Greasing front end squeaks - have I done bad?
 

I've been enduring the annoying bed-spring noise in the front end of my '89 3.2 coupe, which several posts on this forum convinced me was coming from the anti-roll bar rubber bushes. So today I jacked up the front end and got under there. I had one spray can of Wurth HHS 2000 and another of silicone ... and I used the Wurth, squirting where the bar protrudes through the rubber bushes (under the body and at the base of the suspension strut).
I know everyone says that petroleum based lubes will degrade rubber prematurely. The Wurth is "synthetic", which means petroleum based (the can boasts "no silicone"). My question is, should I panic, jack it up again, pull the wheels off, forensically soap-up that sucker to remove all the grease, then redo with silicone - or is it really not going to make that much difference, at the end of the day?

Is the squeak gone? If so, fuggetabitit. Premature degradation? Who cares, easy repair.

+1...But, if you are really OCD, spray some of the silicone where you put the other stuff (just spray liberally; no need to remove your wheels); it will displace it and is fully compatible with either natural or synthetic elastomers (and you can sleep better!).

'89, I say it has already degraded :D due to smog and oxidation ergo the prior squeeks.

+2 you will be fine.

Thanks chaps. And gee, would there be any OCD types on a forum like this ... ?
Haven't had the chance to drive it since, but Lyle O has told me what my inner OCD wanted to hear. Will respray with silicone and let the molecules fight it out/get it on/whatever.

Might be your A-arm bushings, my '84s were completely shot, cracked and distorted.

Bushes are all only four years old, so it's perhaps a bit surprising to be hearing the squeaks. Funny that for a long time, I thought it was something behind the dash. Bouncing the suspension by pushing on the fenders above the front wheels proved where it was. Have done the silicone spray, just haven't had the chance to try it out yet. As ever, PP forum came to the rescue.

Oh, 4 years old? Okay. That's another story. ( Seriously, more details will help us help you brother )

How do the sway bar bushings look? Are they also new or more importantly, seated correctly?

I developed a squeek/groan going over speed bumps shortly after bushing install, later discovered my sway bar and bushings were mis-aligned and one even popped off and hanging on it's edge

Did you use poly. Bushings or rubber? If poly., that's likely the cause of the squeak.

I had the really bad 'bed spring' squeak soon after I got my car, it turned out the torsion bars were rubbing on the inside of the a-arms. My fix was to grease the bars, and install shims in the aluminum cross member to raise the bars slightly. No more squeaks for hundreds of thousands of miles.

HTH,
Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 422k miles

^^^ Nice, happen to take any pics, CH?

I never take enough pictures... basically it's a small piece of 1/16" aluminum angle, jammed under the torsion adjuster. Honestly I don't know why more people don't run into this, it was a common squeak fix in the mid-90's.

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 422k miles

Typical squeak are contaminated ball joints especially if rubber boots are broken. Quick fix is get a syringe with fine needle, fill syringe with grease, and inject until grease comes out.

I had the exact same thing. When my torsion bars were inspected, they had wear marks from the rubbing. Elephant Racing suggested to replace the worn torsion bars, which they did. The fix was replacing the control arm bushings. The original bushings looked fine, but when they were removed and inspected, they were slightly ovaled.

Prior to this, a shop (not Elephant) tried using silicone spray on the sway bar bushings, but the squeak never went away, especially after the car was warmed up.

I had something like this once and it turned out to be the front torsion bars rubbing inside the control arm.

Cause: The end cap that slides over the end of the front torsion bar, normally locates the torsion bar in the middle of the control arm "tube". That steel cap rides on the aluminum cross member and rubs a depression into the softer aluminum letting the T-bar become uncentered in the tube to the point were it actually rubs (and squeaks).

Solution: Change cross member for one that doesn't have the groove rubbed in it or build up the diameter of the cap with a little weld (just the "bottom" where it rides on the cross member) to raise the bar back up and relocate it to the center of the tube again.