WizardBlack Posted September 2, 2008 Author Share Posted September 2, 2008 It still helps to lube the poly. They come with a silicone lube, but it gets squeezed out or used up fairly quickly. I installed zerks in the outer ends of the rear control arms to lube them up and it worked pretty well with typical moly chassis grease. Energy Suspension told me that the moly would be fine when I asked them. I tried zerks on the inner bushings, but the cups aren't tight so the grease just squeezed out through the cup. You can also trim the poly if it is too long for a particular spot, and you can shim under the straps to reduce the amount of pressure on the bushing so that it can move more smoothly (works well for sway bar bushings, not sure I'd do this on control arm bushings). Yeah, I've done that a bit with the swaybars. I did notice the lube they give you is very very viscous. I thought it a tad strange to use. As an update, I think the camber is ok, but it is definitely toed out. I suspect if the car was ever aligned, changing the TC rod bushings could easily affect the toe, so I'll just have to get that straightened out. On a side note, I have a metal-on-metal squeek coming from the left rear. I can replicate it just by leaning on the left rear, etc. I suspect my gland nuts weren't torqued well enough. I just had someone hold the strut assembly while I tightened them with a pipe wrench. Can the strut (or shock, whatever) shaft squeek on the ID of the gland nut hole? It sounds like a chipmunk with a power megaphone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WizardBlack Posted September 7, 2008 Author Share Posted September 7, 2008 Yeah, I've done that a bit with the swaybars. I did notice the lube they give you is very very viscous. I thought it a tad strange to use. As an update, I think the camber is ok, but it is definitely toed out. I suspect if the car was ever aligned, changing the TC rod bushings could easily affect the toe, so I'll just have to get that straightened out. On a side note, I have a metal-on-metal squeek coming from the left rear. I can replicate it just by leaning on the left rear, etc. I suspect my gland nuts weren't torqued well enough. I just had someone hold the strut assembly while I tightened them with a pipe wrench. Can the strut (or shock, whatever) shaft squeek on the ID of the gland nut hole? It sounds like a chipmunk with a power megaphone. Hmm, definitely something up with the left rear. I also have excessive toe-in on that wheel. Not sure where to start, but I guess I'll jack it up and retorque everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WizardBlack Posted September 7, 2008 Author Share Posted September 7, 2008 I jacked it up and it seems there's a bit of squishiness when wobbling the wheels. It is BARELY perceptible. I know I had put all new Energy Suspension bushings and new spindle pins a while back and more recently I installed new bearing and disk brakes so I went through and checked my LCA bolts and spindle pin nuts. I remember the bushings on the spindle pins had to be ground down on the ends since they were too long to compress when bolted down. I got under there and realized I used the OEM rubber washer pads underneath the washer and nut combo on each end of the spindle pin. I took those off and just replace the metal washer and aircraft nuts. The LCA bolts (on the ends of the inner pivot axis) are supposed to be torqued to 115 ft.lb. Mine were more like.. hmm... maybe 50. I checked the spindle pin nuts and they are supposed to be at 65 ft.lb. Mine were at 5. Maybe. So, I torqued it all down with my trusty new Craftman torque wrench, etc. I thought; "Awesome, I bet my left rear squeek, left rear toe-in and rear wheel slight squishiness is all gone!". LOL. The squishiness is still there. I think it's probably just the sheer fact that these cars have so much polyurethane that causes that. It's not a wobble or clunk; just a slight rubbery feeling. I lowered the car, rolled it back and forth and jumped up and down on the back end. It appears the squeek is gone at least. The left rear toe-in is still a bit excessive. Any ideas on the toe-in? How could that side get like that? Maybe a tweaked LCA at some point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 8, 2008 Share Posted September 8, 2008 Tweaked LCA or the strut hole for the spindle pin could be drilled wrong. John Coffey has come up with a few like that. You might consider camber bushings in the rear to fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WizardBlack Posted September 8, 2008 Author Share Posted September 8, 2008 Tweaked LCA or the strut hole for the spindle pin could be drilled wrong. John Coffey has come up with a few like that. You might consider camber bushings in the rear to fix. Hmm... I may just pick up another darn strut housing if I can. I will probably have rod-end LCA's front and rear (and some other stuff) by the time it's up and running for spring, but that really bothers me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WizardBlack Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 As an update, the car seems a lot less compliant now (which I expected), but the left rear toe causes tire squealing a lot more now. Practically any amount of turning causes it to squeal. Likewise, it's more nervous (or dynamically unstable) at highway speeds. I am gonna leave it for now since I will maybe drive it 100 miles on weekends before winter when it gets a big overhaul again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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