Milodyne bushings, worse than poly.

[grainboy]

I recently purchased a milodyne front end rebuild kit off ebay, from Laurel mountain mustang, And after my initial disgust of all the parts labeled "Made in Mexico", I rebuild my front end. The kit contained UCA, LCA and sway bar links, as well as ball joints installed. Kit was easy to install, I greased everything with a zerk, and a bit on the bolt of the LCA, and lined her up with a bubble caster/camber guage, and went for a ride. Steering and handlng were great, exept for one thing. SQUEAKS! I thought iniitally the LCA bolts were too tight, so I took off the nut, pried on the housing and oiled the sides. Did absolutely nothing for the squeak. I put my hand on whatever I could reach, while bouncing the suspension, and noise and an undeniable vibration coming from the back bushing of the UCA. I re greased while moving suspension, and the squeak stopped, for 2 seconds, then got as loud or louder. No question where the noise is coming from. My next move would be to remove the spring and UCA and try to dismantle and grease properly. This kit was advertised as NON-SQUEAK MILODYNE. Yeah right. Any suggestions?

 

[c24sc]

I recently purchased a milodyne front end rebuild kit off ebay, from Laurel mountain mustang, And after my initial disgust of all the parts labeled "Made in Mexico", I rebuild my front end. The kit contained UCA, LCA and sway bar links, as well as ball joints installed. Kit was easy to install, I greased everything with a zerk, and a bit on the bolt of the LCA, and lined her up with a bubble caster/camber guage, and went for a ride. Steering and handlng were great, exept for one thing. SQUEAKS! I thought iniitally the LCA bolts were too tight, so I took off the nut, pried on the housing and oiled the sides. Did absolutely nothing for the squeak. I put my hand on whatever I could reach, while bouncing the suspension, and noise and an undeniable vibration coming from the back bushing of the UCA. I re greased while moving suspension, and the squeak stopped, for 2 seconds, then got as loud or louder. No question where the noise is coming from. My next move would be to remove the spring and UCA and try to dismantle and grease properly. This kit was advertised as NON-SQUEAK MILODYNE. Yeah right. Any suggestions?

yikes. guess when i get the car out in the next couple of weeks, i'm going to have squeeks too. What camber/caster gauge are you using? Wanted to use something to get it relatively close before i take it in for an alignment.

Thanks

Nate

 

[grainboy]

I had a thought, The strut rod bushings were much narrower than the stock units. With the bushings being thinner, the strut rod nut needed an extra washer, and needed tightening to the ends of the thread to get tight. Perhaps this is putting the entire system in a bind, therefore causing the back bushing of the UCA to moan. I am going to remove the strut rod and bounce the car and see if it still makes noise.

 

[woodsnake]

I've been looking at the milodyne material as well, seemed a decent blend between stock rubber and polyurethane hard...
let us know what happens.....

 

[SadbutTrue]

NPD and other places pretty much insist you use rubber strut rod bushings, and that poly or similar ones are terrible for the job. Might want to try a set of rubber bushings there and see how the ride is.

 

[180 Out]

Hold it right there Pilgrim. The upper control arm is steel on steel. If it's squeaking even after a lube I'd say the nut is screwed on too tight.

 

[DK832]

Dump the rubber/poly! Just went to solid strut rod (Rosehill Performance). End of squeaks and much nicer run into the corners under braking.

 

[TheShagg]

..noise and an undeniable vibration coming from the back bushing of the UCA.

Sorry, everyone settle down. You can tell the fire department to go home. There is no plastic of any kind in that joint, so it doesnt matter what material you buy. That IS metal on metal in every kit.

 

[grainboy]

Even being metal on metal, that is where the noise was coming from. Had to back off the nuts until quiet. Then welded flat iron to keep nut from backing off any further.

 

[Rusty67]

Hold it right there Pilgrim. The upper control arm is steel on steel. If it's squeaking even after a lube I'd say the nut is screwed on too tight.

Sorry, everyone settle down. You can tell the fire department to go home. There is no plastic of any kind in that joint, so it doesnt matter what material you buy. That IS metal on metal in every kit.

You guys beat me to it. It is possible the A-arms are sub-standard quality or that they were assembled improperly.

I recently purchased a milodyne front end rebuild kit off ebay, from Laurel mountain mustang, And after my initial disgust of all the parts labeled "Made in Mexico", I rebuild my front end.

Mexican 302 blocks are rather desirable as they are stronger then many of the USA made blocks. Mexico's manufacturing quality is actually a lot better then you would think. Would you rather have it say "Made in China ROC" ?

I would also recomend going back to stock strut rod bushings and having a compitent alignment shop at least double check what you have it aligned at.

 

[grainboy]

Would you rather have it say "Made in China ROC

What I would rather have are parts manufactured and sold right here in America. I would gladly pay more to keep the money right here in the USA. That is why there will never be a nissan, toyota or honda in my garage.