I have a very loud/annoying squeak coming from the left upper control arm/pivot shafts on my 95 Avenger ES. There are no bushings that I can see. All of the suspension is tight and in good shape. I removed the whole upper control arm and disassembled the shafts, and soaked them in some oil for awhile before reassembling everything and all was quiet for a week. Now a week later, the squeak is back with a vengeance. Can't explain the reason for the squeak. Anyone have any ideas? Are there supposed to be bushings or spacers where the shafts connect to the control arms? The parts diagrams don't show anything (#4 in picture), but I'm running out of ideas.

TIA to anyone that has any advice/suggestions.


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They don't come with bushings. I just bought some new ones and they don't have them at all (that I can see).
How old are your upper control arms? Is your car lowered? Are they the original control arms? Is the outer rim, by the balljoint, show signs of rubbing the inner fender well?

 

I didn't think there were any bushings either, but this page at http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...68&PTSet=Ashows them. The only thing I can figure out is that maybe I have to take a air hammer to the pivot shafts and see if I can knock the center out of the bottom part where the bolt goes through the shaft. It lookes solid but I can't fathom where those bushings would go otherwise.
As far as I can tell, it is the original control arm. No. the car isn't lowered or modified in any way. There is no sign of rubbing or binding anywhere. Everything is tight and the ball joint boot is in good shape. When I reassembled the control arm, I didn't measure the distances from the edge of the ball joint to the shafts first although everything lined up good when I installed everything. Maybe that would have made a difference. I'll find out afterwhile when I go out to do everything again. It's too early to fire the compressor up right now. The neighbors would howl.
Thanks for your help and time. I'll post back what I find out. Any more questions, just ask. I'll try to answer all that I can.

 

The only thing about removing those brass cylinder guides is that there would be A LOT of play with the bolt and rubber, unless the bushing has the same outer diameter as the inner diameter of the opening, or an edge to edge fit. Now, you may be able to add washers to the head and nut side of the bolt, but they can't be thick. The other thing that pops into my head is that the bolt has been tightened down too tight that cylinder sleeve now rubs the control arm or even the head and nut. The next time you're able to remove the UCA, move the shafts back and forth to verify them being the culprits and where the rubbing accurs. There's really not too many places it can rub, lol.

Another question, when do you hear the squeaking? Is it only when you turn? When you go over bumps? When you get in your car? When only driven for a short amount of time? If so, does it stop after friction has warmed everything up?

Since you'll have the wheel off already, check everything else again and move every movable part. It may be a combination of things too.

 

I'll answer your questions first.
I hear the squeaking whenever I turn the wheel, whether the car is moving or standing still. Only when there us a load on the suspension. I will also squeak when hitting a bump, etc. in the road. It doesn't squeak when entering the car, but I'm a lightweight. Doesn't matter how long it's been driven. It squeaks when not driven at all, if I turn the wheels back and forth. It doesn't stop when warmed up. We've checked all the other suspension components and everything seems tight and aligned.

I don't know for sure, but will find out what the bushings at Advance Auto are made from. They look like a type of rubber, but I agree with you that if they are, I would think that they would introduce too much play in the arm. The bushings shown look to about the same as the inner diameter of the shaft and the same width as the inner guide. The UCA looks to be a fairly simple design with only a few parts. I can't imagine where the bushings shown would go, if not in the bottom part of the shaft.
I thought about the washer idea too, but I wouldn't think that should be necessary for smooth operation not to mention they'll eventually wear out due to the need to be very thin? Just thinking out loud.
My son did use the small impact when we installed the arm. The book calls for 41 Ft-lbs. It may be too tight, but it squeaked before we touched it. Maybe a PO tightened it too tight. I'll check that too.
Why did you have to replace your shafts, and did news shafts correct whatever it was?
Again thanks for your help and ideas.

 

Ok...Where to begin. I was wrong. The squeak was back, but it wasn't the same squeak I fixed week before last. The new squeak was coming from the lower ball joint. It's still tight with no play but the boot was badly torn and the joint was dry. When we got the car up in the air and the wheel off, I had my son turn the wheels and the squeak was definately coming from the lower suspension. I checked it the last time we worked on it and it was fine. Don't know what tore the boot, but we have had several wet, rainy days and I suspect that had something to do with the grease washing away from the ball joint. I lubed it as well as I could, but as badly as the rubber boot is torn, I don't expect it will last long at all. It should be okay long enough to make an appt. with the local dealer to have it fixed. Strangely enough, all's quiet for now.
silvercoupe97, thanks for your time and advice on this. It is appreciated.

 

That's great that you found it!
I had a feeling that you'd find it just by having another look I often find issues on the second, third, even fourth go around.

 

To finish this thread, I took the car to one of the local Dodge dealers Wednesday morning at 9:30am. They called me Thurs. afternoon to tell me the car was done and ready to be picked up. Got both lower control arms and ball joints replaced gratis due to recall. Everything's quiet again and the dealer got a new customer if anything pops up that I don't feel like tackling myself. This forum gets the credit for this experience, as I wouldn't have even been aware that these cars have "issues" where the front suspension is concerned. Thanks.

 

That's great Dennis! Thanks for posting with the fix too.