer. The bushing are available right from Pelican. The bushings come with the installation tools. It is fairly simple to do but not a breeze by any means.

There a LOT of "While I am in there" things to do. When my torsion bars started to rub I ended up doing a complete rebuild of the suspension. I stuck with the stock style rubber bushings from Elephant. I did my T-bar bushings, new t-bars since the old ones were rubbing, new shocks, new ball joints, new turbo style tie rods, and I rebuilt the steering rack, and new stabilizer bushings.

Then I did the rear end.

It made a huge improvement in the way the car handles.

Oh, and "while I was in there" I rebuilt the calipers and replaced the rubber hoses and all new shocks. All of those parts were OEM and pretty worn out.

[Chuck.H]

>>I did a bit of searching and it seems the most likely cause would be the a-arm bushings, causing the torsion bar to rub the inside of the a-arm.

Another possibility is the torsion bar adjusters (the teardrop looking things) wear into the crossmember and also allow the bars to rub. This happened early on to my car (at under 50k miles) and all I did was put thin steel sheet metal shims under the adjusters, they have been there ever since.

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 339k miles

[tonythetarga]

If you can make it squeek by pushing down on it, it probably is the ball joint. It takes a lot to twist a torsion bar and pushing down on the car manually doesn't usually generate enough force to twist steel. It sure sounds like a ball joint that is rusted inside and needs replacing.

[will hung]

Your car is old enough that the bushings are toast. I used Elephant's OEM replacements. Pretty easy to install with their tool. They have a how-to video on YouTube showing how to install them. They have a link to the video on their website.

[Quicksilver]

Originally Posted by tonythetarga

If you can make it squeek by pushing down on it, it probably is the ball joint. It takes a lot to twist a torsion bar and pushing down on the car manually doesn't usually generate enough force to twist steel. It sure sounds like a ball joint that is rusted inside and needs replacing.

Any vertical movement twists the torsion bar. The t-bars are a spring so there can't be any vertical movement without twisting the bar.

Back to the OP...
As said earlier, it is almost certainly a t-bar rubbing on the a-arm. If there is any visual wear on the bar it is a throw away.

[Packet82]

The ER bushings are pretty easy to do. Be sure to have a propane or mapp gas torch available to get the old bushings off. I used a $75 HF press to put the new ones on.

Check out the condition of your ball joints while you're doing the bushings since you have to take those 1/2 way off the car already.

[Alex86911]

>>I did a bit of searching and it seems the most likely cause would be the a-arm bushings, causing the torsion bar to rub the inside of the a-arm.



Another possibility is the torsion bar adjusters (the teardrop looking things) wear into the crossmember and also allow the bars to rub. This happened early on to my car (at under 50k miles) and all I did was put thin steel sheet metal shims under the adjusters, they have been there ever since.



Chuck.H

'89 TurboLookTarga, 339k miles

Where would this shim go exactly? I am goin to take a look tonight. I was planning of peeling everything apart over the winter, but I was hoping to enjoy the fall driving! Maybe this will get me by?

[Chuck.H]

The adjusters are oval shaped, these go right under the large part of the oval where it rests on the crossmember. In my case I didn't even have to remove the adjusters, with the car raised there is enough room to press a 1 square inch shim in there.

Maybe this isn't common, but it was definately my problem; the adjusters wore a small divit into the crossmember that allowed the bars to rub.

Best,
Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 339k miles

[tazzieman]

Originally Posted by Alex86911

I am goin to take a look tonight. I was planning of peeling everything apart over the winter, but I was hoping to enjoy the fall driving! Maybe this will get me by?

A bead of weld on the bottom of the T bar cap (or a shim) will get you a season of driving , but when you eventually pull the A arm you will be surprised at how worn those bushings are!

The suspension refresh is a very satisfying task.
I went polybronze up front where everything was tightened and ER rubber at the rear. Very happy!

[LOVEHZ]

Instead of changing out the bushings, has anyone bought aftermarket control arms/torsion bar sets?

[Tidybuoy]

Here's a photo of my 38 year old bushings:


I replaced with Elephant Racing rubber bushings and it's like driving a new car. however, during the process, I noticed that one of my ball joints seems loose (i.e., easy to move & swivel around). I have creaking sounds and it's definately not the rubber bushings as they are new and I had a friend listen while I bounced the car and he feels it's the ball joints are making the creaking sound. I'm replacing those next.

[will hung]

I recently read a unique source of squeaks/creaks when compressing the front suspension. I can't find the thread right now, but somebody's front hood was out of alignment and the squeaking was actually the hood. They aligned it properly, and noise went away. Try opening the hood, compress the suspension, and see if the squeaking/creaks go away. Might not be the culprit, but a lot easier to test/fix if it is.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Tidybuoy

Here's a photo of my 38 year old bushings:


I replaced with Elephant Racing rubber bushings and it's like driving a new car. however, during the process, I noticed that one of my ball joints seems loose (i.e., easy to move & swivel around). I have creaking sounds and it's definately not the rubber bushings as they are new and I had a friend listen while I bounced the car and he feels it's the ball joints are making the creaking sound. I'm replacing those next.

That is aout what my bushing looked like. I had wear on t-bar itself so while I was in there the t-bars were replaced.

[RSTarga]

I had the same problem and as mentioned above I went with all elephant rubber front, rear, roll bars, front shock mounts, inside rear banana mounts. After 37 years it's a new suspension and a pleasure to drive. You might as well do ball joints and rod ends while it's apart. Unless you have some time and are a good mechanic, I would not attempt all of this. Oh and realign and corner weight check at the end.

[Packet82]

Originally Posted by RSTarga

Unless you have some time and are a good mechanic, I would not attempt all of this. Oh and realign and corner weight check at the end.

There's nothing particularly difficult about the job. The worst part is dealing with corrosion on the bolts. I think all told, the front suspension took me about 2 days of work to complete, allowing the arms to sit over night. That includes replacing every part that moves and every rubber bushing up there.

The banana arms at the back are a much bigger pain IMHO.

[sballard]

I had a similar creak, groan, and rattle from my front suspension, especially when going over speed bumps. It turned out to be the sway bar bushings, which were a comparatively easy fix. You might want to check this first.

[gregwils]

Originally Posted by will hung

Your car is old enough that the bushings are toast. I used Elephant's OEM replacements. Pretty easy to install with their tool. They have a how-to video on YouTube showing how to install them. They have a link to the video on their website.

+1. If you have original parts, you should really replace the ball joints, t-bar bushings and sway bar bushings. I too used Elephant Racing OEM, very high quality.

[Alex86911]

Just an update...

It was the sway bar bushings. Shot them with some silicon and all is well.

Looked over my records from the PO, seems he changed torsion bars, and turbo tie rods, it looks as though the bushings were done as well.

All is good now! Thanks for the help!