There are four possible reasons for the springs squeaking.
1. All springs have +/- tolerances. Once in a while we see a spring with a slightly smaller ID on the top where the spring coil is barely touching the bottom of the upper perch. Literally this is powder coat touching powder coat which will eventually go away, or you can lubricate the bottom lip of the upper perch. It doesn't hurt to put a small amount of lubricant on the upper and lower perch gaskets as well. We normally use white lithium grease with a very thin coat.
2. The spring may not be seated in the upper perch correctly. It is very easy to twist the rear spring on installation so that it is not sitting in the notch in the upper spring perch. The gasket and the spring must be tight up against the upper spring perch stop. This is easy to fix - jack up the wheel to unload the spring, then twist the spring clockwise (looking at the top) until it is seated on the upper perch stop.
3. The perch gaskets could be dry or cracked and should be replaced. We know of one MINI owner who forgot to put them back on after changing his springs. It is rare but we have seen bad shocks squeak too.
4. We have seen several upper perches with a bulge at the bottom of the perch. This is due to poor stamping when the perch is made. The perch should be straight up and down with a rounded bottom lip, but not bulging out. This bulge sometimes contacts the spring just where it exits the spring perch causing a high pitched squeak. Again this is powder coat on powder coat.
Regards,
[email protected]
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Just stopped on it's own? Hmmm, an easy fix then, eh?
Save Jeff's list in case it comes back.
