A very annoying  suspension noise is coming from the passenger side upper A arm in our '57 Ford car. It sounds like a bird squacking. Both front A arms had new bushings installed some time back, but that's just 3000 miles or so ago.  The left side is fine, but the right side is quite noisy. The Ford manual says that the bushings are not intended to be lubricated. They appear fine, so I checked the upper shock mounting & lubed the Balljoints, just to be sure, but it made no difference. Any idea why one side would be so noisy & the other side is fine. Suggestions for a fix?  - Thanks    


Paul

I don't know the cause, but for a fix I would liberally spray the bushings with a silicon product while having a helper bounce the car.


"FREE SAMPLE"

Coil Spring Insulator at Top maybe?

  

I've only done the A arm bushings with the whole front end apart, so I don't know about doing the top one, or how you could short cut that. I do know the bushings should not be tightened until the weight is back on the car and you've bounced it a couple times. Maybe just loosen the upper bolts (not remove), bounce it a couple times and retighten.

Mark's idea about the spring shifting sounds more likely to me.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Tried Silicone spray & bouncing the car, no improvement.. Also loosened the A Arm end washers & applied Sil-glide, no improvement. Put a piece of tape over the opening into the spring housing to see if it would sound different. Didn't seem to change the sound.. Hope it's not the spring insulator, that's a major job that I can't handle in my garage.. Also took the upper shock rubber off & Sil glided the pieces, no improvement   Any other suggestions? - thanks


Paul

I’ll suggests loosening up both control arm bushing retaining nuts with the vehicle sitting in relaxed position and while the nuts are loose, liberally douse the bushings with silicone spray.  I used brake fluid in the old days but that tends to get messy and especially if it gets on painted surfaces.  Once the bushings have been lubed, bounce the car once more and retighten those nuts.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

If all else fails, maybe get someone to bounce on it and listen at different points with a stethoscope.
 I find some water hose or alike transfers noise great when trying to find noises. 

I had a squeak in the front end that was driving me nuts. I stopped it with Silicone spray. The bushings were dry and cracked but intact. After the initial application I didn’t notice anything, a week or so later I went for a ride and the squeaks seemed to have diminished. A week or so after that I went for a drive and the squeak was 90 percent gone. I applied the silicone spray to the bushings a second time and several days later took the car over a route where I knew just where I would get the squeak, the silence was deafening NO SQUEAK, 100% gone. 🚗

1955 312 T-Bird Warwick, NY

Thanks everybody, I'm working on it. Not very successful initially, but we shall see..


Paul

Try just spraying first and give it time to absorb. I didn’t loosen any bolts or rock the fenders time did the trick. Good luck.🚗

1955 312 T-Bird Warwick, NY