Front suspension creaking noises

[TripleTransAm]

After my unsuccessful session at the dealer trying to address my taillight issues, I hopped in the car to go to work (I've been missing a LOT of work time lately thanks to this car!). When backing up, the first thing I noticed was a solid creaking sound from the front, very similar to the type of noise one gets from a bad master cylinder. Due to the nature of my visit (changing the brake booster), I immediately demanded they look at it in the service bay right away... I was not happy.

Turns out the bolts dealing with the new-for-2003 aluminum cross member (to which the rack/pinion is mounted) were torqued WAY under spec. This is what was causing the creaking sound as the suspension moved and the car rocked under braking. Particularly bad were the bolts immediately next to the upper A-arm 'hinge' bolts (for lack of a better word to describe them).

Why it became noticeable at the dealer? I suspect the time the car spent idling in the service bay resulted in heat soak of some sort, and that resulted in a more audible creaking. I'm glad to say the car is now nice and tight-riding... I would almost go so far as to say that it rides better than it has in the past few weeks (possibly I was hearing some of that noise during driving and chalked it up to poor build quality or something, and only really noticed it today).

So, next time you have a chance, have all those bolts related to the crossmember and A-arms checked for proper torque.

[mdmarauder]

Hmmm? I just took mine in yesterday for a clanking in the front end. Of course no ploblem found. I wonder if I could have the same problem?

[Ross]

I've heard something similar. Can you give me a little more idea where those bolts are? In elementary language for my non-mechanical brain, please?:confused: Also, what is the proper torque for them? I can save a few hours and torque them myself if I know the spec and which bolts they are. Thanks for the help.

[merc406]

I think a couple recalls should be made, one for this and one for the Wire harness.

[Fourth Horseman]

...and one for the popping from the rear suspension that nobody seems to be able to fix. :depress:

[merc406]

4th, your problem may be the trialing arm bolts. If they were not torqued with a load, that is the car on the ground, they may be binding, had a similar problem with a Mustang that I spliced back in the 80's.

[Fourth Horseman]

Originally posted by merc406
4th, your problem may be the trialing arm bolts. If they were not torqued with a load, that is the car on the ground, they may be binding, had a similar problem with a Mustang that I spliced back in the 80's.

Interesting. I hadn't thought of that (neither has the dealership's service center). I'll consult the shop manual and check what they're supposed to be torqued to.

Are they safe to loosen and retorque or are they the type that need to be replaced with new parts if you losen them up?

Thanks for the tip.

[MassMarauder]

Ford front end parts SUCKKK.
If any of mine fail under warranty I'm going to ask the dealer I can by Moogs and have them install them for zip.

[merc406]

4th, you can do it yourself in the drive or have them do it. If they use a lift, make sure they put it on the chassis one that lifts the car from the wheels and tires, not the frame lift that will extend the suspension. Loosen the bolts to let it relax on level ground then tighten them back up, simple as that. Bounce the car a few times when the bolts are loose. Hope it works for your Marauder.
Lar

[Fourth Horseman]

Originally posted by merc406
4th, you can do it yourself in the drive or have them do it. If they use a lift, make sure they put it on the chassis one that lifts the car from the wheels and tires, not the frame lift that will extend the suspension. Loosen the bolts to let it relax on level ground then tighten them back up, simple as that. Bounce the car a few times when the bolts are loose. Hope it works for your Marauder.
Lar

I'll give it a go myself tomorrow. Thanks for the help. I'll keep you posted on how it works out. :up:

[Fourth Horseman]

Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate today, so I didn't get a chance to try this fix to see if it helps.

I may need to go find a lift, though, as I'm not sure I have enough room to get in under the car and break the nuts loose. I'll try again tomorrow, weather permitting.

[merc406]

4th, pick up a couple of ramps from Pep Boys or whatever auto store you have near you, it'll make it alot easier and you can do the whole job on them. you'll also find them usefull as towell racks when tipped up.

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by Fourth Horseman

I may need to go find a lift, though, as I'm not sure I have enough room to get in under the car and break the nuts loose.


We had to remove the wheel to get at all bolts that were loose, on the passenger side.

[Fourth Horseman]

Just an update. Had nice weather today and some free time so I backed my Marauder up onto the ramps and crawled underneath, torque wrench in hand, and checked everything out.

As per merc406's suggestion I loosed all the bolts for the upper and lower control arms on both sides of the car. I then rocked the car back and forth as much as I could (damn it's heavy) and then tightened them back down to what the shop manual indicated for ft-lbs. I actually couldn't get to the front upper-arm bolts to tighten them down as my torque wrench and socket wouldn't fit between the bolt head and the tire. I had to drive off the ramps, jack the back end up and pull the wheels to get to them.

While underneath the car I checked the torque on the shock mount bolts, the watts link bolts (that I could get the wrench on, two evaded my best efforts) and the sway bar link bolts. As you may recall my dealer replaced my rear sway bar (twice, they put the wrong bar on first). I found that the sway bar link bolts were not torqued down enough. They're supposed to be 15 ft-lbs. but weren't anyway near that tight. Way to go Kreuger Lincoln Mercury service dept. :mad:

Anyway, after getting everything torqued back down to spec I took her out on the road for some testing. I didn't get as much testing in as I'd like as my light was failing and I didn't bring my glasses (lousy night vision), but I'll test some more tomorrow. I did hear my rear end pop-squeek when going diagonally through a gutter, but it seemed much reduced, so maybe we're on to something here.

I'll post tomorrow after more testing. Just wanted to fill everybody in and thank merc406 again for the suggestion. :up:

[Fourth Horseman]

Just a followup to the followup: sadly, the rear suspension squeek-pop noise was not resolved by loosening and then torquing down the upper and lower control arm bolts to spec.

It was worth a try, though. The hunt for a solution goes on...

BTW, sorry for hijacking your thread, TripleTransAm.

[Pantherman]

Pop-squeek is a sound bad spot welds can make. Remove your luggage compartment mats, spare and jack. Have your significant other take you for a ride in the trunk. Now that Fords have glow-in-the-dark emergengy releases, it doesn't take complete trust, and the Marauder has a real four body trunk. A stethoscope could be helpfull but not really necessary. If you have a bad weld, you should be able to locate it by sound and feel.

[TAF]

You're serious....you really meant that? ^^^^

[RF Overlord]

No way on God's Green Earth will I let my wife put me in the trunk for ANYTHING...T.S...the squeak will have to stay...

:help:

:lol:

[Bigdogjim]

Maybe we can rent the guy in the service department for a couples of hours? They don't seam to be busy?

[jgc61sr2002]

RF - You don't trust your wife? If she don't let you out just pull the emergency handle. He He.

[merc406]

That's upsetting 4th, the only other thing I can think of that we had noises with Ford products were the shock mounts.

[Fourth Horseman]

Originally posted by merc406
That's upsetting 4th, the only other thing I can think of that we had noises with Ford products were the shock mounts.

I checked the shock mounts for torque, don't know what else to look for. Might have to just live with the noise, but I'm not happy about that. :down:

[BRSMERC]

Hi:
I had been plagued with the creak also. After a few tries and a pry bar, I found my problem. One end of the upper assembly is held solidly with a bolt and bushing. The other end is held in a similar way but seems to be pushed onto a split bushing. The split bushing is longer than the casting mount and when the securing bolt is tightened, it tightens against the bushing. This leaves a space between casting mount, bolt, and upper assembly. The creak is the casting moving along the bushing. This could be simulated with the pry bar.
There does not seem to be a solution other than engineering a spacer for each side.
I did the next best thing and squirted some oil in the spaces. My creak disappeared and has never been heard since. I re-lubricate every year.
Brian

[RUSTY]

This is great news BRSMERC. It is hard to see the exact location because of the close up, but I am going to have a look tomorrow.
Thankyou

[Aren Jay]

Too bad Tripletransam sold his Marauder.