front end sounds like and old man

[HeadyFirebird'00]

i think this cold winter got the best of the rubber components supporting the front end. I got bilstiens and a 32mm sway with the polys. all greased up good when i installed it all. but i recently got backed over by some car and the damage isnt too bad, more like scuffs and big paint chips...

but the main point of what im getting at is, I have this sagging squeek sound that happens when i go over speed tables and such. like something rubber-like is jacked up or somethings old and worn.


for those that installed the sway bars...what kind of squeek sounds do the sway bar bueshings make when they need grease or if you didnt grease them?

thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated!

[97RSRPV]

Re: front end sounds like and old man

Well when you say squeek it leads me to belive its somthing metal on metal.. weather the bushings have greese on them or not its not going to matter if your getting metal on metal. If you have access to a lift i would recommend putting it up and going through sway bar bushings, possible tie rod ends or even upper ball joints. And are u postive it is in the front end, because I had the same annoying squeek which drove me up the wall and it turned out it was a bad trailing arm bushing. If you dont find anything go around with some white litheum greese and some Wd40 and hit all your spots. JUST A THOUGHT! haha

[pace2006]

Re: front end sounds like and old man

I installed my 32mm front sway bar with the Moog hard rubber bushings. We didn't put any grease on the endlinks. We did use a little to get the bushings on easily. The endlinks only creak when going over bumps or speed tables on really cold days. Other than that, no noise.

But poly may be a different story. I haven't had any experience with that myself.

[HeadyFirebird'00]

Re: front end sounds like and old man

next step is to get under there and take some shiz apart. i have modeled out the probable causes, but im afraid of what it really might be... the upper and lower ball joints. not what i want to mess with

[ssms5411]

Re: front end sounds like and old man

^Thats what I was going to suggest if your suspension is higher mileage is upper lower ball joints. On the highway does the car handle well with no vibrations? Or shaking?

[HeadyFirebird'00]

Re: front end sounds like and old man

car drives perfect, no shaking or vibrations that are noticable. its a sound that is worse when its cold out. i am hopeing that spring will make it go away.. haha

I got under there and didnt find anything suspicious, the sway bar will move up and down with the suspension when driving over hopy terrain. right? there no way that thing stays stationary.

[HeadyFirebird'00]

Re: front end sounds like and old man

A quick and really late update from 2009:

I kept my eye on my 2000 f'bird's front suspension squeaker situation (happened only under cold outside temps) and discovered that at some point/eventually the metal U-style brackets completely broke apart. I found the bar hanging low or suspended connected only by the endlinks. I was shocked to find that both brackets were still bolted in place but broken in the middle. To recap, I had installed the red ES bushings/poly sway-bar bushings previously a summer or two prior to all this.

New brackets from Ebay and a heavy application of super grease solved the problem.

Now it's late 2014, and she's been good since. Next I'll swap out the worn tie rods, ball joints, and end links.

On a more serious note: I just want to mention that I cant believe I still have this car after 10+ years!! I've been all over the US with her and she's still runnin' strong! Even with the bloody oil leaks! Besides that, I do everything to take really good care of her. OD Currently reads @~134K. She's far from new but she still shines. This navy blue bird has been reliable and my trusty DD everywhere I go.

All I need is a rad pic to end my moment of pride here...