Polyurethane bushes and squeaky noise

[AlexIT]

Hello!

it's my first topic here, might well be in the wrong section

I have had Powerflex front lower wishbone bushes fitted on my Clio 172 for a little more than one year and I'm overall happy, but I have a problem that I cannot solve, so I seek for some advice.

When I fitted them, as per instructions -probably the only ones I read in my whole life- I greased the surface between the bushes and the sleeves with the copper grease provided.
Everything has been perfect for 3/4 months, then a squeaking noise started to appear whenever the front suspension were loaded. I then took everything down again, re-greased the bushes and it went quiet again, you guessed it... for another 4 months or so.
Now I have put again grease between bushes and sleeves and it's back quiet...

I keep using copper grease as supplied by Powerflex.

Does anyone have similar problems with these? Shall I take into account that I have to redo the job twice a year?
I mean it's not really a problem, it's an easy task, but if you have other suggestions I'd be more than happy to try them out (apart from welding the wishbones to the chassis of course, I can't weld )

Any idea is really welcome!

[Jazoli]

AlexIT said:

Shall I take into account that I have to redo the job twice a year?

Pretty much, polybushes are a pain in the arse on road cars, use standard oe spec bushes, and the squeaking will go away

Edited by Jazoli on Monday 27th May 18:10

[goneape]

Welcome to life with polybushes. They're only worth it if they're easy access, because guess what? They squeeeeak like hell

[simoid]

Or keep them, safe in the knowledge that it's masking the noise of the various other squeaks and rattles you can do nothing about?

[AlexIT]

simoid said:

Or keep them, safe in the knowledge that it's masking the noise of the various other squeaks and rattles you can do nothing about?

Thanks for the feedback. I'm keeping the car only as a trackday toy after 13 years of loyal services as a daily commute, so I really don't mind doing a regrease job every now and then if it's required.

Simoid, remember: as long as something's squeaking and rattling means that is still there... worrying thing is when it suddenly stops

[Fartgalen]

I polybushed the lower front arms on my 97 Mustang. Wished I hadn't bothered. The squeaking is driving me mad.

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

I see you've taken the admirable time and trouble to dismantle and re-grease them with different lubricants to try to quell the noise.

And I can understand your irritation with the squeaking - but as others have said, it's an unfortunate by-product of these Polybushes.

Shame you didn't Google round a bit before fitting them - if you look on the net, there are a lot of similar stories.

For what it's worth, for an easy fix - I have occasionally had a dry squeak or two come up from normal, factory-fit bushes on several road cars over the years - just off the top of my head I've had it with a Fiesta, an R129 Merc SL, my Porsche 996-911 and even on my current Skoda Octavia VRs. Especially after a winter of road salt and grime, once they then dry out in the spring.

But all I do is get under the car, turn the steering to full lock or whatever, and spray in a load of PTFE lubricant - like GT85.

This normally sees the annoying squeaks disappear until after the next winter...with none of this dismantling and re-greasing you talk of.

Might be of help to you...

[barker22]

On the powerflex wishbone bushes for the 172 I believe you have to have the sleeves welded on. I see you never had this done?

Edited by barker22 on Monday 27th May 22:03

[danjama]

AlexIT said:

Simoid, remember: as long as something's squeaking and rattling means that is still there... worrying thing is when it suddenly stops

I like you already!

[Otispunkmeyer]

Jazoli said:

AlexIT said:

Shall I take into account that I have to redo the job twice a year?

Pretty much, polybushes are a pain in the arse on road cars, use standard oe spec bushes, and the squeaking will go away

Edited by Jazoli on Monday 27th May 18:10

My honda OE bushes creak like an arthritic hip over any bump.... What do I do ? I ain't replacing them every 10 months!!! Never had a car with this problem in the past.

[heners54]

The ARB bushes on my fabia started to squeak on speed bumps, and as said above I just put full lock on and sprayed them (with silicone spray, rather than gt85) and it's been fine ever since, so using a spray lubricant may save you stripping the bushes out

[Otispunkmeyer]

heners54 said:

The ARB bushes on my fabia started to squeak on speed bumps, and as said above I just put full lock on and sprayed them (with silicone spray, rather than gt85) and it's been fine ever since, so using a spray lubricant may save you stripping the bushes out

I see, good idea! Will investigate in the morning!

To be fair though, the whole shooting match (re the suspension) on the Civic is awful. Squeaky from the front like a bust mattress, and groans from the back like old timber (especially in the morning when you awake the shocks from their slumber). The car is just a classic case of spending all the $$$ making it look a bit wacky and then using the remaining 50p for the materials.

[AlexIT]

Will try with some spray lubricant next time, thanks for the advices.

Cheers!

[Cloggie]

Copper grease is not the right grease to lubricate polyurethane. A teflon based grease with a HP element would be correct or a high quality synthetic marine grease.

You are finding out that not polyurethane bushes are created equal. I have tried several and found that most (especially the ones based on polyester instead of polyether) have noise and high frequency damping issues. It seems that most English and American polyurethane bushes fall into this category.
I suppose polyurethane bushes can be compared to engine oils. There are several different ones, all look similar but quality can differ immensely.
I now use SuperPro, which seems to be polyether based, and have no such issues. They supplied a teflon based grease with the ones I bought.

[AlexIT]

Cloggie said:

Copper grease is not the right grease to lubricate polyurethane. A teflon based grease with a HP element would be correct or a high quality synthetic marine grease.

Intersting, as Powerflex provides copper grease which actually in my experience gets quite sticky over time, so probably using a teflon based lubricant as you suggest will be a better option.

I will do that when time comes

I start thinking that either google doesn't work for me or it's so logical that Poly bushes are noisy that Google list this search as to-bloody-obvious-to-be-real