I don't remember if I ever mentioned it here or not but late last year, out of nowhere, my car came down with an annoying squeak emanating out of the front end. Anyone who has ever had one of these, especially the early years, has likely faced such. Well, it just got worse and worse very rapidly. I took the entire front suspension off multiple times searching for the cause. The usual suspects all checked out but the noise persisted. Eventually, the driving season came to an end and I parked and forgot about it. Well, in hopes that it might actually not rain one day soon I decided this afternoon to go on the hunt again.
I guess I should make it clear that the only "stock" piece in my whole set-up are, you guessed it, the UCAs. I bought them from John at Opentracker as he does a great job of setting them up. Everything else is roller. The LCAs, the perches the idler arm... I have adjustable strut rods as well. So I went about verifying everything was well greased including the sway bar bushings. Made sure the coil spring was seated correctly and the pads and insulators were in place. Everything was text book perfect. As it always checked out to be but the squeak was HORRIBLE.
As I was about to pull the spring I noticed something about the UCA movement that caught my eye. It wasn't much but there is a degree or three range of motion that the arm itself travels before pivoting on the shaft. During this slight movement the bent over tab looked to make almost inperceivable contact with the shaft end hex end. If there wasn't weighted load on it it wouldn't happen which is why I never saw it when everything was disassembled. Hell, it never even left a witness mark. I dunked my fingertip into some grease and dabbed a bit in the suspect area and NO MORE NOISE. SOB. Craziest thing I think I've ever had to chase down.
The rain had let off for a bit and the roads dried so i took it out for a spin. Ah, sweet silence. Well, not really silent but no more squeak. Problem solved. I wrote all this just for others in case they encounter such a thing. It's not always a bushing lacking grease, or an insulator or a loose bolt.
I guess I should make it clear that the only "stock" piece in my whole set-up are, you guessed it, the UCAs. I bought them from John at Opentracker as he does a great job of setting them up. Everything else is roller. The LCAs, the perches the idler arm... I have adjustable strut rods as well. So I went about verifying everything was well greased including the sway bar bushings. Made sure the coil spring was seated correctly and the pads and insulators were in place. Everything was text book perfect. As it always checked out to be but the squeak was HORRIBLE.
As I was about to pull the spring I noticed something about the UCA movement that caught my eye. It wasn't much but there is a degree or three range of motion that the arm itself travels before pivoting on the shaft. During this slight movement the bent over tab looked to make almost inperceivable contact with the shaft end hex end. If there wasn't weighted load on it it wouldn't happen which is why I never saw it when everything was disassembled. Hell, it never even left a witness mark. I dunked my fingertip into some grease and dabbed a bit in the suspect area and NO MORE NOISE. SOB. Craziest thing I think I've ever had to chase down.
The rain had let off for a bit and the roads dried so i took it out for a spin. Ah, sweet silence. Well, not really silent but no more squeak. Problem solved. I wrote all this just for others in case they encounter such a thing. It's not always a bushing lacking grease, or an insulator or a loose bolt.
