Suspension Squeaks.......

[slvr08gt]

When I bought my car about a month ago, the suspension needed a lot of work. It had a ton of clunks, rattles, creaks, pops, and squeaks. I knew before I bought the car that most of the suspension would need to be replaced which was fine with me since I was planning on an upgraded suspension anyways.

I know most clunking and rattle sounds are associated with loosely attached parts. Popping sounds are typically end links or upper strut mounts.

Not sure what typically causes squeaks. Metal on metal rubbing or possibly un-lubed bushings. Not sure on this one.........

I replaced just about all of the typical suspension mods within the first week and all the clunks, rattles, pops, and creaking sounds disappeared.
However, I still have the squeaks

My squeaks are very high pitched squeaks and I can't narrow down if they are coming from the front or the rear. They only occur during very sudden and short suspension travel(I.E, like driving over a rumble strip on the highway). I also hear the squeak when driving on rougher roads but its a little more random. Best way to describe the sound, is it sounds like a high pitched bird chirp.

I went through my entire suspension this morning. Ensured everything was torqued,greased/lubed. Couldn't find a single thing that could be causing the squeaking sound.

Anybody have any tricks or tips to finding squeaks?? I was actually thinking about buying a GoPro for the sole intent of finding these squeaks, lol.

I tried calling a few suspension shops that are local to me but none of them have a jolt machine to simulate road bumps while its on the lift. All of them said squeaks are very hard to find with out the jolt/bump machine. My current mods are in my sig.

Help/Suggestions.......

Nick

 

[loots06]

I had a similar problem. When I would drove over dumps I would get a squeak, metal on metal. It ended up being the axel backs where they connect to the over the axel pipes. The squeak would only happen when the pipes were hot. Drive it around for a little bit then give the tail pipes a kick, I'm sure you'll hear that high pitched squeak.

 

[slvr08gt]

I had a similar problem. When I would drove over dumps I would get a squeak, metal on metal. It ended up being the axel backs where they connect to the over the axel pipes. The squeak would only happen when the pipes were hot. Drive it around for a little bit then give the tail pipes a kick, I'm sure you'll hear that high pitched squeak.

Yeah, I didn't even consider the exhaust system as the culprit of the squeak. I will give it a good check also and report back. Thanks!

-Nick

 

[slvr08gt]

Well. I have fixed all the abnormal sounds and now only one still remains. I'm getting a high pitched chirp from the front drivers side wheel area. Here's what I have replaced thus far to troubleshoot the sound:

- Installed brand new Koni yellows and strut mounts in the front
- Installed a new drivers side front control arm
- Removed the front sway bar to eliminate the sound coming from the bushings or end links
- Checked all exhaust joints
- Hooked up a chassis ear and placed the leads to dozens of areas to pin point the chirp, couldn't isolate it worth a damn

For the life of me I can not think of what would be causing this sound. I'm thinking it may be brake/caliper related or possibly a loose joint in the K member by chance. I only hear it on sudden sharp bumps that cause the suspension to travel short and quickly, like a small pot hole. Narrowing down this last chirp is driving me nuts, lol!!!

-Nick

 

[Gremlin85]

Maybe check your brake pads, calipers and such?

I had an issue that was a little similar with a metalic squeek noise over certain short bumps.... it was my brake pad in the front. I did this on a hunch and it turned out to resolve my problem - I disassembled the brakes, lubed my sliders, added a touch of anti-seize to the back mounting of the brake pad where it touches the caliper and put it all back together.

My squeek was gone!

I'm guessing the jolts of the suspension were causing a vibration somwhere. It was definitely not expected and weird.

 

[BMR Tech]

Did this "chirp" occur PRE new A-Arm?

Often times, these "chirps" are the front A-Arm mounts squeaking.

If the sleeve is not "dug" into the metal enough, it will slightly rotate within the front a-arm mounting point on the K-Member.

This is what it looks like when an OEM Sleeve shifts inside the mount:



This started squeaking on one of our test cars - and you can clearly see what the issue was. The OEM sleeve was shifting within the mounting point, causing a "chirp" when hitting bumps.

I recommend putting the car on a drive on lift. Loosen the front a-arm mounting bolt, then re-torquing to 130 ft lbs.

Keep us updated!

 

[slvr08gt]

Thanks for the insight Kelly. However the chirp was present before the control arm was replaced. I replaced it in hopes that it was the issue.

Nick

 

[slvr08gt]

Maybe check your brake pads, calipers and such?

I had an issue that was a little similar with a metalic squeek noise over certain short bumps.... it was my brake pad in the front. I did this on a hunch and it turned out to resolve my problem - I disassembled the brakes, lubed my sliders, added a touch of anti-seize to the back mounting of the brake pad where it touches the caliper and put it all back together.

My squeek was gone!

I'm guessing the jolts of the suspension were causing a vibration somwhere. It was definitely not expected and weird.

Thanks for the info as well. Even though my front pads looks to be in great condition I guess it's worth a shot, lol. I've been looking for a reason to get a set of hawks for the front anyways.

 

[Gremlin85]

Thanks for the info as well. Even though my front pads looks to be in great condition I guess it's worth a shot, lol. I've been looking for a reason to get a set of hawks for the front anyways.

It's a long-shot, but I was doing exactly what you are now and it all stopped there. I figured it would be worth sharing even though it's such an odd thing.

 

[slvr08gt]

New Hawk ceramic front pads should arrive today. Hopefully a good cleaning and lubing of the caliper componets along with the new pads will quit making my car sound like a rolling bird, lol. Cross your fingers fellas!!

-Nick

 

[slvr08gt]

Well. Installed new pads and cleaned and lubed the calipers.

Chirp sound is still there. I'm borderline tempted to just drop the car off at the dealer and tell them to find the fucking chirp

 

[arms197forum]

What if you really drop the car off at the dealership and see what they will say? I am sure they are familiar with the issue if this is a common thing.

 

[BMR Tech]

I am almost 100% effective in helping in situations like these. Maybe 99.97985%.

You should call so we can discuss.

Things that come to mind:

-You said you replaced the A-Arm. Did you torque it to 130ft lbs with the car sitting on all 4 tires? This is VERY important.

-You said you removed the front sway bar, above^. Is the chirping still happening now, with the front sway bar removed?

-When you installed the Koni's and GT500 Upper Mounts:
1: Did you ensure that the spring was fully compressed, to the jam nut on the upper mount/strut shaft, was tightened/torqued properly?

2: Did you use the OEM Style Isolator on that lower portion of the coil springs?

3: Did you inspect the coil spring for contact/witness marks....from coils rubbing or contacting one another? This is very, very common on lowering springs, on GT500's. Occasionally, the front springs will make a chirping noise when they rub.

 

[Bill220]

My '09 makes a chirping sound from the front end that drives me nuts. Plus, it doesn't do it all the time, which makes it even harder to track down. I gave up and had my mechanic go over the car but he couldn't find it and he's really thorough. It even occurred when the car was 100% stock. I was told that that the sway bar end links on the '05-'09 cars go bad but mine are still fine.

Good luck and I hope you are successful in finding it.

 

[slvr08gt]

What if you really drop the car off at the dealership and see what they will say? I am sure they are familiar with the issue if this is a common thing.

The only thing keeping me from taking it to the dealer is the fact that I have NEVER had good luck with dealers when it comes to diagnosising things. Like clock work, they always report back with "could not duplicate customers complaint". Waste of time and money

I am almost 100% effective in helping in situations like these. Maybe 99.97985%.

You should call so we can discuss.

Things that come to mind:

-You said you replaced the A-Arm. Did you torque it to 130ft lbs with the car sitting on all 4 tires? This is VERY important.

Yes

-You said you removed the front sway bar, above^. Is the chirping still happening now, with the front sway bar removed?

Chirp sound continued with the front sway bar removed. No change at all. I re-installed my front sway yesterday.

-When you installed the Koni's and GT500 Upper Mounts:
1: Did you ensure that the spring was fully compressed, to the jam nut on the upper mount/strut shaft, was tightened/torqued properly?

Yes. I've installed lowering springs on dozens of S197's. I installed these the same as the rest before. Never had a squeak/chirp issue before.

2: Did you use the OEM Style Isolator on that lower portion of the coil springs?

No. I used the spring islolator that already came mounted on the Eibach springs when they were new. I recently positioned them lower on the spring body so they covered the spring portion that makes contact with the strut saddle. No change either

3: Did you inspect the coil spring for contact/witness marks....from coils rubbing or contacting one another? This is very, very common on lowering springs, on GT500's. Occasionally, the front springs will make a chirping noise when they rub.

This question does strike intrest. When I removed the factory SVTPP front struts to replace them with the Koni Yellows, I did notice that the inner portion of the strut saddle where the springs sit had some wear marks that looked to be caused by metal on metal contact. The actual springs themselves did not look to have any abnormal wear marks on any part of the coils.

It struck me as being odd because the it was in a portion of the strut saddle that the spring should never be in contact with.

I will take a pic of the inner portion of the SVTPP strut saddles that had the rub marks and post them.

Thanks for the help everyone. If I can get this chirp figured out, I will be happier than a retard at a chucky cheese, lol.


-Nick

 

[slvr08gt]

Here's the pics of the front struts that shows the wear marks on the inner portion of the strut saddle that I referred to a couple posts earlier:

Drivers side:

Passenger Side:

I have absolutely NO idea how wear marks would get on these areas of the strut saddle but I know for a fact they weren't there when I installed the lowering springs a couple months ago.

I really hope these wear marks aren't in the process of being on my brand new Koni yellow's I just installed.

-Nick

 

[BMR Tech]

Those are likely caused from dust boots/protectors. What style do you have? The Koni perch is at a slightly different angle, compared to oem...I wonder if we are on to something.

 

[slvr08gt]

Transferred the OEM ones from the SVTPP struts over to the Koni's.

 

[slvr08gt]

Those are likely caused from dust boots/protectors. What style do you have? The Koni perch is at a slightly different angle, compared to oem...I wonder if we are on to something.

Could the rubber/plastic dust boots really rub the powercoated paint down to the metal to that extent?? I find that very hard to believe. However, the marks do line up where the boot would come down to. Just very weird.......

 

[bullitt ben]

A arm Bolts

Hi Kelly,

I seem to have same issue....just to make sure, these Bolts need to be torqued with suspension loaded right?

Did this "chirp" occur PRE new A-Arm?

Often times, these "chirps" are the front A-Arm mounts squeaking.

If the sleeve is not "dug" into the metal enough, it will slightly rotate within the front a-arm mounting point on the K-Member.

This is what it looks like when an OEM Sleeve shifts inside the mount:



This started squeaking on one of our test cars - and you can clearly see what the issue was. The OEM sleeve was shifting within the mounting point, causing a "chirp" when hitting bumps.

I recommend putting the car on a drive on lift. Loosen the front a-arm mounting bolt, then re-torquing to 130 ft lbs.

Keep us updated!