Hi All,

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mom's on the forum!

I have a question to try to help my sanity.
My 68 BB has the Sharkbite suspension front and back. I have dual adjustable shocks from and back. Coil overs in the back, coil and shock in the front (stock style). When I did the suspension I replaced the bushings in all of the suspension with red poly bushings on the control arms and the sway bar. Stock control arms, oversized sway bar. For completeness, I also have the Steeroids rack and pinion steering and everything has been cleaned up under the hood.

My problem is that when I drive (once the suspension is warm) I get horrible squeaking from the front as I go over bumps. I heard that poly bushings squeak some but I never thought it would be this bad. It is quite embarrassing. My question is, do I need to get rid of the poly bushings to stop the squeak? I assumed the mechanic greased the bushings when he put them in (he said he did), but it seems like if it is this bad, the grease would break down over time and start making noise again. The only poly bushings are the control arms and the ends of the sway bar (not the ones that connect it to the frame).

Any advice is greatly appreciated. It is bad enough that I have considered new tubular control arms with different bushings, but if I can do something else that doesn't cost me 1000s, that would be great. The car is not intended to be raced other than a lot of fun on the street.

 

I used the black poly bushings on my 77 from Energy Suspensions , black because they put graphite into the mix for lubrication.

When you buy the red ones , you should have gotten a small tube of whitish colour "grease" it's sticky so it stays on but your supposed to smear it on as you insert those bushes. Without any you get those annoying squeaks.
IF your mechanic put it on you would see traces of it around the ends of the bushes.

 

Thanks for the reply. Do the black ones need the grease too?
And no, I don't see any grease poking out.

 

Yes you need to take it all apart and liberally coat the bushings with the appropriate grease....like this stuff

 

or this brand at about half the cost

 

Thanks. Possibly stupid question: That means pulling the control arm bushings out, greasing them, then pressing them back in right?

 

My '73 has new poly control arm bushings installed by the previous owner. They squeak like hell too. I think I'm going to change them out and go back to rubber.

 

Yes, that is correct

 

The bushing sleeve was pressed into the arms. The bushings are installed by hand. I would guess the bushings were not greased. They need a heavy coat of grease on every part of the bushing. You need to use the recommended grease for the bushings you are using. Your installer did a poor job. I have cars that were done six years ago and do not squeak.

 

Yes the black ones came with the grease as well .

You will need to add the grease by pulling them apart again , or get the "mechanic" to do it right this time.