It was making a squeaking sound from the rear, when I went over bumps or so much as accelerated or braked slightly. It was also making a slight clunking noise going over bumps too. It had recently started with the squeaking, and the clunking had been going on for 9 months or so.
It took almost 10 years and 120,000 miles for it to start happening, but the squeaking noise was really starting to annoy me.
So, today, I did something about them.
I crawled under there to find out what was squeaking (I suspected the swaybar bushings), and sure enough, it was the swaybar bushings. I could feel the swaybar vibrating when I pushed up on the car to unload the suspension a little.
I removed the swaybar bushings, which are a U-shaped rubber piece that goes inbetween the swaybar and a metal bracket, cleaned them and the metal brackets in soap and water, dried them off, and then applied a liberal amount of silicone dielectric grease to the rubber pieces, the brackets, and the swaybar itself. I chose silicone dielectric grease because (1) I already had some, (2) I know it's safe for rubber parts, and (3) It's very water-resistant (try washing it off your hands).
I put everything back together and took it for a test-drive. Not only is the squeaking gone, but so is the clunking.
It's amazing that something so simple can fix such an annoying noise.
I only wish I'd thought to shove some cardboard under the car before I scraped my elbow on the concrete driveway....
It took almost 10 years and 120,000 miles for it to start happening, but the squeaking noise was really starting to annoy me.
So, today, I did something about them.
I crawled under there to find out what was squeaking (I suspected the swaybar bushings), and sure enough, it was the swaybar bushings. I could feel the swaybar vibrating when I pushed up on the car to unload the suspension a little.
I removed the swaybar bushings, which are a U-shaped rubber piece that goes inbetween the swaybar and a metal bracket, cleaned them and the metal brackets in soap and water, dried them off, and then applied a liberal amount of silicone dielectric grease to the rubber pieces, the brackets, and the swaybar itself. I chose silicone dielectric grease because (1) I already had some, (2) I know it's safe for rubber parts, and (3) It's very water-resistant (try washing it off your hands).
I put everything back together and took it for a test-drive. Not only is the squeaking gone, but so is the clunking.
It's amazing that something so simple can fix such an annoying noise.
I only wish I'd thought to shove some cardboard under the car before I scraped my elbow on the concrete driveway....
