Going to lube sway bar bushings...question
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Joined: Dec 2012
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From: Huntington Beach, CA
2006 CLK350
Going to lube sway bar bushings...question
Got some synth grease to do the bushings. Should I have the car on stands with suspension at full droop when I loosen the brackets or should I have the car up on ramps with weight on the suspension?
Thread Starter
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Joined: Dec 2012
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From: Huntington Beach, CA
2006 CLK350
Well I just dropped the bushing housing down. Please excuse my ignorance but when I have done this on other cars the rubber bushing is split so it to can come off and lube between it and the bar in addition to the housing. On this car are the rubber appears to be integral with the bar itself? I can see to way to separate the rubber from the bar.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 249
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From: Huntington Beach, CA
2006 CLK350
Did the fronts but STILL sounded like a goose living under the rear of my car. Every time the rear bounces a little it sounds like rubber on metal squawk. It is embarrassing and annoying. Any thoughts on where to start looking?
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From: New Zealand
For H&R swaybars they come with new specially designed bushings, nothing else required. Mercedes started making the swaybar with the bush built in to prevent squeaking. They want you to buy a whole new swaybar. How did you manage to lube them?
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On the older cars, like my C240, the anti-sway bar bushings were replaceable. Sometime later, they started gluing them to the bar so the only place you can lube is where the bushing sits in the mount. On mine, I actually bought old style bushings and removed my glued-on ones. This also requires a different mounting bracket as the old style bushing is shaped differently, but I just "force" it in place on my CLK. I lubed it and it;s been dead silent.
To track down suspension noise, you need to lift the car, then use a floor jack on the wheel to articulate it until you reproduce the offending sound. Once you can do that, use a mechanic's stethoscope to pinpoint the source. I thought I had anti-sway bar bushing noise and I did this and discovered it was the bushing on the "lower" control arm (a.k.a. torque strut) where it mounts to the frame.
To track down suspension noise, you need to lift the car, then use a floor jack on the wheel to articulate it until you reproduce the offending sound. Once you can do that, use a mechanic's stethoscope to pinpoint the source. I thought I had anti-sway bar bushing noise and I did this and discovered it was the bushing on the "lower" control arm (a.k.a. torque strut) where it mounts to the frame.
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2008 CLK550 Cab
Lubing them is easy. I posted a diy that I'm too lazy to find! But lubing the rears will do no good. They are wrapped in cloth and don't squeak.
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From: Huntington Beach, CA
2006 CLK350
I had a lot of squeaks and squawks each with a different tone. The fronts where a higher pitch. The lube solved that. I do believe that the rears had a similar pitch that sent away when it did those. The deeper squawk is obviously a different problem. I will have to just track it down with some silicon spray.i don't know what else to do at this point. It doesn't take much to make it squawk so I will just run it up on the ramps and try pushing it around. I will export my results
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From: New Zealand
Thanks, I was just wondering if you somehow prized the bushings off the bar but it sounds like you are just lubing between the bushing and mount. I bought new bushings just in case mine is not part of the bar. Were the glued on ones hard to removed Rodney?
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From: Huntington Beach, CA
2006 CLK350
No, didn't get the bushings off the front but I noticed that they compressed and moved as the suspension articulated so I greased everything I could. It worked fine and I figured since they are part of the swaybar anyhow they wouldn't be moving and rubbing on the bar itself, just the cap and frame.
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The bushing were a real PITA to remove. I remove the whole anti-sway bar to do it. I cut them and pulled off the chunks I could, then scraped the remaining rubber off with a blade. I followed that with increasing grit sandpaper, and finally polished the bar with jeweler's rouge and my Dremel tool. It was probably overkill, but I was determined to get rid of the noise. And I did.
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From: New Zealand
I thought it might be something like that. I will hope they are not glued on and probably leave them if they are. The rear ones look like regular pull out and replace bushes. Not sure if they did the front/rear differently. Haven't checked the front.
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2008 CLK550 Cab
On the older cars, like my C240, the anti-sway bar bushings were replaceable. Sometime later, they started gluing them to the bar so the only place you can lube is where the bushing sits in the mount. On mine, I actually bought old style bushings and removed my glued-on ones. This also requires a different mounting bracket as the old style bushing is shaped differently, but I just "force" it in place on my CLK. I lubed it and it;s been dead silent.
To track down suspension noise, you need to lift the car, then use a floor jack on the wheel to articulate it until you reproduce the offending sound. Once you can do that, use a mechanic's stethoscope to pinpoint the source. I thought I had anti-sway bar bushing noise and I did this and discovered it was the bushing on the "lower" control arm (a.k.a. torque strut) where it mounts to the frame.
To track down suspension noise, you need to lift the car, then use a floor jack on the wheel to articulate it until you reproduce the offending sound. Once you can do that, use a mechanic's stethoscope to pinpoint the source. I thought I had anti-sway bar bushing noise and I did this and discovered it was the bushing on the "lower" control arm (a.k.a. torque strut) where it mounts to the frame.
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The front anti-Sway bar bushings were making a noise. It was a squeak when going over speed bumps. When I checked them, they were VERY worn where they sit in the mounting brackets, and they were very hard. That's why I decided to replace them.
The control arm bushings went bad and they made a very similar noise, but only when articulating AND turning.
I am now getting some popping/clunking noises from the rear when stopping and starting, so now I'll have something else to look at!
The control arm bushings went bad and they made a very similar noise, but only when articulating AND turning.
I am now getting some popping/clunking noises from the rear when stopping and starting, so now I'll have something else to look at!
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2012 C300 4MATIC Sport
I had squeaky sounds from both front and rear when going over speed bumps. I ordered the new style anti-sway bar for the front and replaced it and the front noise is now gone.
For the rear, you can just buy the bushings so I did that and replaced them and the rear noise is gone as well.
Rudeney's method for the front is definitely cheaper since the new style anti-sway bar with the bushings glued cost me $96 whereas buying just the bushings will cost much less but will require more labour.
Next time they squeak, I am going to order the bushings alone and perform a DIY replacement.
For the rear, you can just buy the bushings so I did that and replaced them and the rear noise is gone as well.
Rudeney's method for the front is definitely cheaper since the new style anti-sway bar with the bushings glued cost me $96 whereas buying just the bushings will cost much less but will require more labour.
Next time they squeak, I am going to order the bushings alone and perform a DIY replacement.
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Joined: Dec 2012
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From: Huntington Beach, CA
2006 CLK350
PROBLEM OF THE BIG SQUAWK IDENTIFIED AND TEMPORARILY RESOLVED!
So I ran the rear up on ramps. Chased it around for a while. I would push up on the chassis and grab the different components to see if I could "feel" the squawk. I would shoot some dry lube on the bushings as I went. nothing there.
I finally noticed that it appears that the bushings in the spring links have worn and softened which dropped the spring link just enough to be rubbing on what look like some kind of subframe connectors or something I am not familiar with. (2 flat bars running in a V-shape to the rear below the spare tire area.)
In any event, I put a little pry bar in there to separate the 2 and put some Super Lube between them. No MO Squawk! Problem solved...at least until I can R&R the spring links. Obviously the spring link shouldn't be riding on that bar but it will do for now.
So I ran the rear up on ramps. Chased it around for a while. I would push up on the chassis and grab the different components to see if I could "feel" the squawk. I would shoot some dry lube on the bushings as I went. nothing there.
I finally noticed that it appears that the bushings in the spring links have worn and softened which dropped the spring link just enough to be rubbing on what look like some kind of subframe connectors or something I am not familiar with. (2 flat bars running in a V-shape to the rear below the spare tire area.)
In any event, I put a little pry bar in there to separate the 2 and put some Super Lube between them. No MO Squawk! Problem solved...at least until I can R&R the spring links. Obviously the spring link shouldn't be riding on that bar but it will do for now.
Last edited by Patton001; Sep 19, 2015 at 04:31 PM.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 249
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From: Huntington Beach, CA
2006 CLK350
I forgot to take pictures while I had it up on the ramps. I tried to take pics once I had everything put away but you couldn't really make anything out what was what. I tried to describe what I did. If you get under your car you will see the 2 flat bars running to the rear in a v configuration. I am not sure what they are, they did not appear in a shop manual that I have but it is not CLK specific. Can you tell me what area you would like me to elaborate on? If you see the spring links and the flat bars there should be no interference between the 2.
