Hello!
My T-bird started to make a strange squeaking noise comming from the front right wheel. First I thought that's a brake pad squeaking (they sometimes do strange noises). Than I noticed that this sound comes from the suspension. It's mosly audible while turning the wheels at low speeds, but also on road bumps. I tried to "bounce" this side of car in the garage and the sound was horrible!
You can hear it on this short video: http://www.thunderbird.org.pl/squeaking.AVI
I think it's a ball joint, but I'm not sure about it. If it's a ball joint, can I lube it? Where is the grease fitting?
(http://www.thunderbird.org.pl/susp-1.JPG)
(http://www.thunderbird.org.pl/susp-2.JPG)
(http://www.thunderbird.org.pl/susp-3.JPG)
I think you are right about the ball joint. Mine sueaked when they went bad. The OEM joints do not have a grease fitting. The replacements will have fittings.
You're right, it's a ball joint. The factory ones can't be greased and tend to go dry. If the ball joint isn't worn you can make it last a bit longer by making a very small hole in the rubber boot and injecting some grease in with a needle-point grease gun tip, and do it again at every oil change. I did this on both my 88 Cougar and 87 Sport - both cars were low mileage and sat for months, which seems to cause this problem.
Now, that being said, it appears from the pics that your ball joint is worn. That metal "disc" in the center bottom of the joint, where it looks like there should be a grease nipple, is actually a wear indicator and should stick out further than the rest of the bottom surface. If it is flush or recessed (as it appears to be in those pics) the ball joint is worn out and needs replacing.
Is there a way to lube it temporarly anyway? Can I drive with squeaking ball joint for next few hundred miles?
I've just checked RockAuto for ball joints and found that they have Motorcraft and Moog fo about 50 bucks and Spicer RED for... $9.00? Do you have any experience with Spicer - it's hard to believe they have a ball joint for 1/5 of normal price?
Think I'll have to replace the control arm bushings along with the ball joints. Do you think that a set from MOOG is a good idea? Or maybe some kind of poly bushings you can recommend?
I'll do it tomorrow, to get rid of that sound just for a while before I'll replace it. Good idea!
I thought someone plugged a grease nipple hole there! :D You're right it's flush. OK, let's spray some WD-40 on the suspension bolts :(
Here's a place if you haven't seen yet.
http://www.cheperformance.com/cartgenie/prodList.asp?scat=56
By the way what do they drive in Krakow?
Krakow is 3rd biggest city in Poland with about 1 million citizens (that's a lot here) and there are four Thunderbirds here: my '87, two MN12's and one from 1962 in perfect condition. On the roads here you can find all the cars available all over Europe. Fiat and Daewoo (now Korean-Chevy) are very popular here. Euro-Ford (Escort, Focus, Mondeo), Opel (GM in Europe: Astra, Vectra) Peugeot (206, 307), Citroen, Renault (Megane, Kangoo), Honda (mostly Civics and HRV's), Toyota (usually Corolla or Avensis), Skoda (Fabia, Felicia) and VW (mostly Golf, Passat) are pretty common too. There are many Ford Focus' used as fleet cars. In the 'snobbish' parts of the city you can find Mercedes, Volvo, Subaru, Audi, Alfa-Romeo. I noticed that Mazda RX8 is gaining on popuarity too.
They must get mad when you park your boat.Go fox!
Yeah, but I guess they are happy when they hear my squeaking ball joint! :flame:
Hold your head up high, You got the cure.
Shipping got to be high for your parts?.though!
Keep in mind the squeak will not go away instantly - you'll have to drive it a bit to get the grease worked into the joint. This greasing method doesn't force the grease into the joint the way a normal grease nipple would - you have to rely on gravity and seepage :hick:
You're gunna want to be careful. Mine squeaked and only lasted ~4000mi before one let go. Thankfully I was only going 20mph when it happened.
What about mixing the grease with eg. axle oil?
USPS air mail priority shipping for two ball joints and set of control arm bushings may be around $50.00! But a set of those parts will be about $150.00.
here is a pic of your balljoint inspection,,,,
Thanks! Too bad it still means one thing... I need new ball joints. Do you know any good quality/low price ball joints manufacturer? I found T-bird ball joints at AutoZone for about $25.00 each, but the manufacturer is unknown.
What do you think of using this grease there? It's liquid when sprayed ad than dries out after a few minutes:
http://www.crceurope.com/wwwcrc/tds/TCA3%20MULTILUBE.PDF
If it comes out of a spray can it'll probably be too thin to work in a ball joint. I just used high temp wheel bearing/chassis grease in mine, I squirted it in with a needle-tip grease gun I had for my chain saw bar
high quality, and low price usually dont go together in the same sentence.
get the balljoints from autozone or wherever,, they will be fine man. Like thunderchicken said,, use grease in there but if you wanna get it to blend in a little quicker, then spray some wd40 in there as well.
If you can,, and you have one,, get a needle valve that you use to blow up a football or basket ball and stick that in the grease gun fitting. use that to poke a hole in the rubber boot and send in some grease.
They are a little bit of a c to change if you have not done them yet,, just let us know before you do it,, there are some safety precautions ,, atleast i think so.
Yes, there are safety concerns, unless you want a coil spring in the teeth :hick: You have to keep the control arm supported when you undo the ball joint, or as soon as you free it from the spindle it'll be driven into the ground and the spring will come out at you
Spring in the teeth sounds like fun! :hick:
I was just wondering... Do I have to take the strut out and remove the brake disc to undo the ball joint from the spindle?
I'm not sure if poly bushings will be a good choice. Have you tried them? I'm affraid thay may cause a harsh ride, what do you think?
I haven't personaly,But I was considering them.
I don't see how they can cause a harsh ride.
Ball Joints:
I have a set of MOOG ball joints on the Bird, and used a lot of times MOOG stuff for direction parts, ect, and never have any problems with this company stuff...
Grease plug:
For filling grease in the original balljoint, You will be use a 3/16 drill in the center and put a "self tapping" grease tip in the hole, no???, I never tried, but maybe it will work, and with this You will able to fill with a grease gun...
Danger with coils springs:
Last Year when I changed My 4 coils springs on the Bird, a misplaced chain over the coil was suddenly go out, and I received the drivers side coil right on the left side of the neck, maybe, the coils pulled out at 400mph, I was very very lucky it not received on the head, brrrrr!!!...
Fpr the right side I purchased a coil compressor :D
My two cent...
Regards,
Dom.
They do. Trust me on that :hick:
All I can say is---wow an 87 with original ball joints. How many miles on it?--you must drive on smooth roads there. Although I still have the original uppers on another '89 Ford here (a Lincoln)---they too can not be greased.
In the ****!ng Quebec banana republica (Canada) where the roads are russian mountain style, a set of joints is good for around 20kmiles, IF You are gentle...
Shevretti is in POland, I guess the people here are not stupid like where I live...
I hate Quebec prov I live, there's a gang of morons everywhere (except Me):hick:
Have a nice Day,
Dom.
My '88 had its original ball joints up until last fall, and even then there was nothing wrong with them - I only replaced 'em because I was doing the whole front end over (which, BTW, is how I know that poly bushings cause a harsh ride). I replaced the original tie rod ends, too. Of course the car only has 65k miles on it...
So basically no grease fitting = stock ball joint?
If so... I have stock ball joints on my 88 TC that will be rolling up on 154,000 soon.... and yes, they are needing replacement bad. And yes, I do know what happens when they break.
I haven't received notifications about new messages in this tread so I lost track! Now I noticed all the new replies!
My '87 T-bird has around 150K miles on it now, but it was driven 120K miles in Germany. They have a smooth roads there for sure :)
I think that the poly stuff doesn't absorb energy as the rubber stuff does, so it acts kinda like control arm mounted on bearings (didn't 60's/70's Shelby Mustangs have control arms on bearings?), so the sound of hitting a bump will travel thru the entire car and will be more audible inside. That's just my theory :) I get a feeling poly stuff is good for smooth NASCAR track, isn't it?
I guess we may have similar roads here in Poland. I'm driving like on a slalom here after every winter. After I bought the T-bird two years ago I didn't hear any suspension sounds. Now the ball joints are squeaking, rubber is comming out from the bushings.
I also hear a strange sound comming from the rear. I can hear it only on eg. gravel roads while driving slow. It's like tapping sound and I'm not sure what is it. Do you think shocks may sound like this? Any ideas? Which shocks are better for rough roads - gas charged or oil only?