Anyone's front end "creak" when turning????

[Mfr426]

Hey all, I have ALL new components in my 69. I did upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends, a PST front end kit, new shocks, sway bar bushings, etc. I had the front end set up and aligned at an old time Mopar dealership that does Kohr's Kustoms cars. The car tracks dead straight. My only issue is that when I turn the wheel and the body shifts weight I get a "creak" in the front end?

Anyone have a similar issue and/or have any success in getting rid if it?

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks

Mike Roberts

[mikepmcs]

poly bushings??

[Mfr426]

I believe it was. It was about 7 years ago that I bought the kit.

Why do you ask? It sounds like a metal creak?

[mikepmcs]

poly will creak.
don't worry someone smarter than me will respond.  can you describe it more, like right turn left turn, partial turn, front end dipping turn, to the stops only, etc...
get detailed if you can and that will help everone diagnose.

i do however have a slight squeal in my left rear cause i stuffed 295's under there and when i hit a dip while turning in the rear left it gives me a little tire rub(i think/hope that's what it is) what kind of tires in the front you got , are they rubbing possibly(i know you said metal sound).  quick story, this weekend my buddies chevy truck was squealing bad, everyone swore it was a bearing in the alt, compressor, etc.... you name it cause it sounded like metal grinding.  I said give me the belt(he had an extra)  Squeal went away.
v/r
Mike

[471_Magnum]

Funny you should mention it. This weekend I took mine for a spin and when I made a left turn, I got a loud grown. Only at a certain wheel angle though. Almost sounded like something was rubbing.

Tomorrow night I'll give it a grease job and hopefully the noise will go away.

[Brock Samson]

sometimes it's the torsion bars,.. the new Road Runner is doing it and i know that's the cause...

[Mfr426]

This is definitely a metal creak. It does not sound like a failure just a stress creak. Usually if there is the slighest weight thru the front end in a turn (seems to be more turning left than right) it will make the noise. It does not have to be under heavy turing load either.

I would buy the torsion rods 100%. Actually that is where the noise seems to be coming from. If I turn left my right seems to creak/pop. that would make sense as the right would be under stress on a left turn.

Is there anything you can do to correct that torsion noise it that is what it is. I dont worry about a failure just dont like the noise.

Mike R

[4402tuff4u]

Mike, spray silicone to all your poly bushings. Met a guy with a 68 Charger at a local car show and he went with all poly fittings like I did and he said that after a year or so he sprayed silicone on the bushings and it quiet the squeaking at turns. It's worth a try. DO NOT USE WD40(or any petroleum base product)! that will eat the rubber and possibly the poly. I have'nt driven mine yet so I dont know if mine will squeak. Can wait for that problem!

[Mfr426]

Yes the squeak is a nice "feature". 

Thanks for the tip. I'll be under her this weekend so I'll give it a shot. Then I'll work on my car and try the silicone suggestion...

[Animal]

You might find the idle arm is not tight enough,I torqued mine up as per manual,but when I made a turn it growled like mad.Took me ages to find this problem,torqued to 80 pounds & perfect.What happens is the idle arm if not tight,will turn against fixing bolt & grind.Adam.

[Brock Samson]

good to know. 

[bill440rt]

Hey all, I have ALL new components in my 69. I did upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends, a PST front end kit, new shocks, sway bar bushings, etc. I had the front end set up and aligned at an old time Mopar dealership that does Kohr's Kustoms cars. The car tracks dead straight. My only issue is that when I turn the wheel and the body shifts weight I get a "creak" in the front end?

Anyone have a similar issue and/or have any success in getting rid if it?

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks

Mike Roberts

Hey Mike,
My '68 does almost the same thing. I get that metal or "body" sounding creak when making a turn also. It does not sound like bushings to me, I had a Challenger with poly bushings that creaked, & I know what that sounded like for comparison.
At first, I thought it was the right side torsion bar crossmember, it had a very small rust hole where it met the rocker. I made a heavy patch panel & welded it in. Nope, wasn't it. Car still creaks.

[Big Sugar]

It may be your Steering box mount on your "K" Member !... "Chryco"(Neil) gave me this little tip when I got my 66 chassis beefed up , If your running wider tires you may be putting extra load on the steering gear box mount on the K member. If you have a look at the backside of the mount you'll see it's open at the end , Kind of a triangular shape. Cut yourself a little piece of 14 gauge metal (or better) and weld in the end of the mount. Cost ......almost insignificant.
Mine was done it took a lot of the swish out of low speed steering. No creaking or Groaning !

While your there weld on a set of lower control arm stiffining plates (Firm Feel, Mancini,)

I had this done at a chassis shop we also added Sub frame connectors did a little gusseting and put a little nerf bar under the "K" member to protect the oil pan (Saved me twice to date)

Theres a few pics here.
http://66-67charger.com/v-web/gallery/Big-Sugars-Big-Sugar-%21%21?page=5

Ron (Creakfree)