Date:         Thu, 24 Sep 1998 12:25:06 -0700
Reply-To:     YauMan Chan <YauMan@CCHEM.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         YauMan Chan <YauMan@CCHEM.BERKELEY.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Squeaking Bushings - (another long thesis!)
Comments: To: vanagon@vanagon.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Let me share a trick about diagnosing squeaking rubber parts which I learnt in my younger & stupider days as the proud owner of a Triumph GT6+ British moneysinkmobil.  This car had rubber parts every which way you turn when you look into the undercarriage.  It had rubber bands for springs. It even had all-rubber U-joints -British engineering at its best<g>!  So you can imagine squeaks.  Plus it also has body panel squeaks.. so the problem is to determine is it is body panel squeaks or is it rubber.!  

The trick is water.  Water is the best, abiet very temporary lubricant for rubber.  Wet the rubber parts and they stop squeaking as long as they remain wet.  (Hi huminity in the British Isle -no squeak.. dry dry air of Colorado (where I own the GT - squeak..squeak..squeak.)  The trick is to use a garden hose and thoroughly wet all the rubber parts you can find.  If the squeak goes away when you drive around with a very wet dripping underside, the squeak is from some rubber bushing... if it still squeaks, it probably body panel or springs etc.  Now if it is rubber part, wait for the car to dry, and squeaks return, then use a spray bottle of water and wet individual rubber parts one at time to isolate the source of the squeak.  

After you found the culprit, you have to decide if you want to take the piece out to lubricate it or not.

If you take it out, lubricate the rubber with good rubber lubricants you can buy. All rubber to metal contact area should be lubricated.  (Silicon valve grease you can buy from plumbing supply or pool equipment supply stores works the best.. last the longest..)

If you don't want to take the rubber parts apart, then use a spray on silicon lubricant.  The one I used to use is from the ski shops.  The silicon ski boot spray used to help skiers slip on ski boots worked wonders on my GT6's rubber bushings.  Just spray the rubber to metal contact areas and let it work in.  You may have to repeat operations every few month.

..like the saying about boat ownership.. the 2 happiest days of my life were the day I bought the GT6+ and the day I sold it!


Yau-Man Chan
87 GL

>>> "R. Hotchkiss" <hotch@NETAXS.COM> 09/23 1:17 PM >>>
My 86 GL has squeaked since I bought it 30k ago.  My Mechanic believes
the bushings are the culprit but said they're dry.  So I crawled under,
shook the van, listened and found the uper control arm bushings to be
the loudest.  I took the arm off (pretty easy) and greased
everything...still squeaks.
>>