Polybushes Creaking

[d-9 0]

Is it normal for polybush'd wishbones to creak? Ive got polybushed GSF 309 wishbones and standard 309 struts at the front end, and it makes a horrible noise on the lanes when you hit a bump and sounds like someones died when you go over speed ramps.

[jackherer 543]

which type do you have? I can't remember the brand names but the purple ones are awful, they start creaking very soon and before too long they end up making clunking noises as they move about in the subframe. The red ones are a lot better in my experience, but I just get pug ones now, £15 for a set and they last the longest.

 

the other thing that can cause this is tightening the inner wishbone bolts with the car on stands rather than at ride height.

[d-9 0]

These are yellow ones, from rally design i think.

 

I will loosen and check the bolts as i cant remmeber if i changed it when i raised it up.

[jonah 1]

I get this as well, they need taking and re-greasing around once a year to keep them quiet.

 

the other thing that can cause this is tightening the inner wishbone bolts with the car on stands rather than at ride height.

 

This is irrelevant for poly bushes as the pivot point is a lubricated joint (hence the creaking when the grease dries up), not deformation of the rubber as in standard bushes. IMO this is one thing in favour of poly bushes as it makes the wishbone easier to fit, and makes it easier to pull the wishbone down whenever you need to separate the hub from the balljoint or remove the strut (quite often in my case!).

[welshpug 1,657]

so really they act as a bearing rather than the fixed pivot inside a flexible rubber bush, makes sense now

 

makes even more sense when i remember that BMW use proper bearings in the suspension of the M3 CSL.

Edited September 24, 2006 by welshpug

[jackherer 543]

This is irrelevant for poly bushes...

 

damn, I wish I'd realised that before I struggled to tighten the bolts at rideheight on a 205 with very low coilovers recently