Poly Radius arm bushings are NOISY. Am I the only one?

[legoms013]

So I have 1.5 year old poly bushings on my radius arms and they are starting to get noisy. Whats this all about, my 12 year old rubber ones didnt make any noises.

Maybe I should swap back to rubber?

Silicone Grease?

Or....what the Hell???

 

[Yellowsplash]

What type of noise are you referring to?

Yes, they are suppose to be greased with a special grease (silicone based....Energy suspensions calls it formula five). I have ran mine for years with no noises until recently. They started to get annoyingly loud. I took em out to find that my 6" lift articulates too much for the stock stubby radius arms and cracked the radius arm brackets right at the lip of the hole....on both sides. Bushings are fine, radius arm bracket is scrap...could be welded, but whats the point, I have skyjacker arms sitting here waiting to go on.

 

[legoms013]

Its kind of hard to describe but like a squeeking plasticky noise that begs for some kind of grease to quiet it.

 

[4x4junkie]

They're telling you you don't take your truck offroad enough (not enough dust in them to keep them from creaking lol)


Yeah grease should work to quiet them down too.

 

[TheBeast]

Petroleum based grease will cause them to deteriorate. Be careful what you use. Energy suspension has a specific grease, thats extremely messy, thick, and hard to get off, thats usually sent when you get anything from them. I have them in my truck, no noise at the moment.

 

[4x4junkie]

Petroleum based grease will cause them to deteriorate. Be careful what you use. Energy suspension has a specific grease, thats extremely messy, thick, and hard to get off, thats usually sent when you get anything from them. I have them in my truck, no noise at the moment.

Silicone grease (which isn't all that easy to find in any decent quantity, I've found)

However I've used lithium-base grease with urethane bushings also without issue (infact Superlift puts zerks for standard chassis grease on the idler arm that uses bushings in their Superrunner steering kit).

 

[RangerSVT]

Silicone grease (which isn't all that easy to find in any decent quantity, I've found)
QUOTE]

Silicone grease, which is close to dielectric grease, which can also be used, is available at any auto parts store. It is widely used to lubricate brake caliper mounts and slides. Dielectric grease can be purchased in large quantities ie 8 or 12 oz tubes, but the stores usually have them in $.99 packs, each pack should be enough to lubricate each bushing
SVT

 

[4x4junkie]

Hmmm, I've never noticed a specific grease for caliper slides... (I've always used bearing grease) Guess I'll have to look around for that (I've had other uses where a silicone-base grease would've been better than lithium). Thanks for the info.

 

[RangerSVT]

I'm pretty sure they don't call it dielectric grease, but it is silicone based. DG is used on electrical connections, primarily plugs on the altenators, to keep the corrosion out, but I have used this for caliper slides and it works great, doesn't get washed out by water, doesn't dry.
SVT

 

[idriveafordranger94]

The radius arm bushings on my Ranger went bad at 165,000 miles. I replaced them with some Duralast ones. I'm now at 170,000 miles; no complaints. Before they went bad on my Ranger, I would just coat it with WD-40 and they noise would quit. It would come back every month or so until I replaced them.

I noticed the radius arm bushings were also replaced on my Bronco II with red ones. If I push up and down on the front end, it sweaks as the suspension travels up and down. They also sweak really bad when I'm in 4wd at full lock. I think I'll try the WD-40 trick until I find a permanent fix.

 

[RangerSVT]

Not a good idea, to use WD40...WD is a penatrant/lubricant, it will start to break down the urethane bushings. You need a lubricant that will not penetrate, like a silicone based lubricant/grease
SVT

 

[legoms013]

So i sprayed silicone lube on it and it quiets down for a day or so. Next time i go to the store ill pick up some of the stuff you guys have describer. Thanks.

Think i might take it all apart and grease the radius arm itself and each piece individually.

But first ill go offroad as per suggestion of 4x4junkie