Hot Rods Hallelujah - I found that dammed rattle

I have been living with a rattle under the old sedan for a while and have checked all the obvious things like shocks, exhaust clamp and hangers but yesterday I stopped but my pal Earls garage and was determined to locate the rattle, since he has a lift that picks the car up on 4 points on the flame the suspension hangs loose, laying on my back at home had not yielded any results.

I built this car more than 30 years ago and at that time I installed a parallel 4 bar on the rear, lo and behold 2 of the rubber bushings on the top of the drivers side bar are completely gone, nothing but the metal sleeve that was on the inside of the rubber bushing remains, so basically when I hit even a minor bump in the road there was a rattle.

I used a piece of heater hose for the time being to use as bushings, not a exact fit but , driving home there was no rattles.

I got in touch with TCI and they said they haven't used the rubber bushings since the late 80's so I am going to replace them all with greasable urethane bushings, maybe they will last me another 30 years. HRP

 

Now, you'll just have to listen to the voices in your head-and your wife .

Sent from my moto g(6) using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

If I listened to the voices in my head, well suffice to say I would be locked up somewhere. HRP

 

The voices in my head "are my wife"! Least that's what she tells me! Joe

 

But what I want to know is did you have to use spell check to spell hallelujah correctly??

 

Good thinking 'hanging' the suspension, Danny. Under tension you can hardly pry them away from the brackets to check them. (I found some loose ones at my friend's muffler shop, on his drive-on lift)
Hanging the axles opens up any and all inspection points. Kudos.
(My '55 F100 has a noisy rattle under the right rear I'm gonna find when the 103* weather cools off...I'm raising it 36" to change the front axle, rear leaf springs, remove 350 T.H. for a reseal, rewire truck complete, redo the exhaust system and renovate & re-floor the bed.
Might just find that damned rattle!)

 

Don, No I just look dumb, what tends to trip me up is those simple words and 99% of the time I'm typing too fast. HRP

 

I remember us trying to see if anything was loose on top of the mountain on the deuce run last year.
good you got it figured out.

 

I'm not good at spelling, i don;t know if he's right or wrong.

 

good that you found where the rattle was coming from - some can be a real pain

 

You may want to consider good quality rubber. There has to be something out there.
You may be trading a rattle for a squeak. My dad went urethane when he replaced the bushings on his truck.

It sounds like a bed in a cheap motel.

 

Doh! I thought you had a heartbroken grandchild who dropped their rattle in your car and then couldn't find it after you took them for a ride. Silly me!

Lynn

 

John, I crawled under that car several times trying to find the problem since that day, I know you and I both tried shaking the bars but with the weight off the suspension it was easy to find the problem. HRP

 

Funny how a little cotton in the ears stop the rattles

 

Bless your hart!! I had the same problem several years ago on my coupe. I found the problem by being able to move the car body left and right. My car has Pete&Jakes suspension so I used their poly bushings and it works like a charm. I did discover that using poly bushings requires some lube. I used marine type Mercury brand anti-corrosion grease. It's salt water tough and looks like peanutbutter coming out of the tube($8.00)..Get it @ a boat store.I did this several years ago and no squeeks……...

 

They are likely same ones i have in my 4bar rear,the replace ones i've had seem to not last as long as the first set. The newer ones have been some type of plastic crap. I love too find better bushing that don't crumbule away. Could be I do need to add real tie rod ends.

 

I thought you might have found that reclusive 9/16" socket that is always missing!!

 

Its always a great feeling when you find a mystery noise!


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Had TCI on my old coupe. Had to replace the fronts once but never had to do the rear.

 

Southern folks know how to spell it from birth

 

Your biggest problem is your mufflers are too quiet. You shouldn't be able to hear a rattle.

 

Voices! Happens to me all the time only without the rattles.



Pat

 

Danny, for your listening pleasure, you earned it.

 

I love when you finally find it!! I hate rattles too...

 

I feel ya...I've been chasing a squeak in my front end for a couple years now

 

Spent a full day looking for a rattle in the front of a customer's car years ago, checked every suspension bushing, bumper bracket bolt and everything else as he swore the rattle was in the "front" of the car.
He came and got the car and came right back and said it still rattled. Went for a test drive and he pointed to the defroster duct and said "see right there it rattles in the front" Cost him 200 bucks to have a #2 pencil removed from the defroster duct because the shop charged him for the time he caused me to use by not giving a good description of the problem.
Best one was a guy who complained about a clunk the rear after I had worked on the front end. I popped off and said it was probably his wife's bowling ball in the trunk. Went for a test drive and on every turn there was a clunk opposite of the turn in the trunk. Rolled back in the shop, opened the trunk in front of the service manager, service writer and co owner of the dealership and sure enough, there was a bowling ball rolling around in the trunk.

 

I used to be a good speller, but as I get older, I rely on spell check, my grammar gene died I think. Even this post had to have corrections.

 

Found it

 

I've found urethane bushes tend to squeak if installers don't use the grease that is supplied with them and the mounting bolts are tightened while there's no load on the suspension.

 

I am curious, - don’t you have regular checks to ensure your vehicles are road worthy.
Here, we have 6 monthly checks, by a qualified mechanic/tester, which would pick up such problems early. Called a ‘warrant of fitness‘.