Poly Bushing Squeak?

[mgmshar]

I'm planning to do my front and rear suspensions over the winter (cha-ching!). In looking through the archives, I noticed a general consensus that if I use poly bushings (particularly control arm) in the front end, they will squeak. Those with poly bushings agree?

For the rear, I'm thinking about getting some new UCA's and LCA's. The two I'm considering now are the HR PartsnStuff and the BMR's. Both have poly bushings. I didn't find anything in the archives about rear poly bushings squeaking. Anyone have experience?

Thanks,

 

[turbot2112]

ive got polygraphite in my front and rear. so far no squeaks. i havent had them in that long so i guess we will see. as far as the rear a lot of people say the will bind up, but i havent had that yet either. i got all the parts from pst. the car drives like new. so far so good.

 

[Glen]

It is my experience that with poly they will sqeak, front & rear. The rears won't be as noticable as the front since they really don't articulate as much as the front. Driveways will show up the rear. As for the binding, yea, they do. Tigthen down the nuts per factory specs, front and rear on the upper control arm, then move it through it's range of motion, that is binding. Now loosen the nuts about three turns and do it again, they will be much easier to move. Useing Del-A-Lum bushings from www.globalwest.net
will yeild smooth action after tightening to factory specs. Poly just doesn't allow it.

On the rear, if you could install the poly and then the del-a-lums,you would feel the difference. IMO the poly makes the rear react to stiff, like a truck, going over bumps and dips in the road. Feels like it wants to launch you from the seat when hit at speed. The Del-A-Lum bushings allow the springs and shocks to absorb the rough stuff like they were intended to do.

I have used both and will not go back to poly.

 

[HRpartsNstuff]

The reason "poly" got the bad rap for binding & squeaking is from the all-too-common poly bushings out there from a top-name manufacturer. These are what 99% of the people out there are using, black poly with gold steel shell. They bind & squeak for 2 reasons:

1) There is NO way to put grease between the poly & the inner steel spacer tube, which is where it rotates.

2) There is WAY too much "press fit" on the inner spacer tube to the poly.

Instead of dropping the whole "poly" thing & going another way, we decided long ago to FIX the issues with the poly bushings. Our CA's (rear only right now) have the grease fittings (like many others) which take care of PART of the binding & squeaking. We go a step further & machine the inner spacers down to a special dimension so the arms are tight side-to-side for handling, and loose up & down to get the suspension to move quick. This eliminates the binding & squeaking, on first install & years down the road. We make the same style setup for stock CA bushing replacements if you want to DIY, along with easy boxing kits.
Check our website in the products section for details.

 

[PowrPerformance]

You may want to read this little writeup I did regarding Polyurethane, Polygraphite, Rubber, and Del-A-Lum type bushings: http://www.powerperformancemotorsports.com/About.asp.

Poly squeaking is a thing of the past, as long as they are properly installed. Here is a link to a post on another forum that details this process:

http://www.impalassforum.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=002439.

Hope this helps.

 

[bradofflorida]

Zack, your links do not work for me, please update.
Thanks

 

[PowrPerformance]

Sorry! Links should work now.

 

[GN ERGY]

When you are putting them together use heavy duty anti-seize, not grease. It has graphite and molybendiundysulfide in it and will keep them from squeaking down the road. I used to work for Loctite and we made anti-seize there. Thats what I have used on mine, just put it on everything and when you are done wipe off the excess. Ya I know it's messy and you will have it everywhere but it is worth it.
Tarey D.