Front End Noise

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Ricks70Duster340

Child of the King
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I just finished upgrading my 70 Dusters front end. The K-frame and LCA were likely bent due to an accident before I got the car (could see where the K-frame was welded). Replaced the K-frame, LCA/UCA, and strut bars with QA1's. Also replace the torsion bars with PST 1.03's. While upgrading, I installed the Dr Diff Stage 2 front 11.75 disc brake kit.

I greased the UCA's and have gone around everything to make sure things are torqued to spec and when driving slowly (especially decelerating) I hear creaking & noise from the front end. When I installed the new sliding calipers, I made sure the outboard brake pad tabs were bent down to grab the edge so that they would not rattle. At a loss here.
 
Recheck the upper control arm cam bolts. I did a 63 Belvedere and torqued them to specs.Not tight enough so I went old school and tightened them more.Had a "creak" when hitting some bumps but not all the time.Drove me nuts but that is were I found the noise.Maybe ?
 
Double check your strut rods also just had a car that creaked because of the strut rods. Let everyone know what you find.
 
Don't discount that since you believe the car was crashed, that there is some crack(s) / damage in the front car structure, the stub frame, that is allowing noise and movement. This could be difficult to see if under paint, undercoat, etc
 
Don't discount that since you believe the car was crashed, that there is some crack(s) / damage in the front car structure, the stub frame, that is allowing noise and movement. This could be difficult to see if under paint, undercoat, etc
That is possible, but there was no noise before the part changes.
 
Double check your strut rods also just had a car that creaked because of the strut rods. Let everyone know what you find.
The strut rods are tight at both ends as well as the jamb nuts on the adjusters. That being the case, would they still make noise?
 
Does the noise happen during braking? Can we eliminate being brake possibilities?
It does happen during braking, but not exclusively. I don't think it is the calipers. I've heard caliper rattle before, and this does not sound like that.
 
I think we can eliminate being brake related. So it sounds like loose/lack of lube bushing noise to me. Good luck.
 
to help pinpoint the location of the noise, get a spray bottle of water. start at the lowest point of the suspension and saturate things down there. drive as you would and hear the squeak. still there go a little higher rinse and repeat
 
Some poly bushings can be real noisy if not lubed properly......and sometimes even when they are! :lol:
 
An epilog: I had my son bounce the car while I was listening to the front end. Found the QA1 strut bars were making a popping noise. Even though the end bolts were torqued correctly, guessing the bit of flexing showed the length was a bit too short. Lengthened the bars a bit and retightened everything and all quiet now. I do not like how the end of the bar is smaller than the socket in the LCA (believe it is 9/16 on the bar and 5/8 on the LCA). Seems like QA1 should have included a sleeve at the very least to take up the slack or better yet make the doggone end 5/8 like the original strut rod. Anyway, success.
 
An epilog: I had my son bounce the car while I was listening to the front end. Found the QA1 strut bars were making a popping noise. Even though the end bolts were torqued correctly, guessing the bit of flexing showed the length was a bit too short. Lengthened the bars a bit and retightened everything and all quiet now. I do not like how the end of the bar is smaller than the socket in the LCA (believe it is 9/16 on the bar and 5/8 on the LCA). Seems like QA1 should have included a sleeve at the very least to take up the slack or better yet make the doggone end 5/8 like the original strut rod. Anyway, success.[/QUOTE

i was in the process of installing these on a 68 dart when i discovered this problem the dart is a complete redo so it will be awhile before it's on the road but your experience is exactly what i suspected and it would only get worse with miles
 
An epilog: I had my son bounce the car while I was listening to the front end. Found the QA1 strut bars were making a popping noise. Even though the end bolts were torqued correctly, guessing the bit of flexing showed the length was a bit too short. Lengthened the bars a bit and retightened everything and all quiet now. I do not like how the end of the bar is smaller than the socket in the LCA (believe it is 9/16 on the bar and 5/8 on the LCA). Seems like QA1 should have included a sleeve at the very least to take up the slack or better yet make the doggone end 5/8 like the original strut rod. Anyway, success.
Well, not quite a success. The bars are in fact the source of the noise. Extending the bars a bit reduced the noise, but it is still there. Because the bars do not have the correct end size (should be 5/8"), I am returning them to Summit and letting them know that the bars are not a direct bolt-in as advertised. I ordered a set of bars from PST, and those DO have 5/8" ends. Shame on QA1 for selling strut bars that are not properly sized, yet present them as such.
 
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