1969 Deville squeaky front suspension

[Kevin Wiles]

at low speeds, on a rough road, my deville squeaks little rapid chirps from the front drivers side suspension.  I know that it is the suspension and not the brakes/bearings because the sound will change a little when i go onto a smooth road from a little bit rougher road.   The sound is like a cage full of chirping birds.   I CANNOT make the car squeak at all while its sitting still pushing up and down on the front end.  The sound is from very very minute little tiny bumps in the road, not large bumps.  I sprayed wd40 on all (or almost all) the moving parts of the front suspension and it didnt help so i pulled the wheel off and took a look.  The only thing unusual i saw other than some minor weathercracked bushings and stuff, was the SEAL for the lower ball joint is completely broken and separated.   I sprayed oil in there until it pooled up and drove the car again.  No change.  Still squeaks.  Please help! Thank you, Kevin

[Otto Skorzeny]

Get the car on a lift and start shaking things. If a ball joiunt ran dry because of lack of lube, that would squeak like you're describing.

[Misfit]

Not to be mean, but get ready for a lot more noises to start popping up. That WD-40 is going to ruin every rubber part in the front end.

MisFit

[Chris Conklin]

Very timely post, thanks Kevin. I have the exact same issue with my '66 with one MAJOR difference... I just replaced all the bushings and ball joints and shocks then acquired the bird's nest! My first thought was a dry ball joint even though it was new. I haven't had a chance to inspect underneath yet, maybe I'll get lucky and find some clean steel where the rub is taking place. I'll keep you posted if I find something helpful for ya.

[Kevin Wiles]

thank you chris, please dont forget to post if you find out, and if I do, I'll be sure to follow up.

[George D. Mukalian CLC # 10047]

I had a similar problem. I took the shock absorber out and the noise was gone. Replaced the shock and all was fine.

George

[R. Scot Minesinger]

Wow!, I have a 1970 Cadilllac with the exact same problem, the chirping noise on rough roads at low speeds.  The entire suspension was replaced: ball joints, idler arm, tie rods, upper an lower control arm bushings, springs, center link steering gear, shocks, and stablizer bar bushings-then the squeak or chirp.  I have tried everything, replaced the front bearings, replaced the front brakes, tightened every bolt under the car, nothing is lose.  The car drives beautifully, but squeaks-very annoying.  The squeak will not happen when the car is at rest no matter how you bounce it around.  I even checked the hub caps because sometimes they can cause a squeak to no avail.  Same thing as your car, and the 1969/1970 are very similar as you know.  

Reading through the the chain of answers and the only thing I have not tried is investigating the shock absobers, but I will do that right away and let you know.

I'm just about at the point of driving it up to mechanic and offering him $1,000 just to find the problem, and any repair required would be paid in full.

Please keep me posted if you find the answer and I will do the same.

Thanks,

Scot

[dadscad]

You may need to check the lower control arm strut bushings in the front cross member. If the shop didn't get the steel bushing properly centered in the rubber bushings the steel bushing may be rubbing the cross member and squeaking when the wheel hits a bump or when using the brakes, turning into a driveway etc. When the front end is aligned, the attaching bolts on the lower control arm for the strut rod have to be left loose while the caster adjustment is being made. If they are not, the rod will not self center in the front cross member and will eat the bushings over time. After the caster is adjusted you tighten the bolts on the lower control arm and re-check the caster.

Like mentioned above, the shock could be rubbing the lower control arm and causing a squeak. Crawl under there and give it a look, it should have a fair clearance on the front and rear side of the hole.

HTH
David

[R. Scot Minesinger]

PROBLEM SOLVED

The washer that is on top of the shock absorber bushing is too big (on replacement shock absorbers) and it scapes against the upper control arm shaft only on rough roads.  The solution is so simple, quick, and inexpensive.  Take the bolt and washer above the top shock absorber bishing off.  Note the wear on the too large of a washer.  Use a standard 1/2" washer with two 3/8" washers instead of the washer that is included with the shock.  Squeaks will be gone.  It took me a year to figure this one out.  Could not have done it with out all your help.  The key was when a club member said they had this problem and removed the shocks...  I went to remove mine and saw the wear mark on the oversized washer.  I test drove my 1970 Caddy and it is silent after this repair.  Just finished twenty minutes ago.

The good news is too that this obviously caused no long term damage and the car is as good as new.

I look forward to silent driving now.

Thanks and enjoy the rest of the weekend,

Scot 

[Chris Conklin]

PROBLEM SOLVED
The washer that is on top of the shock absorber bushing is too big (on replacement shock absorbers) and it scapes against the upper control arm shaft...

I'm still laughing to myself. 
Scot, you are truly a mad scientist man! Worked like a dream, not a peep!! It only affected the passenger side on my car, you can see in the attached pic how much of the steel cap was under the arm. The shocks were installed last week. Replaced the steel cap with 59 cents worth of washers and took an amazingly quiet little drive to pick up a sixer.
Kevin, I hope your issue turns out to be this simple.
Some more advise please; I am thinking of trimming the cap to clear the arm and re-installing it, but I believe the washers are providing more even support and there may be a chance of the straight edge cutting the bushing if I do this. Any thoughts?

[Otto Skorzeny]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Kevin Wiles]

i was a little skeptical but i looked at the drivers side and i could see the whole washer and that it was not touching anything and that it had no wear on it.   The passenger side on the other hand, was very close, so i took the nut off (2 nuts, 1 of them was a speed nut, does that mean its the factory shock?) and once the nut started loosening the washer turned a little, exposing a dark wear spot on the washer.  BINGO right??? so i took the washer the rest of the way off, had to use some pb blaster..... and once i had the washer completely off, the dark wear spot had completely disappeared (from the oil rinse)   So, tomorrow I pick up some new smaller washers, and once i get my car back on the road (heater core replacement) I'll post here whether it worked or not, but this thread seems to be an epic success!!

[R. Scot Minesinger]

In answer to the will the washer cut into the bushing question, I would just keep an eye n it or find a washer that is as large as possible without impacting the control arm.  When I took my washer off, it was no trouble and did not impact the upper control arm shaft, it was only when the car hit bumps that this happened causing the squeak.  This made it real difficult to discover because the sound could not be made by bouncing the car while in park.  This took me over a year to figure out.  This chassis was used basically from 1965 through 1976, I can't believe that this has never come up before.  I'm going to check out the 65 thru 76 cars at the next show in October.  If it looks like a similar issue, we should warn our fellow club members.

[Steve W]

Had a similar squeek on my car...drivers side. However, after awhile it would make the sound while parked and me pushing up an down on the front end. So I replaced both front shocks...and now, no squeek!

[dadscad]

Just a thought. Are the top retaining nuts on the shock tightened sufficiently? On any shock I've installed, the instructions included indicate the top bushing is to be compressed to a certain relationship to the retaining washers diameter. If the bushing was not properly compressed, the washer would be riding too high and possibly rub the control arm shaft.

Not being able to inspect, I'm just speculating.

David

[tony]

Wow!, I have a 1970 Cadilllac with the exact same problem, the chirping noise on rough roads at low speeds.  The entire suspension was replaced: ball joints, idler arm, tie rods, upper an lower control arm bushings, springs, center link steering gear, shocks, and stablizer bar bushings-then the squeak or chirp.  I have tried everything, replaced the front bearings, replaced the front brakes, tightened every bolt under the car, nothing is lose.  The car drives beautifully, but squeaks-very annoying.  The squeak will not happen when the car is at rest no matter how you bounce it around.  I eve

Just a thought. Are the top retaining nuts on the shock tightened sufficiently? On any shock I've installed, the instructions included indicate the top bushing is to be compressed to a certain relationship to the retaining washers diameter. If the bushing was not properly compressed, the washer would be riding too high and possibly rub the control arm shaft.

Not being able to inspect, I'm just speculating.

David

ey can cause a squeak to no avail.  Same thing as your car, and the 1969/1970 are very similar as you know.  

Reading through the the chain of answers and the only thing I have not tried is investigating the shock absobers, but I will do that right away and let you know.

I'm just about at the point of driving it up to mechanic and offering him $1,000 just to find the problem, and any repair required would be paid in full.

Please keep me posted if you find the answer and I will do the same.

Thanks,

Scot

[tony]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

hello....... maybe you are all too young to remember going to the service station with dad for an oil change or whatever for the old cadillac. dad would always
ask the serviceman to 'GREASE THE FRONT END' !!!  before the old cadillac was lowered from the lift the serviceman would take this high pressure 'grease hose' and
he'd grease all the ball joints and any moving parts that required 'GREASING'........ i remember the loud noise this grease hose/gun made every time the man engaged it for more
grease. older cars, yes, 1969's NEED this though not necessarily so on today's newer models.  i PROMISE, if you simply have your front end greased your cadillac will squeak no more !!!

[R. Scot Minesinger]

In response to Otto:

I guess you hurt my feelings a little bit on the grease comment, and a reply is unavoidable.   

I drove late 60's and 70's cars in high shool.  Greasing the car is the very first thing that all of us tried on our 1969/1970 Caddys to no avail.  The problem was that the metal washer on top of the shock absorber bushing in front rubbed against the upper control arm shaft on bumpy roads.  There is not a grease fitting at this location to resolve this problem.  I can fix many things myself (fixed the cliamte control on my 1970). This car was taken to several very talented mechanics without success.  One mechanic is able to repare the air supension systems on the 57 Eldorado Broughams and even he could not figure it out.  At each stop at the different mechanics the grease gun was first used without bearing fruit.  The suggestion to tighten the rubber bushing more is a possible solution, but the grease ain't going to work.

Hope to meet with you and talk about Cadillacs in the future.  Probably won't attend the MO GN, but I will be in Ohio in 2011!  You won't hear my coming because my Caddy drives silently now.

Thanks,

Scot

[R. Scot Minesinger]

SORRY OTTO,

Meant that my reply was intended for TONY who suggested greasing suspension system

Thanks,

Scot

[jeff1956]

Would this problem present itself for a 56 too?  I've had an annoying chirp in mine since I've owned it LOL.  The front end is new, but with bumps you can hear a chirp.  I always thought it was my front bumper slightly rattling, maybe I should check out the upper shock mounts....it's been so long I forget how it's designed. 

Jeff