My Mini has developed an annoying squeak from the front left suspension The noise sounds like it is from rubber rubbing on something. the noise usually occurs when i am travelling pretty slow (around 30km/h or so) and nearly always occurs when i am slowing down for a corner or cornering. if i am just travelling along at slow speeds it squeaks too. the noise is continuous and sometimes it seems to be in related to the rotation of the tyre, kind of like there is something stuck in the tread, but there isn't. The noise also seems to occur more when i am turning left (so there is less load on the left suspension which seems to be making the noise).

I took that wheel off and had a poke around and most of the rubber boots and bushes and whatever seem to be in ok condition. The rubber bush where the lower suspension arm joins the chassis is in bad condition though and the tie rod squeaks when i wobble it. I put WD40 on these two parts and it helped a bit (or maybe that was just my imagination )

Does anyone have any other ideas on what it could be? I would have thought that if it was the rubber bush on the suspension arm then it would squeak more everytime i go over a bump, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

my car has drum brakes as well, and it makes the noise regardless of whether i am braking or not.

Does it do that at idle? Try this, turn engine on, and push down or brace the top right engine steady...

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

nope. it only does it while i am moving. i will check out the engine steady though, because it doesn't do it much when i am accelerating

It may be that it only does it when the engine is vibrating. Mine did this for ages, and I could not figure it out until I changed the top left steady and hey presto! mouse gone!

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

Possibly the knuckle joint is worn..

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Starlet Conversion:
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15484

i thought it might be the knuckle joints, but i would have thought that would make a different noise and not be so frequent?

I might try replacing some of the engine steady rubbers tomorrow if i can get some new ones from coventrys (the mini shop i usually go to is closed at the moment). These rubbers aren't looking that great either

Its sure to be the nylonn cups the knuckle joints sit in. PIA to change but makes the car so much quieter.

Just for the sake of it - give the whole car a grease - dry joints also squeak. The grease nipples positions are in the manuals.

I was planning on greasing up the car too, but hadn't got round to it yet I am buying a grease gun and grease tomorrow, so then i can sort that out.

I wouldn't have thought that the knuckle joints would squeak as much as mine is squeaking - it squeaks almost all the time when i am travelling slowly. it might be doing it when i am travelling fast too, just i can't hear it. I have some nylon cups around, and was planning on replacing them, but i need to make a rubber spring compressor first. i might have to do that tomorrow too.

maybe its a mouse? just a thought

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If it cant be fixed with a hammer it cant be FIXED!!

update: I have greased the car and it helped for a while, so this made me think it might be the knuckle cups like Mike suggested and that greasing the upper suspension arm had lubricated them to help stop the squeaking.

So I made a rubber cone compressor and got the trumpet + ball joint out, and I'm stuck trying to get the old knuckle cup out. Is there a trick to this? so far i have pulled out about 6 pieces of the old cup but haven't managed to get it all out yet. I don't think it is worn through either, but I will replace it anyway when i get it out.

Would poking a hole in it help? if the cavity underneath is filled with grease then it may be sticking in the grease and letting air in should help.

try some subtle heat on the u/c arm with a propane jet. The plastic cup should collapse/fold in on itself. Wipe off any oil/grease first.

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1967 Cooper S - new front bearings to do.
1965 Cooper S shell - Slow progress. No time or money!
1966 Deluxe- next rustoration!
Mk 2 & XJ6 Jags. Less said the better.

I don't have a propane jet I may be able to borrow one though. I guess i could use a lighter, but it will probably take all day

Contrary to popular belief, there is NO lube provided for that knuckle joint nylon cup.
The top arm nipple doesn't grease it.
All the cup gets is the 1 or 2ml of grease the joint came with.
But....
There is a way to grease them without disassembly.
I bought a grease needle from Toolworks. Basically it's a hollow needle with a sharp point cut at an angle, and a grease nipple in the other end.
You pierce the boot with the needle then give it 1 or 2 shots (no more) from the grease gun.
Also useful for regreasing sealed joints on modern cars that have no nipple.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Thanks for setting me straight doc. I found that out when i got the knuckle cup out

I got the knuckle cup out by spraying deodorant into it and lighting it on fire . Then I levered it and jabbed it with a screwdriver until i deformed it enough to get it out. It definitely isn't worn through, so now i think the squeak is from the connection between the lower control arm and the subframe because the rubbers look pretty bad on that connection. So that is my next fun job - getting the lower control arm off the bolt that connects it to the subframe.

now i got the lower control arm out. The bushes weren't too trashed, but one of them definitely needs replacing, and i may as well do both just for good measure. The pivot for where the lower control arm joins the subframe is worn a bit as well, but i don't know if it is bad enough that it needs replacing. Here are some pics:

http://img403.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 002xo3.jpg

http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 005hx5.jpg

What does everyone think - does it need replacing, or can i get away with putting it back together as-is?