Maybe its just me but I believe poly bushings don't like the cold weather they are now experiencing here in Michigan. I check them every three months and re-grease them if necessary. The last time was mid-October. So the squeeking/creeking I'm hearing can't be from lack of grease. It has to be because of the cold weather, right?

As for the anti-roll bar endlinks, how often should their bushings be re-greased? When I put them on the car back in May, a fair amount of the Energy Suspension goop was applied. Could the squeeking/creeking I'm hearing be from the endlinks?

 

I wonder if the real problem is maybe not your poly bushings but perhaps a shock mounting point. I live in Ohio and l have a minor creeking sound coming from something in the rear of the car the last couple of weeks. I had it last winter also. It went away all summer long when it was warm. I have not been able to zero in on where my noise is coming from. Also, I should say that I still have a totally stock suspension.
Scott

 

I used poly bushing suspension parts for seven years on my 96 GT while in S. Korea, they did get noisier during the winter... but my bushings were solid pieces, not like most of the three piece bushings used today. It also, may have to do with the type of grease you are using, if your area has lots of rain or snow, some grease will wash out quicker than others, for high moisture areas, marine grade synthetic should be used...

If you suspect the bushings, grease them, if it quits, that was the problem. If not, you need to look at shocks and sway bar mounts.

Bobby M.

 

Which leads to my question. Does petroleum based grease degrade poly bushings? I can't get marine grade synthetic grease here, or at least haven't been able to find it. So I've been using Slick 50 grease on all my bushings for almost two years. Just got done greasing them last week and all the bushings were O.K.

In reference to your comment on lots of rain and high moisture areas, I can vouch for that. Very wet and humid here. When it's cold and wet outside, I can hear the bushings creak when I get in and out of the car, but not while I'm driving.

 

No, petroleum grease should not degrade poly bushings, unless you get some kind of gritty contamination in the grease....

I would think you could get synthetic chassis grease at your BX or base hobby shop, if your base has a hobby shop. If not, you are stuck with using regular grease. It just means you will have to grease the bushings more often.

I know it's irritating to hear the squeaking and creaking, but it doesn't mean the bushings are being damaged or are degrading.

Bobby M.

 

Nah, they don't have it on base either and the creaking doesn't bother me. Wonder why so many people say petroleum grease degrades poly bushings? I grease them everytime I change the oil and like I said, no problems. Thx for the input.

 

I have Hellwig swaybars that come with poly bushings. Despite using the supplied synthetic grease they would start creaking after about six weeks and I had to regrease them. This got old after the 3rd or 4th time so I spent hours researching a cure. They have now been silent for the last 6 months. The key, I think, was wrapping the bars with Teflon tape. I then smeared the area with some old Sta-Lube Moly Graphite grease I had lying around but I suspect it was the Teflon tape that really did the trick. An interesting side effect of having the bars thoroughly lubed is a more comfortable ride with a noticeable decrease in harshness.