Steve Lovelock
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| posted on 25/6/08 at 04:05 PM |
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My car squeaks and groans - Is this normal?
Hi,
Just finished my Luego and I am very pleased with it. A problem I have however is that the car squeaks and groans as it drives down the road. Is it
a case of WD40 on all the suspension bushes or have I missed a trick?
Steve
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eznfrank
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| posted on 25/6/08 at 04:17 PM |
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I would have thought it would settle down after a little use. My missus used to squeak and groan but over time she's quietened down too.
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Paul TigerB6
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| posted on 25/6/08 at 04:24 PM |
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What sort of bushes do you have?? Depending on the type of bush you might need to have the car on the ground at full weight before tightening the
suspension bolts to allow it to settle properly.
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wilkingj
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| posted on 25/6/08 at 04:45 PM |
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This is a problem with Luego's.
The Crush tubes are about 30thou too short.
Hence you nip up the nylon bush.
Take the bushes out and skim off a few thou off the outside face.
The assemble the bush in the arm, and then nip up in a vice.
If its still tight, take a few thou off the bush again. repeat untill you get a nice fit with free movement, but no side to side sloppyness.
I ended up taking about 30 thou off each bush. (but you will need to check as you go).
Then generously lubricate the bushes with proper rubber grease, and re assemble.
Check them by nipping up the arm / bush / tube in a vice (Its quicker than re-fitting to the car)
Rusty Nuts found this out first, and his suspension now works like a dream.
Mine is much better, but could do with a little more work.
Do NOT slacken off the bolts to stop it squeeking. This will wear the holes oval in the brackets and wear thru the bolt. Its dangerous, and hassle to
have to change all the brackets in a few years time.
The Bolts should be done up tight and hold the crush tube solid. It is the bush that moves on the tube, not the Bolt, which is merely a securing
device NOT a hinge pin.
Its been done to death on here.
See...
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=90858
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=91498
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=78091
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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Danozeman
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| posted on 25/6/08 at 04:46 PM |
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Rubber lube on the bushes should shut it up. Im assuming they are poly bushes? Do the centre tubes sit flush with the edge of the bushes or just
inside? If theyr just inside theyl be tight and creek like mad. U need to shave a bit off your bushes.
Dan
Built the purple peril!! Let the modifications begin!!
http://www.eastangliankitcars.co.uk
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jollygreengiant
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| posted on 25/6/08 at 04:55 PM |
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Usual reason on the Luego is that the crush tube in the poly bushes is a fraction to short. There are several ways to cure it.
Strip the arms off and pare down the outer faces of the mounting eyes on all the arms until when reassembled the crush tube projects past the bush by
a few thou. the strip, grease and reassemble bushes and refit arm(s).
Similar to above, but this time you pare/machine down (usually in a lathe) the outer faces of the poly bush(es).
Have special washers/shims made that have a step or taper that clears the poly bush(es).
Regular doses of oily lubricant. This last option is not quite so satisfactory as it still stops the pivots from working as freely as they are
supposed to. For further information Rustynuts is the man to speak to.
Hope this helps.
Enjoy
JGG
[Edited on 25/6/08 by jollygreengiant]
Blast beaten by Geoff, I wish I could type faster.
[Edited on 25/6/08 by jollygreengiant]
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 25/6/08 at 06:02 PM |
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My car now has no squeaks , groans or feels like your spine is compressing everytime you hit a bump . Geoff and Clive have explained how I cured it .
If I was doing it again I would thin down the eyes on the wishbones but when I did the job I was worried about damaging the powder coating.
Shouldn't have worried as it fell off on its own ! As Geoff says nip the crush tube in a vice and try rotating the wishbone . Spoke to Ben Lord
last year at Stoneleigh about the problem , he was going to sort it out but don't know if he ever did. I suspect that a lot of the broken
wishbones that people have had may be due to tight bushes??? Ride is much better with bushes sorted as well as no noises
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Steve Lovelock
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| posted on 25/6/08 at 07:01 PM |
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Poo, this will take hours.
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LBMEFM
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| posted on 25/6/08 at 07:04 PM |
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As eznfrank, have you tried leaving the wife at home, this normally cures the moans and groans in my car.
Barry
[Edited on 25/6/08 by LBMEFM]
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les
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| posted on 25/6/08 at 07:24 PM |
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I have the same on the avon, front end is ok,
rear creaks like an old door. I had assumed it was the springs, but ill check now. as you say, damm it will be a long job
les
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Steve Lovelock
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| posted on 8/7/08 at 09:05 PM |
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Well, I stripped the rear down on both sides, shortened the poly bushes and lubricated them with silicon spray from 3 in 1. And guess what, they
still squeak! Actually it's more of a lot of creaking now. Either way it's loud, too loud. So, did I use the wrong lubricant? If not
any ideas on what I can do now to silence the noisy rear.
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Dave Bailey
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| posted on 8/7/08 at 09:34 PM |
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I had the same problem....The crush tubes were too short... I decided to bite the bullet and buy some proper poly bushes and also replace the spacing
washers with some ally spacers turned down on one side. It makes one hell of a difference....the arms move really smoothly as they should. It did
take a lot of time though...
Dave B
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Steve Lovelock
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| posted on 9/7/08 at 05:24 AM |
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Dave,
Where did you get that lot from?
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Dave Bailey
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| posted on 9/7/08 at 01:36 PM |
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I'll dig out the info tonight....
Dave B
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Mix
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| posted on 9/7/08 at 05:01 PM |
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Hi
Surely the easiest option is to get a new set of crush tubes manufactured to the correct length, shouldn't be too expensive.
Regards Mick
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Dave Bailey
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| posted on 9/7/08 at 06:45 PM |
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Hi.... I bought a set of poly bushes form Super Flex... They were not cheap but they are proper polyurethane bushes rather than the nylon ones you get
with the kit. I had them trimmed to the top hat depth I needed to suit the crush tubes then Mark (VaLviNx) made me up some ally spacers at a very
reasonable price which meant when tightened up the spacer was tightening on the crush tube and not the side of the bush. I actually had one spacer and
a washer to enure the wishbone didn't move. The movement is super smooth.. The bushes were £128 a set trimmed.... The part no is SPF2043P-90
then adjusted to suit my tubes...
thanks
Dave B
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 9/7/08 at 08:41 PM |
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Steve did you nip up each crush tube/bush/arm assembly in a vice to test that the arm rotated round the crush tube?? I used Delphi rubber grease to
lubricate all of my bushes which seems to have done the trick . It may be possible to slacken each wishbone bolt in turn to locate your noisy bushes?
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Steve Lovelock
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| posted on 9/7/08 at 10:08 PM |
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Thanks Dave, £128 is a killer though.
Rusty, I did check every one in a vice and they all rotated on the crush tube without squeaking.
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