Creaky Front Suspension

[Haxxorz]

Hey all,
Haven't posted on here for ages, but i'm glad that people are still very active here. Through all the pain, my 3gee lives
man I love this car, but something has been really bugging me.

So the entire body is lowered about 2" all the way around. I had a mechanic cut the spings (i know, i know) so i would have the smoothest ride (soft stock springs) with a nice low look. Also, I put on a front camber kit to ease the amount of negative camber that my front tires had. I've been rocking it for over a year now, probably put around 10k on it and there's a noticable, annoying "creaking" sound coming from the right front suspension. I'm still at a loss at what's causing it. Getting different answers from Les Schwab and other guys.

It's the kind of thing where I can walk over and everytime I *push* down on the wheelwell, it'll make a creak sound.
Any ideas/thoughts?

[w261w261]

There's mucho postings on this subject, so if you want, you can research it.

It could be ball joints, but my best guess is the upper control arm bushing. You can't fix it this way, but you can probably find out if it's your problem.

Remove the wheel. Take a can of WD-40 with the spray tube on. Reach in there and try to spray on the bushing as best you can. Don't go crazy, because there is a brake rotor down there. Put things back, and see if the noise has gone away. If it has, there's your problem....unfortunately, the fix will only be temporary. To get at it semi-permanently, you'll have to install a new bushing. Make sure you use a good amount of lithium grease when you do.

Most of us have had the squeaks on and off over the years.

[Dr_Snooz]

Uh oh. It's the infamous UCA bushing squeak. Don't let DBMaster hear you!! LOL

[Haxxorz]

*Quickly goes to the search tab to avoid any more ignorant mistakes*

[DBMaster]

Uh oh. It's the infamous UCA bushing squeak. Don't let DBMaster hear you!! LOL

Too late!! LOL!

Mine have been quiet for almost a year now - yay!! My resolution was purchase of all-new UCA bushing mounting parts from Majestic Honda, new Moog UCA bushings (no generic, please!), new OEM UCA's, and not following the Honda torque specs. I make them snug by hand and they are quiet. If I tighten them to 40 ft-lb they squeak like hell in hot weather. I originally used lithium grease and it didn't work so well. My mechanic says it's too thin. I used multi-purpose chassis grease. It's thicker than white lithium, but lighter than wheel bearing grease.

[w261w261]

I'm afraid to even mention this, as the car is only 40 ft away and might overhear, but mine have been dead quiet for at least 3 years, after I put camber-adjusting UCA mounts in. Unfortunately, I also installed teflon washers on the ends, and they deform at less than 40 lbs, so I have to fix the side that knocks on a hard bump.

It never ends. Mods are definitely a double-edged sword. I've been kind of looking for another car (prob a bimmer), and some of those guys have gone down big time with the tuners, and I bet the cars all have some unsorted issues.

[Haxxorz]

Hey Dbmaster, thanks for chiming in :P
I did end up reading your whole thread last night and such, but its good to hear confirmation that there is a fairly simple solution that has lasted for several years!!! After I save up some money i'll look into purchasing some parts
Thanks!!

[DBMaster]

I had similar problems to what w261w261 experienced with the adjustable UCA mounts. I have not lowered my car, but by using the mount I was able to correct a negative camber issue the car had since new. It helped my tires last longer! I have since replaced the UCA's myself twice so I am no longer using the adjustable mount for the reasons stated. The name brand UCA's and bushings cost more than twice as much as the generic ones, but they last a lot longer. My el-cheapo UCA's had ball joints in them that wore out after less than two years and nothing I did could quiet the awful racket. It's worse on the UCA's than almost anywhere else because the bushings are mounted right to the body and the noise is actually amplified inside the car.

[w261w261]

It's usually when it gets hot that if they're going to make noise, they will.

[Dr_Snooz]

Too late!! LOL!

Mine have also been quiet for a few years. I bought Moogs, used white grease and torqued them to spec. Just making sure that the bushings were well-greased and not too tight on the spindle (return them if they are) worked best.

[Haxxorz]

Hahaha I love this forum so freakin' much. What two "professionals" couldn't figure out what the problem was, all it took was a little searching and asking the right people here

I'll look into getting the moog bushings get rid of the sounds that make my car sound like its about to fall apart, (even though my music is almost always too loud to hear it) when im driving, say, a girl home and im driving nice and hits a crappy road, all hell breaks lose. :p