Front end noise after 1hour driving

[sagembox]

Hello friends,

The front end passanger side on my bird make noise after 1h of driving. I changed the Idler arm bushing, because they where worn out. The ball joints look new??! Seems they where changed by the preowner. It totaly confuses me, that the noise starts after a while of driving.
Maybe the engine heat up the control arm bushing?
The noise sounds like scratching when i turn the steeringwheel and drive over a rough road.
Any ideas or suggetions what it can be?

Markus

[jopizz]

It could be a number of things. I would check the upper and lower control arm bushings as you mentioned. They have a tendency to get noisier the longer you drive. Especially the uppers. If they've already been replaced recheck the torque after you drive it awhile.

John

[Dakota Boy]

Check your oil pan to see if the steering linkage has been rubbing on it....

[scumdog]

Check your front wheel bearings- if worn they can allow the brake drum to contact the side of the brake shoes.

[sagembox]

Hello again,

as i said, i changed the idler arm bushing. Is it possible that an incorrect torque is the reason for the noise? The torque is just a little more than hand tight. Only the force you can put on it with a normal wrench.

Markus

[sagembox]

Hello guys,

I changed the upper control arm bushing and the ball joints today. The question now how to thighten the screws on the bushing/inner shaft? With load on it or not?

Regards from germany
Markus

[jopizz]

Hello guys,

I changed the upper control arm bushing and the ball joints today. The question now how to thighten the screws on the bushing/inner shaft? With load on it or not?

Regards from germany
Markus

The bolts must be torqued with the car on the ground. Push the front end up and down a few times then torque the bolts to spec. After you drive the car recheck the torque.

John

[sagembox]

The noise is still present!
The new bushings went in very easy, when i watch several videos on youtube it seams to me that there must be much more force to put push Thema in ,than i used. Can i weld the bushings to the control arm to get a strong connection between the parts? I saw this solution also on the i-net.
Another question, must there be an isolator between the coilspring and the lower control arm? I believe the scratching sound comes from there, is this possible?

Markus

[jopizz]

The noise is still present!
The new bushings went in very easy, when i watch several videos on youtube it seams to me that there must be much more force to put push Thema in ,than i used. Can i weld the bushings to the control arm to get a strong connection between the parts? I saw this solution also on the i-net.
Another question, must there be an isolator between the coilspring and the lower control arm? I believe the scratching sound comes from there, is this possible?

Markus

The bushings are pressed in. If they went in easy either you have the wrong bushings or your arms are worn.

There's no isolater between the spring and the lower control arm.

John

[simplyconnected]

I have seen control arms with bushing holes that are too large. The solution can be as simple as, pounding the hole flange inward because bushing holes are extruded, forming a flange.

Another solution is to build up the hole with weld, then grinding to size.

Tack welding the bushing is tricky because the bushing's rubber cannot tolerate any heat or it will melt.

What did 'bearing inspection' reveal?

The front coil springs have rubber isolators on the top only. - Dave

[Randy]

I didn't want to make same mistake I did last time. find out I put it all together and see a rubber spacer in the parts box I put that blue tape in the parts box a year ago after Dave told me to tape it on next time so I didn't forget,

[sagembox]

Hello,

I decided to rebuild the hole front end!
Can anyone provide the specs for the front coil springs? I have to try to get the right springs here in germany, because the shipping costs are so expencive that a flight to the moon is cheaper

Thank you very much guys!
Regards from germany
Markus

[jopizz]

Can anyone provide the specs for the front coil springs?

Here's the specs for the stock coils.

Load Pounds - 2225
Load Height - 9.60 in
Free Height - 14.16 in
Wire Diam - .710 in
No. of coils - 8.39

John

[Tbird1044]

John:
Having just bought a set of new front springs, I searched the forum for info on proper size. Found several different things, in the forum, including this:
"MAC's told me that the company who makes the coil springs is Coil Spring Specialty and I just talked with them. They said their coil springs for the Squarebirds, are constructed to OEM specs at 15 1/2" 8 1/2 coils. They also said that originally, Ford was putting 14 1/8" springs on the Squarebird, but then changed to the 15 1/2" length later in the Squarebird production runs. He also said that the information in the Ford parts book might have been correct at the time that book was published. He said many of the early Squarebirds had 14 1/8" front springs installed in them, but the front coil springs they supply to Squarebird parts houses are the later Squarebird production run uncompressed 15 1/2" springs."
I bought my springs from Larrys TBird which got them from Thunderbird Headquarters. The new springs match the revised numbers as indicated above.
I'll also attach a chart that was posted in the forum.
If anyone has recently installed these replacement springs, it would be it would be interesting to know how the ride height ended up.
Nyles

[sagembox]

John, thank you very much for the information!
Are the specs for 352cui without a/c?

Markus