4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

Have you tried a high quality marine grease yet? That seems to be the only thing that works for me with all the salt they spray here in the winter. I lubed my Hotchkis sway bars once when I put them on about a year and a half ago. I have yet to hear any squeaks.

I had a real issue with squeaking on my Eibach sway bars on my Evo. It turned out that the bushings (not the end links) would dry out ridiculously quick and would squeak. Sometimes it would squeak less than a week after lubing them. I don't know if it was just that the sways on that car twisted a lot in the bushings and pushed the grease out or if the salt in the winter was an issue, but it was awful.

I tried all kinds of different grease and the only thing that worked was Philwood waterproof bike grease. I have since switched to an actual grease gun since the Hotchkis sway bars have zerk fittings for the bushings (super convenient) and use marine grease (avail. at any autoparts store). It works great and the Hotchkis sways have not made a peep in the last year and a half.

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

Finally got around to changing the differential gear oil this morning. I seriously made more of this project than was necessary however, it was the first time I've ever done it. For prep, I backed the car up on my new Race Ramps, using the parking pad at the end of my driveway because it has a very slight grade to it. That grade, along with running the front-end up on a 6ft section of 1x8, gave me as close as I could come to leveling out the car. I mean, it's not as good as putting the car on stands, and I'm chickensh1t about that, so this is what I did.



Also in prep, I bought a hex bit to fit for my 1/2-drive torque wrench (26 foot pounds), and a $5 fluid pump kit from Harbor Freight. My moment of humility happened here when I first started pumping the new fluid in, and realized I had the inlet and outlet switched. My god, what a stupid move. Messy, too.



Looking at the magnet on the drainplug, I'm glad to have done this. It's been approx 1500 miles since the gear swap, and to me that looks like a fair amount of sludge. I really don't know how to interpret this. One the one hand, it's validation on doing a gear oil change after a gear-swap. On the other hand... that's a lot of sludge.



Either way, here's less than 2 quarts of used gear oil in an Arnold Palmer Iced Tea jug. Yummy.

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

With the car on ramps, and the kid rocking the car up and down while I move the mechanic's stethascope around to various suspension components... the eeek eeek eeek is coming from my rear passenger shock.

So... let's assume I'm not looking for a whole new suspension... how do I buy just one Tein Basis rear-shock?

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

Your drain plug had a magnet on it or did you put it on the drain plug? Wow that oil is dark after only 1,500 miles

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

John, I'd contact Tein, those should be serviceable or maybe there's something they'd recommend that will help w/ that issue if it is that rear damper. you could then just run it until you store for the winter then send it off to be serviced/rebuilt.

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

AFAIK, that magnet plug is OEM. And I agree, the fluid looked dark to me too, but I really have no point of reference or experience with this.

Maybe I should be doing yearly gear oil swaps along with my yearly oil change.

I wrote to Tein today and got an automated redrirect response, so let's see what they say. If these were $2000 coilovers, then I'd probably pursue a fix. But one rear shock in the inexpensive Tein Basis kit... seems easier to just buy a new one, assuming that's possible.

IDK, one baby step at a time. The car drives fine, it just makes this horrible eek-eek sound when crawling around in parking lots.

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

Have you tried adding grease to the Tein Basis to see if it quiets down?

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

Ah, nope. Haven't done that. Where? How? Should I pull the wheel for access?

Lego_Maniac

iTrader: (3)

Nice job breaking those Race Ramps in, and props for DIY



That does look like a lot of sludge. I recently did my rear diff fluid for the first time over July-4th weekend at around 43K and my drain plug had no where near that kind of buildup.


Couldn't you just put your OE sport shocks back on, and leave the Tein springs?

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

I'm thinking maybe because the "new" ring and pinion had been sitting in a box for years, and had a corrosive surface, whereas OEM manufacturing is a pristine environment with perfectly shiny new parts.



If that's the case, perhaps this is the rationale for recommendations to swap gear oil after a break-in period. Whatever the reason, I'm going to swap it again next summer. Now that I've done it, it's no big deal to do this again.


That option occurred to me, too. The OEM sport dampers only have 20k miles on them.

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

Underneath the dust boot you will probably see the chrome strut that slides in and out of the housing. It's a long shot, but that might be the source of your noise if it has dried out.

Rochester

iTrader: (9)

OK, totally worth a shot.

So what would you recommend? Pre-lube grease, or spray-can lubricant? I have a can of this stuff available:

https://www.krown.com/products/aeros...and-lubricant/

I also have a spray-can of Kroil lying around:

http://www.kanolabs.com/google/?gcli...SAAEgIOHvD_BwE

4DRZ

iTrader: (7)

I would use a thicker grease instead of an oil

2GoRNot2G

iTrader: (5)

Keep in mind that your shocks are lubricated from the inside, so while you've got the dust boot pulled back I would inspect the point where the shock shaft is coming out of the shock body. If there seems to be a build up of oil and/or dirt there then you may have a bad shock oil seal which is allowing the shock oil to leak out and most likely causing your squeaking. Some of types of shocks are easily rebuildable while others are not. For example, I've had the Fox Racing shocks on my Jeep rebuild several times over the years due to dirt getting between the shock shaft and seals and eventually tearing up the oil seals.


I would not suggest greasing the shock shaft, as it will just add a source to attract dirt and/or sand that could possibly be pulled into the shock as it strokes and damage the oil seal and possibly even scratch the shock shaft itself. You could try just a squirt of Teflon based spray lubricant that is transported in a carrier that will evaporate so it doesn't stay wet. Although this probably won't permanently cure your problem it will at least confirm if the shock shaft moving in and out of the shock is the source of your noise. If it goes away when you spray it then you'll know where your problem is.


This is the dry film PTFE based lubricant that I use:

I hate tracking down random noises. Never fun. Good luck!

2GoRNot2G

iTrader: (5)

Forgot to mention that I wouldn't recommend using any type of petroleum based rust protection lubricant on the shock. I'm not familiar with the one in your link, but petroleum based products like WD40 and PB Blaster are know to break down natural rubber parts over time, which could affect your shock boots and/or oil seals (although the oil seals are probably some type of synthetic based rubber).