Front suspension started squeaking after getting an alignment

[MaximRecoil]

I replaced all of the bushings in the frontend with new Moog (rubber) ones in 2011, and they didn't ever squeak. This summer I took it to the Chrysler dealership to get a frontend alignment, and while the alignment made the car go nice and straight down the road, it now squeaks quite loudly (especially when it rains or is still wet from recent rain). On a hot day, the squeaking isn't as bad, and after driving it for a few minutes it mostly goes away (but always comes back the next morning).

Any idea what happened during the alignment procedure to cause this, and can I fix it without screwing up the alignment?

[MaximRecoil]

When we installed the new bushings in 2011, we tightened everything up with the car on the lift (frame lift, not a drive-on lift). I've since read/heard that the lower control arm bolts should be tightened with the car sitting on the ground, else it can tear the lower control arm bushings.

I didn't have any squeaking in the frontend for the ~two years before getting a frontend alignment, at least not anything that was noticeable. When the dealership guy did the alignment, he loosened those two 15/16" lower control arm nuts while it was on a drive-on lift (the same as if it was sitting on the ground), and he didn't get them very tight when he was finished. It is hard to tighten those two nuts with a breaker bar unless you can stand underneath the car, because the strut rod and sway bar combine to conspire against you, so he used a regular size half-inch drive ratchet to tighten them, which obviously won't get 15/16" nuts very tight.

It started squeaking the next day.

We noticed the 15/16" nuts weren't very tight when we changed the torsion bars a couple of weeks later. So these nuts which had last been loosened and sort-of-tightened while sitting on a drive-on lift, were once again tightened with a breaker bar while on a frame lift. This didn't change anything with regard to the squeaks.

Today I loosened those nuts while the car was sitting in the driveway, bounced the front of the car up and down several times with my bodyweight, and then tightened them with a big Snap-on 1/2" drive ratchet that has a breaker-bar-length handle (it can be done, but you only have one or two clicks' worth of ratchet movement [given that it was a 6-point socket and it was not a fine-tooth ratchet] in between the strut rod and the sway bar). It still squeaks.

So, do you think my lower control arm bushings got torn somewhere along the way? Do torn rubber bushings have a tendency to squeak?

[cdr]

try tightening the upper control arms.

[green69rt]

Tighten the shock mount nuts.  Not a lot, maybe just a couple of turns on each.  Where is the squeak??  front, back, left, right???

[MaximRecoil]

Tighten the shock mount nuts.  Not a lot, maybe just a couple of turns on each.  Where is the squeak??  front, back, left, right???

All of the shock mount nuts, top and bottom (4 total)?

I can't pinpoint where it is coming from, other than from the front of the car, and it is most noticeable at low speeds, such as driving out of my bumpy dirt driveway, or taking off from a stop sign on a bumpy street. 

[charger Downunder]

Get back on the bumpy driveway and spray one bush at a time with water and go for a drive and continue doing the next bush and redo the one you just did until it stops. You will find the culprit.

[green69rt]

Get back on the bumpy driveway and spray one bush at a time with water and go for a drive and continue doing the next bush and redo the one you just did until it stops. You will find the culprit.

Good thought.  And yes, a little tightness on the shock mount bolts can make a big diff.   I chased a really annoying sound on mine.

[MaximRecoil]

Get back on the bumpy driveway and spray one bush at a time with water and go for a drive and continue doing the next bush and redo the one you just did until it stops. You will find the culprit.

I've heard of doing that, but the thing is: the squeaking is worse in my car when it is raining or still wet from recent rain, so intuitively it doesn't seem like it would work, but perhaps intuition is wrong in this case. On a dry, hot day, the squeaking is far less noticeable, and quickly goes away almost completely by the time I get to the garage, about a half mile away (until the next morning, that is).

The first thing I'll try is tightening the shock nuts, since that's the easiest thing to try.

[cdr]

well ,it did not make noise before the alignment,to do an alignment the upper arms have to be loosened. 

[green69rt]

well ,it did not make noise before the alignment,to do an alignment the upper arms have to be loosened. 

Makes sense, also if they are loose you will lose your alignment faster.

[chargerbr549]

I just lowered my 69 Charger 1" front and rear and realigned the front end then it started doing an annoying squeaking in the front end I found that the drivers side strut bushing wasn't happy till I sprayed some WD40 on it, for now it's quiet but  who knows how long that will last.