Alright i have Tokico blue''s with stock shock and struts & everything
My car makes 2 different types of squeaks when i drive.
One is a very high pitch quick squeak that occurs when i drive through rough roads or little bumps.

The other is not as high pitch and the squeak last a little longer when i drive through rough roads, this sqeak also occurs when I'm idleing because of the shaking of the motor, when i start driving the squeaking goes away. Also when i take harder left turns it sqeaks. My friend said it could be my motor mounts, but i don't think so cuz i already lubed the motor mounts.

When i rock the car by pushing the car door it also makes a squeaking noise.
I lubed up the rubber bushings that is underneath my hood, and i also lubed up the bushings on the upper control arm, but didnt seem to help..
any idea's Suspension Guys??

 

bump for annoying sqeaks!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dth0ng69 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Alright i have Tokico blue''s with stock shock and struts & everything
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Um, so which is it, stock shocks or Tokico Blues?

 

everything is stock except my lowering springs..

 

Did you preload the suspension before torquing the bolts that connect the shock/trailing arm to the LCA? I had a bunch of squeaks and groans coming from the suspension which were solved by loading the suspension and then torquing the bolts to spec.

 

umm cmaylo, Im not too familar with some terms, but umm what did you mean by preloading the suspension, and what part is the trailing arm to the LCA? Im pretty familiar with how everything on the suspension looks i just don't some terms, do you have a picture of the bolts that connect the shock/trailing arm to Lower control Arm?

but basically I get my suspension set up first, then torque the trailing arm to the LCA?

 

What year is your car? I can explain it for the 96-00 Civics, I dunno how close it is to the later models. Anyways, for the front, there is a bolt that connects the shock fork to the lower control arm. In order to tighten this bolt down without causing damage to the bushing, you must place a jackstand under the LCA and lower the car so that the suspension is loaded, like when you are normally driving. Now torque down the bolts to the specs, and that should help with the squeaks. For the rear, you had to remove two bolts, one connecting the shock to the LCA, and one connecting the trailing arm to the LCA. Follow the same procedure--loosen the bolts, load the suspension, and then torque. This way your bushings aren't twisted when you set the car down off the jacks.

I was having all sorts of groans and squeaks coming from the rear suspension, did this the other day and a lot of them are gone. I think the bushings might be busted in the rear LCAs, but I have some Skunk2 LCAs coming today so that won't be a problem.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dth0ng69 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">umm cmaylo, Im not too familar with some terms, but umm what did you mean by preloading the suspension, and what part is the trailing arm to the LCA? Im pretty familiar with how everything on the suspension looks i just don't some terms, do you have a picture of the bolts that connect the shock/trailing arm to Lower control Arm?

but basically I get my suspension set up first, then torque the trailing arm to the LCA? </TD></TR></TABLE>

You should torque all suspension bushings in the same position that they will be loaded (as in, once the weight of the car is on the suspension). This is also called "clocking the bushings".

Place car on jackstands
Loosen all suspension bolts
Lift a single wheel with jack (under LCA) until car just comes off stand
Torque suspension bolts
Repeat with other 3 corners

Only the large trailing arm bushings cannot be clocked this way. That bushing requires the removal of the bushing itself, rotating it, and reinstalling.

If you have adjustable endlinks, leave them off the car until you're done. Then, set the car down on level ground, and adjust the endlinks such that you can install without preload.

 

haha k thanx cmaylo & tunern00b , Im going to tell my friend about this possible solution, hopefully it works.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TunerN00b &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you have adjustable endlinks, leave them off the car until you're done. Then, set the car down on level ground, and adjust the endlinks such that you can install without preload.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Unfortunately this really can't be done unless the car is up on an exhaust rack - the type where the car is sitting on its own wheels and raised up in order to install exhaust systems without possibility of hitting suspension components.

 

You could just drive it onto a couple of ramps, no need for a lift.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cmaylo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You could just drive it onto a couple of ramps, no need for a lift.</TD></TR></TABLE>

haha easier said than done.

My car would not even make it up onto ramps with just factory GS-R springs and my Koni spring perches on the lowest setting (~1.5" lower than stock at the wheels).

And yes, I have tried.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Unfortunately this really can't be done unless the car is up on an exhaust rack - the type where the car is sitting on its own wheels and raised up in order to install exhaust systems without possibility of hitting suspension components.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I parked my DC2 on the sidewalk, with the front tires at the edge (bumper hanging over into the street). That left enough room to crawl under and put the endlinks back on. I also used a stack of washers on the OEM endlinks (one side) to remove preload (adjust the effective length relative to the other).

Now, it wasn't easy to get in there and re-install the endlink, but it can be done. (Note, there was a lot of swearing during the procedure, trying to get my hands and tools up in there.)

The rear is easy enough to get to, even with a slammed car. Removing the rear bumper cover might make it even easier.

 

alright, thanks by anychance does any one know the torque spec thats on the lower control arm bolt that you guys told me to load me to torque to spec.
I have a 96 civic LX.

 

40 ft/lbs for the LCA bolts in the rear, not exactly sure what the spec is up front, I don't have my book on hand right now.

 

alright Cmaylo, basically i take out B from the picture, Put a jack under the lower control arm, raise it until it seems like the suspension is loaded with a wheel, then put the B bolt back, and torque it 47 lbs?

 

Precisely. If you worked on the rear, there are two bolts on each rear LCA that need to be loosened/preloaded/torqued as well.

[edit] You don't have to fully remove the bolt, just loosen them.


Modified by cmaylo at 5:23 PM 11/9/2008

 

While clocking the bushings is a must, it's also not a bad idea to lube the bushings while you're there as well.

 

Lube the bolt that goes through the bushings you mean? Is that to keep the bolt from seizing?

 

That's not a bad idea either.

I guess I should have been more clear, my fault.

I initially had a "squeaky" suspension after my install. It turned out my rear swaybar bushings were the culprits. Even though they were greased heavily when I put them in, they began to squeak once the car was lowered.

So it's more of an area for him to look into if he cannot rid himself of the noise.

 

isn't that technically zero preload? I have tightened down my bolts to spec and I continue to hear bushings squeak in the rear end over any dips. And at low speeds, less than 15mph may hear a squeak/clunk coming from the front it

I have skunk2 front camber kit(front right makes a loud squeak when I go up a driveway, coming from upper control arm)

These may be dumb questions, but I have yet to clarify them and get an answer.

-The torque specs for tightening down bolts in suspension, is it supposed to make the suspension parts hard to move wtih your hand? Like how are the bushings supposed to work. Does the innermost hole just rotate over the bolt, or is the actual suspension part supposed to rotate around the bushing?

-I mentioned zero preload, I tightened down bolts with car lowered with rims, so I thought that's considered preload. Should I take off the wheel and actually preload the suspension where it'll sit closer to the car than with the wheels on?

I have agx shocks/struts with h&r springs. Skunk2 front camber kit, ingalls rear camber kit, stock bushings for everything else. I also went through later and greased everything up.

I'm thinking about replacing the rear trailing arms(mugen hard rubber) and rear LCA's(skunk2 polyurethane). I know about installing traling arm bushings, but is the rear lca supposed to be 40lb/ft for each bolt, because I just have a feeling that tight and it's going to squeak like hell.

I have 2000 civic ex btw

 

Yep, the bushings have to stretch as the suspension moves. That's why it's so important to torque the bolts with the car at its normal ride height, or close to it. Most bolts you can't access while the car is on the ground, and definitely not the upper control arm bolts. Best bet for those is to loosen the bolts, and, while the spring/shock is off the car, lift the control arms up with a jack until it's around the position where it will be with the car on the ground. Then torque the bolts to spec, and put the spring/shock back on.

 

so are you saying the little inner ring of the bushings is where the component gets tighted down, and the bushing around it is supposed to stretch/rotate over it?

 

anyone?

 

That is correct. I'm not very fond of the design, but that's how it is. Spherical bearings allow free movement in all directions, with pretty much ZERO deflection compared to rubber. But that's why those are really only suitable for track/race cars, plus the fact that exposure to normal daily driving elements can wear out sphericals MUCH faster than rubber bushings.

I would prefer a rubber bushing design that would allow free rotation around the bolt head. Something like a needle bearing in the middle of a rubber bushing would be nice, where the little washer head of the bolt matched the size of the inner race of the needle bearing, and then the rubber portion of the bushing (and the control arm) could rotate freely.

I'm sure that would have been MUCH more expensive to do it that way, and there are probably other drawbacks I'm not thinking about.