My 98 convertible has a persistent squeak coming from the front suspension. I’m trying to eliminate or at least reduce it. I’ve tightened fenders and all the mouldings

Today I replaced the sway bar bushings. the factory manual says tighten the link but to 10 ft-lbs with weight on the wheels.

Is there further advice out here as to just how tight those bolts should be? Like measuring bushing compression?

Stupid squeak is still here. Maybe worse which makes me think maybe I didn’t tighten it enough...

Thanks
cf

 

Sway bar link bushings won't squeak. Did you change the ones on the frame also? Have you checked and greased all your front suspension and steering parts? Does it make noise when you push the car up and down?

 

The front end was greased completely early this summer by my mechanic. Looks greased correctly right now...

I’m wondering if the squeak maybe it’s the metal to metal contact between the spacer and the inner washers in between the bar and lower a-arm.

Was thinking of separating them with nylon washers upper and lower, but I don’t think it’ll last long...

It doesn’t squeak in the garage. Only on crappy pavement on the road. Could also be inner fender against the frame... definitely a metal to metal squeak.

 

The squeaking is almost certainly the control arm bushings. Could be upper, could be lower. I'd say that after half a century, it's time to rebuild the front end.

Out of curiosity, you didn't use urethane sway bar bushings, did you? And are you really talking about the bushings on the frame or the links to the lower control arms? Note that nearly every listing I've seen has the wrong size for the sway bar bushings on the frame. Unless you have the police package, the front sway bar is 1". All the listings I've seen show 15/16" or 39/32". Both of these are incorrect. I had to buy bushings for a 1971 Delta 88 to get the correct 1" ones for my 67.

 

Control arm bushings.

 

Upper and lower control arm bushings are not cracked, no “graunching” sound that I typically associate with worn a-arm bushings.

This is a squeak and I only hear it when the suspension is going over a pothole, bump, or crappy pavement. Otherwise the car is as good as it’s ever been. Part of the chase is just me getting progressively pickier.

I’ve gotten rid of the big noises, so now the little ones are more prominent. This is a little one.

I don’t expect perfection. It’s a 350,000 mile old, 50 year old Olds. The frame bends over bumps. You can feel the doors and rear quarter separate just a bit.

I’m just trying to rationally chase down a suspension squeak.

Does anyone know how long a grade 8 3/8’s 16 hex bolt I should use for the sway bar link? I custom-cut a 7.5” this morning. The old one (perhaps not original) was 7”. Still have the old ones...

The sway bar bushings bolted to the frame seem to fit and are lubed with Marine grease, against factory wishes.

So how tight should the sway bar link nut be?

 

Tight enough to compress the rubber a bit or the suggested 10ft lbs.

 

I got a little compression this morning, unsprung, then drove it 10 miles or so today.

Figured I’d retighten tomorrow and see if the noise abates.

If not, add the nylon washers (non-factory) and see if they help. And maybe last...

 

The correct bolts for the sway bar end links only have a short threaded section. You tighten them until the nut bottoms at the end of the threads. Given how inexpensive the correct parts are, why are you even screwing around with making bolts?

My money is still on the control arm bushings, but there is a very easy way to tell if the sway bar links are the problem or not. Simply remove the links and tie the sway bar ends up to the frame temporarily. Now drive the car. If it still squeaks, guess what?

 

Good experiment to run on control arm bushings. Agree that they’re in the mix. I’ll try that the no-sway experiment this morning. A couple of my lower bushings are tack welded now that I’m thinking about it, so that may be in the mix too.

I cut custom bolts since the factory bolts were too short with the new (unsqiushed from use) poly link bushings to thread the nut. The new ones are threaded well below the factory bolts, so I can get to the right tightness. They’re Grade 5, if it makes a difference.

My 98 control arm bushings are rubber, moog maybe. I’ve been down and back on the poly control arm bushings on my 66 Stafire. I used em for 24 months or so in the late 90’s before going back to rubber as the factory intended. Poly control arm bushings were just too stiff for my big cars.

 

I had this exact problem with my '78 Toronado. I would buy a set of sway bar end links that are supposed to be correct for the car, but no matter what I did in installing them, they were not long enough for me to be able to thread the nut on the bottom end. They were not even close. I ended up buying longer bolts at Home Depot, which are threaded all the way along the length instead of just near the end, installing them, and then cutting off the threaded end to leave just about 1/4" length of the threaded end showing as instructed in the chassis service manual.

Have I done something wrong here? Why is that, no matter what I did, I could not get the bolts that came with the kit to work? I even thought I had the sway bar installed upside down, but I quickly found out that that was not the case when I did turn it over and try to install it. I could do it, but, because of the way the sway bar curves near the ends, the steering linkage would hit it whenever I turned the steering wheel more than about half-way.

I couldn't use the old bolts to compare because those had been cut off, like you're supposed to do, so I am not able to tell what their original length was.

 

Joe was right. It wasn’t the sway bar end links. Onto something else... on the plus side I greased the front end and went back to factory sway bar bolts. Tightened all the inner fender nuts and bolts I could find too.

Unfortunately the squeak is still there. Next will remove the hubcaps, just in case they culpable.

 

I've sometimes had to use a ratchet strap around the bar and LCA to compress the bushings enough to get the nut started. It's also easier if you have the suspension at ride height as opposed to hanging down with the frame on jack stands.

 

Very interesting. I could have done that if I had thought to do so, but it never occurred to me that it should be necessary. I kept thinking I didn't have something lined up right.

Now this I never would have thought of. So you do this with the tires on the car and the car setting on the ground? Not as much room to work under there. I might try the ratchet strap idea.

 

This is high school trig.

The problem is that the hole in the LCA moves straight up and down with the suspension, but the arm on the sway bar pivots in the frame bushings. With the suspension at full droop, the pivoting of the sway bar moves the hole in the end of the sway bar forward relative to the hole in the LCA, making it more difficult to get the nut started. You want the arm on the sway bar to be horizontal, which requires the LCA to be at ride height. You can also simply put the front end on ramps or sections of 6x6 to load the front suspension to ride height.