Here's the story, when i purchased my car, there was squeak/creaking noise coming from the rear of the car whenever I go over speedbumps and what not. I thought it was just the shocks that might have been blown. I went ahead and swapped out my stock spring/shock with a set of coilovers. The creaking is still there. When I push down on the trunk or even when i step out of the car, i can hear the suspension creaking. Any ideas??

 

I'm thinking it's the control arms.

I tested to see which side it was by running only one side of the car over a speed bump. It ended up being the right rear side so that narrowed it down a bit.

I took a can of WD40 and I sprayed the control arm areas and stabilization bar mounts (sway bar/anti roll bar) and 1.5 days later the creaking stopped. I'm not so sure if wd40 is good for rubber parts; I don't think there's petroleum stuff is there?

The creaking sounds like styrofoam rubbing against another piece of styrofoam. I'm going to buy rear control arms soon, so when I take it out I might see the problem better.

 

hmm... thanks for the input buttercup. I dont really wanna spray WD-40 onto my bushings for just a temporary fix. If WD-40 will damage them, i dont want to have to end up replacing them later. Anyone else have any input on this?

 

Hi,

I don't know about the SC300, but I have a Supra and the molded blocks that the jack and iron fit into are made of styrofoam and can make quite a bit of noise after a while as their glue points break or get weaker. This wouldn't explain why the WD-40 worked, though.

 

I would bet a small sum of money that you have a 95 or 96 SC300, for some reason those are prone to upper rear control arm bushing failure. The arms slip off the bushings, then start rubbing and making squeaking noises, damaging the arms and the crossmember along the way!

Other years and versions also have the same problem, but for some reason the 95-96 are the worst.

Todd Matsubara
TM Engineering LLC
www.tmengineering.net

 

95 it is!! hmmm.. what are your suggestions for fixing the problem before i lose my arms and crossmember.

 

I think I have this same problem, as I have the squeaking noise in the rear passenger side of the car. Also my car ride height is higher on the passenger side than the drivers side. Is this attributed to this control arm bushing failure? My car is also a 95 SC300.

 

Also when I push down on the rear passenger side corner of the car, I can produce the creaking noise which occurs when I drive the car also.

 

Yeah, sounds like both cars are most likely suffering from this problem. It is a very strange problem, what happens is that the control arms slip off the bushings, so the arms are slid all the way against the crossmember. Then the arm just grinds up and down every time since it's metal on metal.

You basically have 3 solutions:

1. Install new arms

2. Install good used arms

3. Replace the bushings

 

Thanks for your input double
What aftermarket options do I have for bushings?

 

The only ones that I know of are the ones that we carry, which are $159.95 for the set.

New arms are around $250 each if you want to purchase those.

We have both options available.

 

I was looking at your website. Do you have a set of the rear bushings in stock? What effect will it have on the overall handling of my car if I only do the rear bushing upgrade. At the moment, I can only afford to do the rears. I do plan on doing the fronts as well, but at a later time. Time constraints as well as money are limiting factors. I just want to stop the squeaking noise and stop any additional damage the control arms before they are beyond repair.

 

It shouldn't really affect anything to just do the rears. I agree with you - that would be a good solution if you just did the rear uppers and held on to the rest until you were ready to do other stuff.

We do have them in stock, so you can call, email, order online or PM if you would like to purchase them!

We also have the OEM arms available if you wish to go that route, just a little on the expensive side compared to the bushing replacement.

Figure labor on the bushing job for the upper arms only will be anywhere from $200-400 depending on where you take it to. The arms are kinda tricky to get out, as space is cramped up there, and pressing the original bushings out also takes some ingenuity, but once it's all done you should notice a big improvement in the car's driving, especially when braking or driving at high speeds.

 

check the sway bar end links must be loose