My truck has developed some strange creaks that I just can't seem to isolate. It's not a daily driver, so it sits for periods of time. When I first start to drive, the creaks are worse. Does not seem to be suspension related, but more driveline. No noises backing out of drive, but as soon as you go to drive away, it creaks. It seems to be due to torque on the drivetrain, because it will creak again as it shifts into second gear. The funny thing is, it mostly goes away after a couple of stops. But if you accelerate hard from a stop, it will do it real quick(a little creak). It does not seem to come from the same place all the time. I have read the Alldata article about the trans crossmember binding. I'm going to give that a try, but are there any other suggestions.

Have replaced, but not too recently:
radius arm bushings
trans mount
motor mounts
u-joints good

Thanks
Al

 

Check the transmission crossmember - I slid a piece of rubber sheet under the right side end of mine and it cured the prob.
See my posts earlier - I think titled "more front end noises" and the Alldata item was where the shop found the fix I believe.
Good Luck.

 

Today I sprayed some WD40 on a few pivot points and may have found it. Possibly the pivot arm bushings. I've been meaning to change these as I've nearly replaced all wear items in the front end already. Not sure as to how soon I can get to it, but I've got the new ones ready to go.

 

I have been wanting to do my radius arm bushins and the pivot bushings, how involved a job is this, like should I do it at a shop with a lift, or easy enough to do in the driveway? I have 2WD. My suspension makes a few clunks now and then, nothing too bad, and I feel it isn't the shocks since I just replaced those and they are still nice and tight.

 

Do some searches on radius arm bushings. There are a few ways to do it. Grind/drill out the rivets on the brackets. Or, remove the shock and spring and pull the I-beam forward. I know this is a little vague, but if you do a search, you'll know what I mean.
As for the pivot bushings, I have not done these yet, but there is a lot of info about it here if you search for it.
I'm sure both jobs could be done in the driveway if need be.

Al

 

I have a 92 F150 2wd. I would like to know also. Where are the pivot bushings?

 

I am really wondering if I take it into the shop on base, if I can do it in 3 or 4 hours .... cuz when they shut the doors and it is still on the rack, I will be walking.

I changed them on my MACH1 ... torsion bars ... looks the same just in front of the car. I have 4 vehicles and the three that are drivable all need new bushings up front. I wore them out on the VW .... the others came to me that way.

Pivot Bushings are at the opposite end of the I Beams from the wheels ... near the center of the truck. They are what the suspension pivots up and down from.

 

Radius arm bushings shouldn't take more than 1.5 to 2 hours.

 

I changed a set of radius arm bushings on a 94 once. I find the easiest way is to pull the top spring clamp, upper shock nut, radius arm nut, and i-beam pivot bolt. Oh, and don't forget about the anti-sway bar if you have one. The good thing is that you can do just one side of the truck at a time if you like. Just make sure to pull the obvious things like the brake caliper & tie rod end before trying to pull it out. The whole assembley (radaius arm/i-beam/spindle/rotor/spring/shock) should fall right out with maybe a little prying here and there. When I did it I couldn't beleive how easy it was instead of trying to wrestle with it in the truck. I did it all in a my buddies garage in the middle of winter with the truck on a set of jackstands. I beleive the i-beam pivot bushing has to be pressed out but not positive on that. You can get Polyurethane bushing for these areas. Just make sure to grease them or they will squeak. I'd probably allow just a few hours. It doesn't take too long if you have the right tools. Good luck.

Sam

 

I have just finished doing radius arm bushings and axle pivot bushings on my '89 F150. I would rather work on the ground. It's easier to jockey the assembly around if it is sitting on a floor jack. They were both original equipment bushings....never been changed in 17 years...pretty amazing !! It handles like a dream now...rock-solid. I hope that you find it as easy as I did. Using the floor jack made it easy. Roll it out and replace the pivot bushings right there using a ball joint press and an impact wrench....roll it back in...get the radius arm started into the frame mount and temporarily put the nut on (a few threads) With it secured in the mounting hole, grab the axle and push it into place. (Most of the weight is being held by the floor jack. You can rasie it either up or down to help you get these initial placements of the axle and radius arm.) Line the axle up enough to get the bolt started into the bushing. That's enough for now. Jack the assembly up so that it is riding at the normal height and finish installing the rest of the bushings on the radius arm. Just snug the bushing assembly in place. You should now be able to easily push the axle into position (rasie and/or lower the jack maybe) and push the pivot bolt all the way through...nut it and secure it. Go back to the radius arm with your 1 1/8" and crank-it down. I've never done this before on my F150 so it was a learning experience for me...it was fun time for a retired-guy to crawl around in the dirt like a young guy again. I didn't realize that the spring will come out without the use of a compressor. Cool! Make sure that you check the torque of the through bolt that holds the arm to the axle..it needs some serious *ss...300+foot pounds if you're using a torque wrench or just rattle-it tight with your impact. There are 2 nuts on this through bolt; one that you can see (holding the spring retainer in place...also 1 1/8") and that only needs 100-and-something footpounds...just crank it down with wrench and it will work just fine. The other nut is under the spring seat (has the rubber gasket on top of it). With the spring retainer loosened up to get the spring off, you can raise the seat and there it is !! This is the one that needs the the big torque (hold the nut with your 1 1/8" and rattle the bolt head on the bottom). If you didn't loosen it for any reason, just check the torque, put the spring seat back down over the nut that you just checked making sure that the spring seat lines-up with the notch (see front of spring seat), put the spring in place, reinstall the spring retaining clip at the top of the spring, just snug the bottom spring retainer, jack the spring into the normal working height and finish tightening the spring retainer using your 1 1/8" again. (Make sure that the top of the spring fits correctly into the recess before you try to secure it in place AND that the spring retaining clip at the bottom hasn't shifted.) Re-attach the outer tie rod end and the sway bar link if you found it easier to remove...re-install the caliper and you're done. I've probably left some stuff out, but that's okay, I have an excuse, I'm old. This was a fun-job for me. Good Luck to you all.

 

Listen to wormshoe....his exsplenation is way better....i was just trying to give you an idea of how it goes. Although I beleive you could just leave the spring attached to the i-beam/radius arm. Thumbs up wormshoe!

Sam

 

Thanks Wormshoe. Sounds like I should get the replacement swaybar bushing as well, and probably do the brakes up front also. I think the Hobby Shop lift would be best and put it close to the ground and use their 5 ton jack to roll it all out after loosening everything, they have all the airtools, super large sockets, rotor turning equipment, presses and pullers. My toolbox for water cooled VW's is pretty nice, all the tools from my 73 Mach1, which I could use on the 150, were still at my parents house in August 05 .... and that 3.5' tall Craftsman Box was under 3 feet of water.

 

SilverSport, I am new here. I am so sorry for the damage done to your life and property. I was unaware until I read your latest post. I realize that this is an improper posting on my behalf. I apologize to the board and its members. It won't happen again. Thanks.

 

Did I miss something here?

 

I think SilverSport was affected by Huricane Katrina. Sounds like his tools were submerged and that his car (1973 Mach1 - 351C 4V - Needs DeKatrinaizing) was flooded as well.
I think that I now understand his reference to "Needs De-Katrina -izing".