1988 Regal squeeking in front please help.

[kpeters0929]

Hello. I'm doing a suspension restoration on my '88 Regal custom. I finally got my hands on the Kent Moore transverse spring compressor so i'll be replacing all the bushings in the rear this week. As for the front i replaced both ball joints, wheel hubs, outer tie rod ends, both halfshafts, transmission and engine mount, and both dogbones. The lower control arm bushings looked to be in rather good shape as well as the sway bar bushings so i didn't change those. All of the sudden i noticed their is a loud squeeking sound coming from the front of the car. It mainly squeeks when i drive over a bigger bump in the road, but it also makes a noise when i turn the steering wheel left/right. It only seems to do this after i drive the car for awhile, say after 30 minutes or so. I did buy new Monroe strut cartridges and upper bump stop bushings. I didn't install them yet though. Someone suggested it could be the lower strut bearing or possibly the spring making the squeeking sound. I'm sure you guys know what causes this. I would like to get this taken care of before i take the car for a wheel alignment, but i don't want to buy un-necessary parts. If anyone can help me out that would be great!
Thanks!

[jd-autotech]

grease the ball joints

[GTP Dad]

Try spraying the rubber bushings on the control arms with silicone spray if the bushings are dry they will cause a squeak.

[kpeters0929]

Originally Posted by GTP Dad

Try spraying the rubber bushings on the control arms with silicone spray if the bushings are dry they will cause a squeak.

I will try that out and post back the results. White lithium grease should be fine right?

[GTP Dad]

Lithium grease may work but the silicone will condition the bushings as well as lubricate them. It will also get into smaller spaces as well. You can purchase it at most autoparts stores if not try Lowes or Home Depot. They both carry it. I recommend it over the lithium!

[kpeters0929]

Thanks GTP dad for the info. I did get the silicone and sprayed the lower bushings and sway bar bushings. At first i thought it worked, but after driving the car for 45min the annoying creeking noise came back. It does it mainly when the car hits bumps. I did bounce the car up and down and it is definately coming from the strut area.

I think i want to change everything right away to take care of this noise (and not worry about it coming back.)
So far i have...
(2) MONROE 73305 sensa trac struts
MONROE 902995 left lower strut mounting plate with bearing
MONROE 902994 right lower strut mounting plate with bearing
(2) MONROE 901921 upper mount bushings
(2) MOOG CC654 coil springs

I did some researching and i noticed that their is a lower insulator bushing that goes between the coil spring and the lower mounting plate. Unfortunately the Monroe kit didn't come with this. I noticed some of the other kits do come with that bushing such as this one here...
http://www.partsamerica.com/productd...e=1416&PTSet=A

I can't seem to find anyone that sells that insulator seperately. Do you think i should replace this as well? What about the upper insulator... and is their a upper bearing too? I never took the MacPherson strut assembly apart before so i'm mainly researching all this stuff beforehand. When you do a complete service for the front struts what are the main things you do replace? Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!