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I've been chasing a rattle and a squeak on my 1989 ZF6. The squeak is constant and fluctuates with bumps. The rattle only happens under hard acceleration. I finally put it up on jack stands and started wiggling stuff to see what could be rattling or squeaking and I found a few things.
My exhaust is rubbing the bottom of the diff, the spare tire cover is loose, and something is odd with my rear leaf spring. In the center where the spring attaches to the frame there is play in the bushing/spacer, up and diwn about a quarter of an inch. It's possible that it's just because the car isn't on the ground and the suspension isn't compressed. Maybe someone can shed some light on this. Pictures below:
Anyone know if that's how it should be? Thanks
Last edited by Ekays; Aug 8, 2024 at 02:06 AM.
Reason: Needed to be more specific
Are you sure the squeak isn't from your bushings? I hit my sway bar bushings with some wd40 years ago when i had a squeak over bumps. Went away and has not been back. Also, there is a jack on top of your spare tire - if that is not securely tied to the spare, you can get rattling. I have been chasing noises in my car for way too long.
Definitely something going on above/below your spring mounting pad area. In the diagram, parts 7 & 9 (rubber insulators) are supposed to be above and below the spring. The #8 spacers are metal, and the insulators are rubber pads that sandwich above/below the spacers so that no metal faces the spring itself. To me it looks like your #8 spacers are sliding out above the spring. Be careful taking this area apart as you know the spring is under load when on the car.
Are you sure the squeak isn't from your bushings? I hit my sway bar bushings with some wd40 years ago when i had a squeak over bumps. Went away and has not been back. Also, there is a jack on top of your spare tire - if that is not securely tied to the spare, you can get rattling. I have been chasing noises in my car for way too long.
I took the spare tire, jack, and cover out and my rattle is gone. I also stuck some heater hose between the diff and exhaust... might have been that too. So that looks like the end of that issue. I did hit all the suspension bushings with silicone spray a few times but no change. I've had the car long enough that I understand it'll rattle and squeak a bit, just annoying sometimes.
Originally Posted by ajp01
Definitely something going on above/below your spring mounting pad area. In the diagram, parts 7 & 9 (rubber insulators) are supposed to be above and below the spring. The #8 spacers are metal, and the insulators are rubber pads that sandwich above/below the spacers so that no metal faces the spring itself. To me it looks like your #8 spacers are sliding out above the spring. Be careful taking this area apart as you know the spring is under load when on the car.
Thanks for the diagram, I think you're right about that the spacers are definitely doing something odd. If anyone gets a chance take a look at your spacers for me 🙏.
Those spacers and rubber insulators are supposed to sandwich the spring between them tightly. There should be no play at all in that assembly. Those spacers that are slipping out above the spring are going to come out completely, and the rattle problem will worsen. In fact, I would not be surprised to see that you've already lost a pair of spacers above/below that spring, and the others are on their way out. So I recommend you find some spares from either a dealer (not likely) or a wrecking yard nearby and get that spring mounted as a tight sandwich the way it's supposed to be.
Real leaf spring rattle?
