When I hit a small bump in the road my front end squeaks

[bnichols04]

Whenever I hit a small bump in the road my front end squeaks loud. Is there some way to oil my shocks or do you all think it is something more serious? I have a 93 X if that is any halp.

 

[Black Magic]

Have you greesed up the fitting lately?

 

[bnichols04]

I have never greased a fitting before. How would I go about doing that?

 

[Rhett]

While the squeak could be any number of things, my first instinct is to say that probably the radius arm bushings are worn out on your truck. If it's not that, repost and we can go from there.

The radius arm bushings (there are two of them, on for each side of the truck) are rubber or polyurethane pieces that fit between some of the suspension components on 91-94 Explorers. Later trucks don't have them. The rad arm bushings very commonly wear out on these trucks. The bushings themselves are very cheap ($15 or so) but there is cost or work involved in replacing them because other things have to be done to get the old bushings off and put the new ones on.

If you have any more questions, ask them here. I have replaced the bushings on my truck three times and on friends trucks (Rangers, Bronco II's, and Explorers) a couple of times also. You can do a search here on radius arm bushings, that should help you too.

 

[bnichols04]

Is it the radius arm bushings that you are talking about or do I need to replace the whole radius arm?

 

[engera]

I believe he is talking about the Bushings that are at the end of the radius arms about a third of the way back under the vehicle. I have a '94 X and the bushings are also worn out on mine. It squeeks and clunks when I hit potholes and bumps. Not that Wisconsin has any of those. I have the replacement parts but I am holding out until I have the time.

 

[MrShorty]

Along with radius arm bushing and all the other bushings in the TTB front end, check for loose bolts. My BII had "chirp" going over bumps that turned out to be a loose bolt on one of the shock absorbers.

 

[bnichols04]

Is the bushings something that serious that I need to replace right away or can I wait for a while? If I get new bushings on the front does that mean that I will need bushings on the back too? Will a shoppe know if the bushing are bad if I tell them that I want a grease job with a oil change?

 

[dgibson]

I have the exact same problem with my x, and I know for a fact that it is the bushings. The passenger side got so bad that I reached under and basically pulled the bushing off the bar without undoing anything. For the heavy duty bushings, Advance Auto has then for $10. The regular bushings are $9, so if you plan on running heavier tires or anything, just drop the extra dollar per side. Me and a buddy replaced the passenger side, but we haven't done the driver side yet. It was a complete pain in the butt, but I didn't want to spend a couple hundred dollars to have someone else put a bushing in.

 

[Rhett]

Originally posted by bnichols04
Is the bushings something that serious that I need to replace right away or can I wait for a while? If I get new bushings on the front does that mean that I will need bushings on the back too? Will a shoppe know if the bushing are bad if I tell them that I want a grease job with a oil change?

Only the front has radius arm bushings. You just have to replace the bushings themselves, not the whole radius arm. You can wait and put off changing the bushings, but not forever...eventually the bushings will wear completely and you'll get metal-on-metal contact and that will eventually destroy the radius arm itself, which is a lot of $$$$$ and effort. A bushing is cheap, like $10 a piece. I have found that most shops will NOT know what a radius arm bushing is, much less how to change it...;;; a lube place definitely won't know, unless one of the guys that works there happens to know about Ford trucks...cause most Ford trucks had radius arms before the mid-1990's...

Where are the radius arm bushings? Take a look behind either of your truck's front tires. Just behind the tire, extending from behind the tire toward the back of the truck, connecting to a frame-mounted bracket, is a 2' long piece of metal. That's the radius arm. It's small end has a rubber bushing on it. If you get under the truck you'll be better able to see the bushing.

 

[MSP]

I have recently replaced my radius arm bushings (which were in very poor shape) after putting up with the same pesty squeak and crunching noise. I used an air chisel to remove the two rivets and replaced them with grade 8 bolts. All was good for a few weeks, and then the noise came back. I again removed the bushing thinking they may have been bad. They were fine and so were the radius arm brackets. I sprayed the bushings with a silicone suspension lubricant and reinstalled them. The noise again dissapeared for a few weeks then came back again! My only thought is that the bushings are to loose inside the bracket? Are the bushing to fit tight inside the bracket? The new bushings hade a very slight bit of room inside the bracket (1/16" or less)

 

[Rhett]

Don't use spray silicone lube, it will wear off fast.
Use GL-4 or 5 suspension grease (or silglyde) and use your finger to put it on the inner diameter of each bushing. The bushings don't fit snugly, there is some wiggle room...but this doesn't mean that you will see any metal-on-metal contact there. There should NOT be any.

Also note that some poly bushings are hard enough to cause pops and creaks; higher quality ones such as the daystar or energy suspension ones, don't. But even they recommend pre-lubing their bushings. Rubber bushings won't creak until they are old and worn out, which can occur in just 3 yrs/30000 mi.

 

[MSP]

Thanks! I didn't even think to use GL-4 grease. I have a tube out in the garage. The bushings I used were from NAPA. They are the heat resistant hard poly bushings and are only 2 months old, look like new (when I again removed them several weeks ago) and are already making noise. Would you recommend trying the others in hopes of getting rid of the creak?

 

[Rhett]

I would try either Energy Suspension poly bushings or Daystar bushings. Energy Suspension bushings are supposedly grease-impregnated. I'm not sure about Daystars. Both are high quality poly bushings. I have found that the Napa or AutoZone poly bushings will creak and pop when installed, especially if installed without pre-lubing them. The difference in price is only a few dollars, between a cheap autozone poly and a daystar or ES, so why not?

Whichever poly bushings you use, I recommend lubing them prior to install. Soak them completely, earlier I said inner diameter but now that I think about it, on radius arm bushings I like to soak the whole thing. the only drawback is that its messy..