creaking noise from front right

J said:
That makes sense. The wheel going back and forth will move the control arm in the same fashion. The mechanic probably never heard of a stethoscope. You can send the money you saved to me via paypal. Haha :D
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Haha indeed. I already gave that shop too much, fortunately its a chain store so I emailed the corporate people, same for Autozone. This should be interesting because according to this Tire Kingdom, they are not allowed to install customer parts, even though that's exactly what the other Tire Kingdom did for these uppers.

But thanks a lot guys, I appreciate all your help.

Once again we've proved that if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. Now if only there were four or five of me...

Edit: A mechanic who is familiar with mark 8's would be acceptable as well. Isn't there a member in FL with a big shop ?
 
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Well, you and I worked hard to figure this out, I'm glad we got there without too much trouble. PM Jamie (Jamies97LSC), he's our friendly Dismantler an loves side work. :D
 
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J said:
Have you tried backing up and applying the brakes? I had a similar issue and it ended up being that the strut rod bushings were not tight enough so the entire wheel assembly was moving back and forth. You could even see it move from the outside.
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So yeah, noticed today. The side that the shop just did the strut rod bushing on moves quite a bit. I tightened it as.much as I could even used a cheater pipe, but there is still some movement ( as in the body will move front or back but the wheel will remain stationary ). Same on the other side.
I've found an easier way to do this is to hold the brakes a little and give it some gas, then do the same in reverse. The back wheels will still push or pull the car and the brakes wont allow the front wheels to roll.
 
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I'm fairly certain those never got cut down to proper length. I know I didn't cut them on the driver side. And i'm pretty sure the tech who did the passenger side bushing didn't either. He probably compared it to the one that was on there that I had done myself. Anyways ill guess I take the drivers side off and trim it down and then see if that fixes the slop. What is the correct overall length? I don't have the originals to compare to. Also, can the collars be taken off by just removing the inner nut or do I have to take off the whole lca and all that jazz ?
 
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Well man, hate to break the bad news. IF they were not cut to proper length, they are going to be bent/smashed onto the strut rod. This is how I learned mine were too long too. :( You will have to undo the lower control arm to frame bolt, which means you'll need an alignment again (good to do if you trim the sleeves anyways), and then you can slide the strut rod out. Sorry. :(
 
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Well Autozone called me this mornong. Getting a free install of brand new non-autozone control arms. Finally caught a break here. Now if only I can wiggle in those strut rod sleeves...
 
Just to double check, the lower control arms from a 97 tbird will work on my 98 Mark that still has air ride, and the Uca's will not?
 
Yes, lowers are good to go (usually cheaper) but uppers will NOT work due to the sensor mount on there. Have to use Mark 8 uppers. Sweet break!
 
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So a local (good but expensive) shop did the install Tues on autozones tab w all Moog parts. It feels much tighter now and no noise finally.
Shown below on the right is the front strut rod bushing that the tirekingdom installed, on the left is the Moog brand one which is both thicker and as u can see, the proper length.


2010-11-24162801.jpg




2010-11-24163035.jpg
 
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J said:
Now how the heck did you get Autozone to pick up the tab?
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Because the bushings on 2 of the control arms were failing, and a third one had a cracked boot. The mechanic who installed the new ones said the control arm bushings looked like they had been in there for six or seven years.

I just emailed to their comets and complaints email on their website and said i was pissed cuz i would be spending the next several hous on my driveway replacing these "lifetime" parts that only lasted seven months. The store manager called me a few days latter.

I must say im impressed by the customer service, I know they probably ate close to $700 in labor. I've worked a both d Advance/Discount Auto and NAPA, and I know they wouldn't do that unless it was a huge commercial customer. But still, don't buy Dorman or Duralast control arms people.
 
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Well I've got it! Although im not sure what to do about it..
Pinpointed it to where the strut mounts to the body under the hood. Thanks to the stethoscope.
If I loosen the three bolts on that strut and bounce the car up and down the sound is not present, but tighten it back up and it comes back. Actually when I was loosening the one bolt twords the front it started making the noise a little and I could feel it in the wrench.

So now what to do? I called american air and they said it shouldn't do that and there was some tape ford made for theese situations, and that there is no bushing or anything that is supposed to go between the top of the strut and the body.

I think I and going to try loosening it and shooting some grease in there.
 
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