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Stopping squeeking suspension bushes


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Morning all. 

I rebushed my car 12 months ago and with the very hot summer I think the polybush grease has found its way out of them.  The result is that they squeak annoyingly and I am thinking about doing about it over the winter. 

Am I right in thinking that the squeak occurs between the inner face of the bush and the steel spacer?  Ie do I need to remove the whole bush or just the steel spacer and regrease the interface between them or is the squeak between the outer face of the bush and the suspension component?  

I used polybush’s grease before but is there a better alternative that stays put better?

cheers

 

dave

 

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Thanks Marco. 

So is the squeak between the spacer and the inner face of the bush?  

Is the Ptfe spray effective and if so, do you just spray it everywhere and hope it wicks it’s way into the bush?

 

cheers

 

dave

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Use the Search to find references to Masterlube, then read what I have written on this subject over the years.

Note that the cure is not immediate - just apply the stuff on a number of occasions until it creeps into the bearing. Thereafter, an annual application (whenever the suspension is greased) should suffice.

Ian Cornish

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Ian 

I bought masterlube from revington after you recommended it previously even though revington were adamant that it wasn’t the correct stuff to use.  I’ve sprayed it several times over 6 months all over but with no luck. Hence the reason for asking if anyone knows where the squeak occurs ie outer bush perimeter and housing or inner bush perimeter and spacer tube.  If it’s the former then I can see that there is a chance that an aerosol based light weight lube might find its way in.  If it’s the latter (and I’m fairly certain that it is) then I can’t see that it will work as the path the lube would have to make is much more difficult. 

Id rather not have to strip down the suspension and risk damaging the bushes getting them out to regrease them if the aerosol spray stands a chance of working. 

Dave

 

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Hi Ian, thank you for you well meant advice,

but I would not spray anything made of oil (with dissolver) on anything that is made of PU or rubber.

BTW currently I have to change my gear box mounting because the rubber became very soft because of oil from the §$%&/ gearbox.

Thanks anyway, ciao / cheers, Marco

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Agreed Pu is not very solvent resistant but how about silicone oil? That's very penetrative and compatiblle with most things. (just watch the overspray as it will make everything slippery and near impossible to paint and also transfers readily)

Mike 

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I have recollected that the bushes in 4VC's suspension are nylon - I don't think that the other types of plastic bushes became available until after 1992.  

It may be the case that nylon and Masterlube work well together (certainly does for me), but it may be unsuitable with other materials.

Ian Cornish

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just giving an update on this.

 

I’ve stripped down the front driver suspension today to take a look whether masterlube had caused problems to the poly bushes.  It’s also given me chance to look at how the bushes have lasted over the 12 months since installation and to try to track down where the squeak occurs.  I’ve also spoken to Revington regarding suitable grease.  They recommend their own concoction of assembly grease sold in individual, unbranded packets.

 

So I’ve found no evidence of any problem by using masterlube.  I did find that the upper rear, and lower front inner bushes were dry of lubrication.  The squeak can occur between the steel tube and the inner face of the bush and on the face of the bush against the washer.  I’ve regreased using a heavy silicon grease and revingtons grease (which looks a little like mayonnaise with a thin consistency). Certainly, I’ve ensured that the grease is applied everywhere there is a contact face.  I will see how that performs over the year ahead.

 

Therefore I conclude that if the squeak is coming from the washer and the side face of the bush then there is a chance that an aerosol lube could penetrate to cause effective lubrication - at least for a time.  If the squeak is occurring between the steel spacer tube and the inner face of the bush then there is no way an aerosol can penetrate.  So I think this explains why an aerosol lube works for some but not for others.

 

Passenger side tomorrow.

 

Cheers

 

dave

 

 

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I've found more than once that squeaking - front and rear- wasn't related to lubrication of the bushes but rather to excessive/odd torsion of the suspension arms (twisted brackets). 

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