[oomanoptt]

Big time. Its getting worse rather than better. 2. 5" front spacer lift. 2" rear. New spring pads on top and bottom front and back. New Bilstein shocks, front and back sway bar links. New adjustable track bar. Its driving me crazy. Creaks over minor bumps at all speeds and even when brakeing. 04 Overland.

 

[cDee63]

Is it cold where you live? I ask because I noticed my new spring isolators creaked bad last winter, in spring it seemed to go away. However in fall when the temp dropped the creak came back, I now live in Florida, it is warm here (89 today) and again no creak.

 

[HarryH3]

Did you remember to loosen ALL of the bolts that go through the bushings at each end of the control arms after the lift? Then bounce the Jeep a few times and the tighten the bolts to spec while the Jeep is sitting on the ground. If you just installed the spacers without doing that, then the bushings are binding and twisted out of their normal position. I've had 2-inch poly lift pucks on mine for a few years now. No creaking from 11 to 115 degrees.

 

[oomanoptt]

I installed the spacers and the other parts . Then I took it to a local 4c4 shop to have them do that. I tried myself but with hand tools it was tough. They said the noise was from the poly spacers. I have read that as well. The colder it gets the worse it is. One thing I didn’t do was to get an alignment. Been putting that off till I get new tires . That was over a year ago and I never bought the new tires. The creaking is very annoying.

 

[HarryH3]

Unless you have aftermarket adjustable control arms, paying full price for an alignment on a WJ is a ripoff. The only thing that can be adjusted is the toe. There are vids on YouTube that show you how to do that with a measuring tape, in your driveway.

 

[oomanoptt]

Unless you have aftermarket adjustable control arms, paying full price for an alignment on a WJ is a ripoff. The only thing that can be adjusted is the toe. There are vids on YouTube that show you how to do that with a measuring tape, in your driveway.

I know that. I didn’t know if not doing that would cause all the creaking.
Thank you.

 

[222Doc]

no but not tightening the suspension with weight on the suspension will. If you tightened or they did with wheels at droop, that will in the end destroy rubber bushings in control arms.

If you are using a pure polly hard bushing those tends to get assembled with silicon grease< junk in a jeep really. stock bushings or go with spherical like a Johnny joint etc. JJs dont care where suspension is at tightening. they have no center point they can turn 360 degree. But you have to grease them as well.

 

[GmanWJ]

Well we can hope your 4x4 shop set your CAs properly, but you might be surprised. Talking with my local mechanic one day about some work I had them do, I found out when they tighten the CAs, they "just hit it with the gun" when it is up on the lift ... which is the wrong way to do it. They assured me it is fine, they "always do it that way." So I took it home, loosened all the CAs, bounced the suspension a couple times, and re-torqued.

The shop does not always do it right. You might be able to reduce some of the creak of you revisit the CAs.

 

[oomanoptt]

I don’t know how they did it . The creaking did improve afterwards but has since returned. Access to those CA bolts is difficult for me laying in my driveway. The ones I could access were really tight. With hand tools they would not budge. This after all one of 2 4x4 places in the area. The better of the 2. I have to assume they know more than I do.

 

[oomanoptt]

I don’t know how they did it . The creaking did improve afterwards but has since returned. Access to those CA bolts is difficult for me laying in my driveway. The ones I could access were really tight. With hand tools they would not budge. This after all one of 2 4x4 places in the area. The better of the 2. I have to assume they know more than I do.

222Doc. I did not grease the poly spaces when I put them in. Is that what you are talking about. The other bushings on the rest of the front end are rubber.

 

[GmanWJ]

I don’t know how they did it . The creaking did improve afterwards but has since returned. Access to those CA bolts is difficult for me laying in my driveway. The ones I could access were really tight. With hand tools they would not budge. This after all one of 2 4x4 places in the area. The better of the 2. I have to assume they know more than I do.

I wish I had a good 4x4 shop in my area. Or a bumper fabricator ...

Anyway, factory spec torque for the lower CAs is 115-120 ft-lbs. Yes it is tight, but not extremely so. A 15-inch breaker bar, 1/2-inch drive with a 21mm socket should be able to break it loose. If not, a 2-ft cheater pipe should get 'er done. If not, they are too bloody tight. You will probably also need a 21mm wrench to hold the bolt head while you ratchet the nut.

Front upper CAs are 45 ft-lb. If you want to know more about front CA replacement, READ THIS

A bit of silicone grease may quiet the squeaks and creaks and groans. Apply to all the new bits where bushings touch metal.

 

[oomanoptt]

Is it cold where you live? I ask because I noticed my new spring isolators creaked bad last winter, in spring it seemed to go away. However in fall when the temp dropped the creak came back, I now live in Florida, it is warm here (89 today) and again no creak.

"Colder" N California. It rarely gets very cold here. But its rarely very hot. We never have 90-degree temps. Mid 80 is a rarity. Heading into Fall, its cooler than Summer 40-50 degrees now

 

[HarryH3]

If you need more space under the rig to torque the control arm bolts properly, you can jack it up and set it on jackstands under the axles. Now you have more room to work, and the suspension is still being compressed by the weight of the rig.

 

[oomanoptt]

I wish I had a good 4x4 shop in my area. Or a bumper fabricator ...

Anyway, factory spec torque for the lower CAs is 115-120 ft-lbs. Yes it is tight, but not extremely so. A 15-inch breaker bar, 1/2-inch drive with a 21mm socket should be able to break it loose. If not, a 2-ft cheater pipe should get 'er done. If not, they are too bloody tight. You will probably also need a 21mm wrench to hold the bolt head while you ratchet the nut.

Front upper CAs are 45 ft-lb. If you want to know more about front CA replacement, READ THIS

A bit of silicone grease may quiet the squeaks and creaks and groans. Apply to all the new bits where bushings touch metal.

Not to push the issue but iam also 72. A healthy 72 but no kid. I have a length of pipe I use but there isnt a lot of room to work. Its a tight fit. I should pick up a breaker bar. I have hit everything with silicone spray, spray white grease AND some PB Blaster. LOL nothing quiets it down. Im an eagle eye when I take my vehicles to a mechanic. I have one I use more often but he's not a 4x4 guy. Im very critical and I go in there with some knowledge of how they are going to make the repair and I look over everything after they are done. Unintentional mistakes can be made. I also value a good relationship with a good shop so im not an *** about things. The 4x4 place I took it to, to reset the control arms has good reviews. They have a club, ride activities in the off-road community etc, so can only assume they know what they are talking about,

 

[HarryH3]

... I should pick up a breaker bar. ...

I keep this one in the toolbox, just in case something is really tight: 1/2 in. Drive 25 in. Breaker Bar It's a beast.

 

[lovett86]

I've always used a synthetic grease when I spray down creaking bushings. I've never had luck with silicone spray and I've found penetrating oil or pb blaster usually dries things out more in the long run.

 

[oomanoptt]

I've always used a synthetic grease when I spray down creaking bushings. I've never had luck with silicone spray and I've found penetrating oil or pb blaster usually dries things out more in the long run.

I’ll look into that. I thought the PB blaster might not be good for rubber. Strange thing happened. We got our first rain of the season. Prior to it actually start raining. The creaking went away. This was before the roads were wet and ponding. All through the day while it was raining. No creaking either. The front has passed. Rain has stopped and the creaking has returned.

 

[cDee63]

The same with my creaky ones, when wet they stop creaking as well. I knew it was the spring isolators on top, silicone spray quieted them for a bit, more of a confirmation it was in fact them creaking.

 

[makuadoug]

I don’t know how they did it . The creaking did improve afterwards but has since returned. Access to those CA bolts is difficult for me laying in my driveway. The ones I could access were really tight. With hand tools they would not budge. This after all one of 2 4x4 places in the area. The better of the 2. I have to assume they know more than I do.

jack up the jeep and put jackstands on the axle. It gives you more room to work, and the springs compress normally.

 

[oomanoptt]

The same with my creaky ones, when wet they stop creaking as well. I knew it was the spring isolators on top, silicone spray quieted them for a bit, more of a confirmation it was in fact them creaking.

I sprayed the krap out of those isolators and it made no difference. Someone told me about Teflon sheets you can get to put in between the isolators and springs but I never looked into it.