UCA decisions

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Black Girl

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Good morning all, rebuilt the front end on my 69 Dart vert with pst poly kit, lca stiffing kit, 103 bars adj strut rods lowered the car an inch or so. It squeaks bad and won’t align. Question : should I try moog 7103 offset bushings or tubular arms? If so which ones? Wknd car 2k miles a year would be a lot .Any suggestions ? Thanks!
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Nice car!
As far as the squeaking goes, did you grease the poly bushings during assembly? (White lithium grease, if I recall correctly- a packet should have been included with the kit, IIRC).
Did you assemble things (control arms) loosely, set it down on the ground so the suspension was loaded, and then tighten up the nuts at ride height? Failure to do so can cause binding/squeeks...
Failure to achieve at least factory alignment specs is usually due to either damage or alignment tech knowledge/ability. The Moog bushings are a good idea to be able to achieve specs for modern radial tires- just make sure they're installed correctly for your purpose (NOT according to their enclosed directions!)
Moog UCA bushing installation | For A Bodies Only Mopar Forum
Following the SKOSH chart - your experiences? | For A Bodies Only Mopar Forum
 
poly bushings tend to squeak a lot. keep on greasing them
I have QA1 upper control arms and I'm very happy with them
 
What are your alignment numbers that where printed out from the alignment shop?

next step is seeing pictures of your 4 alignment cams to see how much adjustment you have left.

was your alignment shop rear familiar with old cars?

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View attachment 1715853312
 
First, try a different alignment shop. Second, loose the poly bushings. I used them for decades, and went back to heavy duty rubber bushings. Love driving my car again.
 
On a convertible I wouldn’t go with poly lower and upper bushings. They are to prone too rattles and squeaks because of their weaker structure, convertible mechanisms, and weak noise isolation from truck compartment.

I think sway bar poly and even strut rod poly would be the max. Those don’t move as much and don’t carry as much load.
 
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Poly bushings only squeak if they’re improperly installed or improperly lubricated. Poly isn’t rubber, it doesn’t work the same way, and it must be lubricated. Properly lubricated poly bushings do not squeak. That’s why poly bushings should be installed with a grease fitting so they can be greased periodically like other joints that require lubrication, no different than a ball joint or tie rod end. Now, on a convertible without additional chassis reinforcement they may cause other things to squeak and rattle, but that’s a different issue.

As @autoxcuda already alluded to, an idea of your actual alignment numbers would help greatly. Because the car is lowered some settings may not be achievable without offset bushings. But it depends on which settings are out. It also depends on what settings your shop is using, because the factory settings should not be used with radial tires. SKOSH chart, not the factory settings, should be used with radials.

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I’ve had poly strut rods and sway bars from 1994 to 2011

added lower control arm poly in 1997. I STILL have them in the car now. When I went to a full hotchkis setup they poly lowers looked fine. Re-lubed them and put them back in.

I custom fit the hell out of the lower polys. Shaved them down to fit, polished the outer shells, polished the LCA pins.

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72bluNblu said:
Poly bushings only squeak if they’re improperly installed or improperly lubricated. Poly isn’t rubber, it doesn’t work the same way, and it must be lubricated. Properly lubricated poly bushings do not squeak. That’s why poly bushings should be installed with a grease fitting so they can be greased periodically like other joints that require lubrication, no different than a ball joint or tie rod end. Now, on a convertible without additional chassis reinforcement they may cause other things to squeak and rattle, but that’s a different issue.

As @autoxcuda already alluded to, an idea of your actual alignment numbers would help greatly. Because the car is lowered some settings may not be achievable without offset bushings. But it depends on which settings are out. It also depends on what settings your shop is using, because the factory settings should not be used with radial tires. SKOSH chart, not the factory settings, should be used with radials.

View attachment 1715853397
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The upper bushings are assembled, can't lube. The frame is tied. I can't get enough adjustment with the front lowered, it wants the torsion bars back up. Do the bushings in the QA1 ucas squeak? Sorry I'm not great with the computer
 
Black Girl said:
The upper bushings are assembled, can't lube. The frame is tied. I can't get enough adjustment with the front lowered, it wants the torsion bars back up. Do the bushings in the QA1 ucas squeak? Sorry I'm not great with the computer
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Frame tied helps a lot on a conv.

You didn't mention you had QA1 UCA's. They should have extra adjustment built in.

Possibly your adjustable strut rods are out of adjustment?

What are your alignment numbers?

What are your numbers when the front is moved up? Or what measurement changed?
 
I didn't see you mention where the squeak is coming from? Uppers, lowers one side or both. As mention by others if not properly greased at installation there is a possibility of noise. Also what was the shop able to achieve with the alignment? What spec were you shooting for?

Thanks
James From
PST
 
PST said:
I didn't see you mention where the squeak is coming from? Uppers, lowers one side or both. As mention by others if not properly greased at installation there is a possibility of noise. Also what was the shop able to achieve with the alignment? What spec were you shooting for?

Thanks
James From
PST
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James, the noise is coming from the upper bushings that are assembled with both shells right out of the bag. How do you grease them, take them apart? Pretty sure it would take a hammer, bushing driver and vise.
 
You will need to pull the control arms. If you have a vise or c-clamp you can use a socket that is the same size as the inner sleeve push the inner sleeve out. You will need a piece of pipe or a larger socket then the outer shell of the bushing on the opposite side of the bushing from which you are pushing. The sleeve should come out with little effort. Once the inner sleeve is out you will need to repeat the process by pushing out the bushing . You can leave the outer shell in place. Then you will need grease the inside and outside of the bushing. Then you will need reverse the process to re-assemble it. If you have any issue pm and I will walk you through it.

Thanks
James From
PST
 
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