FRAMING JOHN DELOREAN - ON VOD www.framingjohndeloreanfilm.com
Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 1 2
Results 11 to 20 of 20

Thread: Problems with (new but) creaking front springs?

  1. #11
    Senior Member hippieman9's Avatar
    Join Date:  Jan 2018

    Location:  Mebane, NC

    Posts:    346

    My VIN:    06668 81' Grey interior, 5 speed, Grooved hood. Previous owner of 16301, in 2001. Found Nov 2019, a

    Stock springs or lowering springs? I had a creaking issue when I installed new shocks and springs last year, ended up being the orientation of the spring. The end of the coil on top should be facing the wheel.

  2. #12
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  Jul 2017

    Posts:    218

    Quote Originally Posted by hippieman9 View Post
    Stock springs or lowering springs? I had a creaking issue when I installed new shocks and springs last year, ended up being the orientation of the spring. The end of the coil on top should be facing the wheel.
    Mine has both performance spring and shock set by Eibach purchased from DMC in 2012 and only about 3-4K miles ago. My mechanic buddy and I looked at the front suspension today, and everything "looks" good, Top of shock isn't hitting tub or anything, no leaks, bushings all look good, no play in the sway bar. However, there is a noticeable knock/clack when I push down on the front end coming from passenger side. It may be coming from the shock itself, but we aren't sure. Going to go the greasing and siliconing route first since I have no idea the last time that was done. If that doesn't fix it, is it possible my shock went bad with that little mileage? It is not leaking either. Original poster, did you figure yours out yet?
    Last edited by Hill Valley PD; 09-14-2019 at 01:15 PM.

  3. #13
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  Jul 2017

    Posts:    218

    Greased the ball joints (took some but not super dry) and siliconed all the bushings yesterday, which look recently replaced. The creakiness is gone now, but I still have a metal on metal clack from the front passenger side when bouncing up and down and when grabbing wheel and rocking front front to back. Everything "looks" good, and the shocks are tight as in no play side to side or front to back. A bit baffled, but getting it up on a lift Thursday and really digging in...

  4. #14
    Member
    Join Date:  Nov 2018

    Location:  Oldenburg, Germany

    Posts:    61

    My VIN:    #1550

    Feedback to suggestions

    Hi!
    Sorry for the delay, but I was very busy at work.
    But yesterday evening I greased all the joints with the "dry lube" spray and felt quite positive about the result.
    Today I drove about 200 km with the Delorean, but it sounds as it did before. Absolutely no change...
    I was really disappointed, but I will search on for the source of the sound.
    I did not yet turn the springs, as it was described, so this will be my next step.
    How to do this? Should I use spring clamps and compress them as long as I will be able to turn them?
    Thank you for your help so far.
    I will let you know about the results of the next step...
    But as my car behaves like a Diva, today my windscreen wiper broke down. I will start a discussion about that in a new thread...
    Bye,
    Lars.

  5. #15
    Senior Member DMC-81's Avatar
    Join Date:  Apr 2014

    Location:  Florida

    Posts:    2,371

    My VIN:    <2000

    Club(s):   (DCF)

    Quote Originally Posted by larsmhh View Post
    Hi!
    Sorry for the delay, but I was very busy at work.
    But yesterday evening I greased all the joints with the "dry lube" spray and felt quite positive about the result.
    Today I drove about 200 km with the Delorean, but it sounds as it did before. Absolutely no change...
    I was really disappointed, but I will search on for the source of the sound.
    I did not yet turn the springs, as it was described, so this will be my next step.
    How to do this? Should I use spring clamps and compress them as long as I will be able to turn them?
    Thank you for your help so far.
    I will let you know about the results of the next step...
    But as my car behaves like a Diva, today my windscreen wiper broke down. I will start a discussion about that in a new thread...
    Bye,
    Lars.
    Hi Lars,

    Yes, exactly.
    Dana

    1981 DeLorean DMC-12 (5 Speed, Gas Flap, Black Interior, Windshield Antenna, Dark Gray)
    Restored as "mostly correct, but with flaws corrected". Pictures and comments of my restoration are in the albums section on my profile.
    1985 Chevrolet Corvette, Z51, 4+3 manual
    2006 Dodge Magnum R/T (D/D)
    2010 Camaro SS (Transformers Edition)

  6. #16
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  Jul 2017

    Posts:    218

    Mike from MW suggested for me to check my steering rack. Is yours original by chance? I will finally figure out what my issue is tomorrow morning on the lift hopefully.

  7. #17
    Senior Member
    Join Date:  Jul 2017

    Posts:    218

    Big thanks to Mike from MW and Hippieman9 for their suggestions. We took my shock out of the passenger side (where noise was coming from) and bounced the car with just the spring in, and no more noise. Figured bad shock and put it back in. Still no noise! Fixed? Mike from MW thinks that maybe the upper mount was rubbing the frame, steel shock shaft to frame...

    After you check your rack, and grease the ball joints with a grease gun (I know you did silicone on bushings already), maybe take your shocks out and do the bounce test and see if noise is still there. They aren't terrible to remove and would eliminate that as the issue.
    Last edited by Hill Valley PD; 09-26-2019 at 10:15 PM.

  8. #18
    Member
    Join Date:  Nov 2018

    Location:  Oldenburg, Germany

    Posts:    61

    My VIN:    #1550

    Problem solved!

    Hi!
    It took some time but now I can happily broadcast, that we got the problem solved!
    I went to Ed Uding, who works in the Netherlands, but that is just about 300 km away from where I live. So when I had a week of holidays last week I drove to Ed and we solved some other problems (torsion bar adjustment...). It was a pleasure to be there and to see an expert working on my car. Ed knew about the problem of the creaking springs and we wanted to turn them out of the misalignment, but...
    I forgot to take my adadter for the wheels bolt lock and we were not able to take off the front wheels. What a pain...
    But as Ed told me what and how to do I worked with my neighbor last weekend and we got the right and left front spring aligned correctly. Ed wanted me to align the lower endof the spring to look int the middle/center of the car. The right spring, which did less creaking sound was misaligned about 2 cm, the left one (which was creaking loud) was misaligned about 4 - 5 cm from its position.

    Result: No more noise !!!

    I am very happy now and just wanted to let you know about the progress.

    Best wishes from Germany,

    Lars.

  9. #19
    Senior Member DMC-81's Avatar
    Join Date:  Apr 2014

    Location:  Florida

    Posts:    2,371

    My VIN:    <2000

    Club(s):   (DCF)

    Quote Originally Posted by larsmhh View Post
    Hi!
    It took some time but now I can happily broadcast, that we got the problem solved!
    I went to Ed Uding, who works in the Netherlands, but that is just about 300 km away from where I live. So when I had a week of holidays last week I drove to Ed and we solved some other problems (torsion bar adjustment...). It was a pleasure to be there and to see an expert working on my car. Ed knew about the problem of the creaking springs and we wanted to turn them out of the misalignment, but...
    I forgot to take my adadter for the wheels bolt lock and we were not able to take off the front wheels. What a pain...
    But as Ed told me what and how to do I worked with my neighbor last weekend and we got the right and left front spring aligned correctly. Ed wanted me to align the lower endof the spring to look int the middle/center of the car. The right spring, which did less creaking sound was misaligned about 2 cm, the left one (which was creaking loud) was misaligned about 4 - 5 cm from its position.

    Result: No more noise !!!

    I am very happy now and just wanted to let you know about the progress.

    Best wishes from Germany,

    Lars.
    Glad you got it resolved successfully.
    Dana

    1981 DeLorean DMC-12 (5 Speed, Gas Flap, Black Interior, Windshield Antenna, Dark Gray)
    Restored as "mostly correct, but with flaws corrected". Pictures and comments of my restoration are in the albums section on my profile.
    1985 Chevrolet Corvette, Z51, 4+3 manual
    2006 Dodge Magnum R/T (D/D)
    2010 Camaro SS (Transformers Edition)

  10. #20
    Junior Member
    Join Date:  Sep 2016

    Posts:    16

    Quote Originally Posted by Hill Valley PD View Post
    Greased the ball joints (took some but not super dry) and siliconed all the bushings yesterday, which look recently replaced. The creakiness is gone now, but I still have a metal on metal clack from the front passenger side when bouncing up and down and when grabbing wheel and rocking front front to back. Everything "looks" good, and the shocks are tight as in no play side to side or front to back. A bit baffled, but getting it up on a lift Thursday and really digging in...
    I have creaking on my front end that is most noticeable when I'm turning out of my driveway which slopes down to the street. I know next to nothing about suspension, so I was hoping you could let me know which specific bushings you siliconed. On the parts diagram, I see lower arm bushings (p/n 100154), anti-roll bar bushings (p/n 108912), and rubber bushing that go between a clamp and clamp spacer (p/n 100774). It might not actually hurt to silicone them all, but I'm curious which ones you sprayed.

    Also, do the Delorean ball joints have grease fittings? If not, is it okay to use a puncture needle right through the boot? I saw a video online that shows this as an acceptable method, but I'm a little skeptical. I'd hate for grease to escape (or dirt, sand, water, etc to get in) through the hole I created.

    TIA!

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 1 2

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •