swaybar noise/creaking

[dudeling7]

hey, after i upgraded to itr 22mm swaybar i got this squeaky creaking noise from the swaybar, would this be because you need to install it as close to ground level or do all the bushes need to be lubed up?

i sprayed silicone spray on the d bushes and it helped a bit, would i need to do it on the endlinks as well to stop this, anyone experiences similar squeaks lol

[vinnY]

lots of grease for the d bushes me thinks
mine stopped after i lubed it up :)

[Zilli]

im used to it now, it's even worse with no interior... i like to think the car is having a stretch :-P

[bennjamin]

what kit do you have ?
The whiteline kit for this car , is known to creak and groan.


you need to use ALOT of grease , and also properly torque the swaybar when it is totally static on flat ground.

[dudeling7]

got the OEM ITR 22mm one on ASR.

haha yeh i read you had to have it on flat ground, its hard when you have a low car though lol. might jsut need to grease them a lot more :)

[EKVTIR-T]

Jack the rear up and put wooden blocks or something under the wheels then let the jack down.

[[ricer]]

got the OEM ITR 22mm one on ASR.

haha yeh i read you had to have it on flat ground, its hard when you have a low car though lol. might jsut need to grease them a lot more :)

oem bushes?
it shouldnt make noises with oem bushes...
well mine doesnt anyway

[dudeling7]

haha yeh silly me though, i jsut slapped them on without any lube at all. so i think thats the problem. if not then will take it off and put it on properly while the car is on the ground.

[beeza]

My rear sway is doing this now...haha Zilli! :)

My set up is 22mm EK9 sway bar + ASR brace.I used a heap of grease...what's the best thing I can do here?
I will have to double check the torque settings.

[BlitZ]

dont over tigten....
make sure u havent got a busted subframe..

and alot of grease

[Limbo]

mine made noises also. But that was cos i used a whiteline bar.
The noise comes from it all being so stiff now.
You should use lithium grease or at least a high performance/temp grease, not silicone grease
Also i put washers between the bolts (helped abit on noise). THen the last thing that i did that stopped the noise was put bling LCA (I was suprised also, as i put them on not for that reason)

It makes very minor creaking when going up and down my driveway but otherwise its mostly all gone now.

I have the whiteline 22mm, ASR & aftermarket LCA now

[EG30]

shouldnt have any noise any all from the orig Honda ITR setup, so once you grease it up properly you should have any noise in the long term

in my eg with the whilteine bar, you can grease it up but the noise returns eventually but it's a small price to pay for the killer balance it provides.

[gerard]

I used a water resistant grease (when I had whitelines) so it would not wash away easily. You can get them at places like repco or bursens....intended for boats

[JohnL]

Poly bushes need lubrication, but if the bush is too tight on the bar (or tube or bolt or whatever is articulating in/on the bush) then the grease tends to get squeezed out, and the articulation in the bush stiffens up and things start squeeking and/or groaning, and possibly worse ('stiction' in bushes is not good as it introduces some degree of non-linearity into the suspension behaviour).

Anything articulating in a poly bush should be able to do so with zero binding or significant stiffness in motion.
E.g.:
If you disconnect the end links you should be able to move the ARB ends up and down quite easily with no significant resistance at the D bushes. If the ARB motion was stiff than you'd need to look at the D bush tightness around the ARB shaft. The same would go for bush tightness at the ARB links.

If excessive bush tightness exists then you find out why and fix it...

[beeza]

So undo the endinks and back the D brackets bolts off until there's a blittle bit of free play? and more grease while your at it.Is that what's best?
Cheers guys!

[JohnL]

So undo the endinks and back the D brackets bolts off until there's a blittle bit of free play? and more grease while your at it.Is that what's best?
Cheers guys!

No, you can't just loosen things up until you get free free motion. The various nuts and bolts do have to be tight enough so as to be secure and safe.

I went through this with the rear ARB bushes on my car, and you really need to figure out in exactly what manner the bush is too tight, and then use an appropriate new (read 'sharp') file to 'adjust' the bush clearances. Filing polyurethane to remove material is possible, but the qualities that make it wear resistant also make it a pain in the arse to file!

In my case the 'D' bushes were too tight and this was caused by the clamp squeezing the bush too tightly from the outside of the bush when the clamp was tightened. I had to file the outside of the bush to ease things up, though equally I could also have filed the internal bore of the bush to increase it's size slightly (it was just easier to file the outside as I could hold the bush in a vice while I filed, and filed, and filed , and filed, and ...).

With poly bushes you want zero clearance, but you do not want any degree of 'interference fit'. Correctly fitting poly bushes isn't always a case of just installing them...

[beeza]

Hmmmm Gotcha.Cheers John.

[beeza]

Getting accustomed to the sound now :)

[T-onedc2]

Since I fitted 23mm ITR sway bar to my car I've had really bad creaking in the rear, I removed D brackets and lubed the bushes which only improved it for a day. Recently I did it again but checked my endlinks where they bolt to the sway bar, as I turned with my hand I heard the creaking noise, so lubed them also and been silent since.

[dudeling7]

yeah i had this problem really really bad. i mean my exhaust frequency would set off the swaybar creak at certain rpm hahaha, but then i got used to it.

i jsut applied silicone lube every couple of days around the D brackets and endlink jints and now the sound has almost completely gone away apart from the occasional thunk when hitting humps and stuff in the road.

but since then i also removed the sound deadening from my boot and its fairly silent now.

[beeza]

h yeah,silicone spray should be sweet then yeh?

[T-onedc2]

h yeah,silicone spray should be sweet then yeh?
Silicone spray will go where you want it but also where you don't and it'll attract dust. I use a Castrol grease, red in colour can't remember the name.
Silicone is quite thin also, as the dust attracts it will get into the nooks and crannies faster than with grease meaning faster wearing bushes.

[dudeling7]

oh yeh i saw that red castrol tub of grease, might pick that up next time im messing with my suspension. lol ive taken things of one too many times that i dont wanna have to do it for a while

[82911]

For convenience, you can get Lithium grease in a spray can, makes maintaining the bushes easier and less mess. Though this is a maintenance only solution, you should install the bushes correctly with the appropriate clearance and grease to begin with.
I have found that an annular groove in the inside of the bush(carved with a small tipped carbide bur) helps to retain more of the grease and stop it all squashing out the sides as soon as you tighten up the clamps.

[beeza]

I sprayed some on there,I just wont spray anymore.Cheers!

[AE092]

I thought my rear shocks were rooted so had the car undergo a Pedders $14/28 point suspension check. Rear shocks cleared but rear bushings failed.

Could that be the cause of my creaking? It creaks when going over speed bumps and bumpy/uneven roads. I had a Solid adjustable Whiteline rear sway fitted.

What lube do you guys use? Got any good ones i should be looking at?