[align=left]Hey,
i've got a 1968 Coupe with the 200 c.i. in it, and i have a problem with the front suspension. Its making the horrible squeky noise, i know that its not because i havent greased it. its something else. please help. Thank you
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my 68 coupe did the same thing, i just used a grease gun and it went away

 

See if you can pinpoint the noise. Push down on a fender and see if one side or more are making it. Get a friend to help. Probably a worn out bushing somewhere...

 

Is it all the time, as soon as you start driving the car, or does it start after you've been driving a while? Is it over every kind ofbump, or just sharp bumps or potholes? Does it seem to happen more when just one of the front tires hits the bump, or both?

 

Are the UCAs original? If so it is probably them. The problem is that even of you grease them the grease will only get on the first few threads. There is an easy fix for this. Rebuild the UCAs and cut grease groves in the underside of the threads that way grease gets to all of them.

 

Daze, Could you define UCA rebuild in more detail please, and will this suffice (or even be better than) as opposed to buying new UCA? In your experience, are you familiar with "rough bump-caused" squeaks that take 15 mins. drive time to show up & cannot be duplicated by pushing on suspension?

 

i beileve what daze is saying is to rebuild the upper control arms, which includes replacing the ball joints

Personally i would just replace the whole upper control arm instead of rebuilding them, only because I dont have time to rebuild them or knowledge on the correct way to rebuild them & ususally the new ones have more zerk grease fittings also

 

I disagree with the idea of replacing them, however I understand that time is a premium and with out information the process may seam a little daunting. So I understand why people chose to replace. IMHO I recommend rebuilding rather then buying for 4 Reasons:

1. Most new UCA still don’t have grease groves
When you rebuild a set of UCAs you should take a cut off wheel and cut a grove along the bottom of the shaft perpendicular to the threads so that grease can get to all of the treads with out any issues. It is the lack of these groves that causes the bushing to were out in the first place.

2. Original UCA are typically thicker steel
As with most reproduction parts new UCAs are made as inexpensively as possible and that means thinner steel. You will have a much more quality piece by recondition the original.

3. less bushing tension
In order to secure the cap nuts to the UCA so that they do not back out you must tighten them down quite a bit. This will cause the bushing to bind making it difficult to turn, and the tighter it is the faster it will where out. This is also true of aftermarket replacement arms. A simple fix for this is to loosely tighten the cap nuts down and then tack weld them in to place. This will insure the nuts do not back out and allow for smooth pivot action.

4. Opportunity to improve caster
When rebuilding a set of UCAs you have the prime opportunity to slightly offset the UCA shafts for improved caster, and the with a classic Mustang, more caster simply translates in to better handling.

I have information on how to completely rebuild a set of UCAs on my UCA drop page Scroll down about 2/3rd of the way and the info is there under the title Rebuilding UCA

 

Daze, thanks for taking the time to explain and justify in detail.

 

Check the three nuts that hold the upper shock mount as well, these will squeak if loose.

(these are the bracket that the shocks mount to under the hood.)