'92 GTP, Why is it making this noise?

[crazyd]

I greased the outer tie rod and ball joint, why is it still making this noise?

 

 

[55trucker]

How long has it been since the strut bearings were lubricated or replaced?

[GnatGoSplat]

Yep, strut bearing can make that sound.  Does it make that sound on the ground too?  I feel like I remember them being noisier with no load.

[crazyd]

Never, I didn't know there were strut bearings, and nowhere in the FSM does it mention lubricating them as part of regular maintenance.   In fact, it says there is nothing that needs lubrication in the suspension at all.

[crazyd]

It's making some weird groaning noises when turning the wheel on the ground, and that's what it does in the air.  Been doing this ever since I swapped to the 96s for the upgraded brakes.

[55trucker]

The bearings were never intended to go unattended for periods this long.

they are located in the centre of the lower spring seat, in a steel encased raceway, I can't remember precisely but there is approx 60 maybe 70 small ball bearings in the race.

One has to disassemble the strut off the car to get at them. I've done them twice now in the time I've owned the car. Even tho you can hear the groaning you may still be able to salvage them, one has to remove the race from the spring seat, remove the upper cap, drop them all out into a pan & clean them all, clean out the raceway, reapply a healthy amount of EP grease and set them back into the race, press the cap back down on & reinsert the race back into the spring seat.

It is time consuming....and one needs a spring compressor.

 

 

[Schurkey]

First Guess:  Once you have it all apart far enough to lube them...you'll discover that the roller elements and the races are scarred from lack of lube, and they just plain need to be replaced.

And that's fine...but then you figure you might as well replace the struts while you have it apart.  And if you're gonna slap struts on it, you might as well upgrade the springs.  And the control arm bushings, and sway-bar bushings.  Which is a perfect time to check and replace the ball joints if needed.  By that time, the brakes are apart, so replace the calipers, check the rotors and pads for wear, and deal with whatever you find including the brake hoses and maybe the ABS wheel-speed sensors and front hubs.

Well, you have it that far apart, so a quick-ratio rack 'n' pinion with fresh tie rod ends isn't so much more work, and that means flushing the PS fluid, too.  Some folks think a real PS cooler is a good idea--better than a bunch of tubing looped back-and-forth like the OEM "cooler"...

Edited May 4 by Schurkey

[crazyd]

So, I thought about the strut bearing suggestion, and should point out that it only does this at first - if you spin the wheel back and do it again, it doesn't make the sound.  I'm thinking if it's worn bearings it would do it every time and only when under pressure, not when unloaded.  Thoughts?

[crazyd]

Additionally,  I found a small hole in the bottom of the spring perch and I'm thinking a shot of white lithium up there might help.

[55trucker]

9 minutes ago, crazyd said:

So, I thought about the strut bearing suggestion, and should point out that it only does this at first - if you spin the wheel back and do it again, it doesn't make the sound.  I'm thinking if it's worn bearings it would do it every time and only when under pressure, not when unloaded.  Thoughts?

Try this.....remove the wheel(s), disconnect the tie rod end from the knuckle, with the wheels off the ground you should be able to freely turn the knuckle by hand, the bearing at the bottom of the spring.......everything including the spring seat & above remains stationary, everything below the spring seat (including the bearing) rotates with the movement of the rack. 

[55trucker]

18 minutes ago, crazyd said:

Additionally,  I found a small hole in the bottom of the spring perch and I'm thinking a shot of white lithium up there might help.

The bearing race doesn't have an opening one can get at to squirt in some lube.

[crazyd]

On 5/5/2025 at 4:05 PM, 55trucker said:

Try this.....remove the wheel(s), disconnect the tie rod end from the knuckle, with the wheels off the ground you should be able to freely turn the knuckle by hand, the bearing at the bottom of the spring.......everything including the spring seat & above remains stationary, everything below the spring seat (including the bearing) rotates with the movement of the rack. 

Interesting idea.  Might be a while before I have an opportunity to give it a try, but I'll definitely put it on the agenda.