The squeaks of (almost) summer - Round 2

[Timmy]

For those of you living in the North East, I know this will be hard to swallow, but spring has sprung here in the Pacific Northwest. Now that the temps have gotten warmer, my Jeep has decided to again infuriate and terrorize me with squeaks in the suspension. Last summer I went crazy and installed grease fittings on every control arm at the bushings of my stupid Pro Comp II lift. I was able to keep the squeaks at bay with regular, often frustrating, greasing attempts. This year... NO MORE... Squeaks need to be gone, because this is stupid.

I contacted Northridge4x4 and asked how do I stop this infuriating squeaking once and for all? They said Pro Comps use some of the hardest and worst bushings in the business. They feel if I change out the upper and lower control arms, I'll be set. They suggested either a Synergy or Metal Cloaks upper/lower pack. President of Northridge4x4 claims the Metal Cloaks will not squeak. Thought I'd turn to my favorite Jeep community to find out your suggestion? The Synergy (which I like their gear) and the Metal Cloaks gear comes in around $1200 each. Does anyone feel there is a cheaper option from another company that would be just as good, keeping in mind that I'm really a weekend off-roader at best, nothing too difficult? I don't need crazy flex, yada, yada, yada. I just need 4" of lift with control arms that don't squeak.

Your thoughts?

[KaiserBill]

I would suggest getting bushings with ceramic dry lubricants.

[Timmy]

Hmm.. Northridge4x4 just called with another idea. He says he could sell me a set of brand new OEM control arms and some AEV relocation brackets, basically bringing me to an AEV setup, for around $200(ish) with shipping. He said, and I've heard a ton, that the Chrysler OEM bushings are very good, almost hard to beat for the price. Again, I'm no hard-core off-roader here, so a slightly more road-worthy 4" lift is fine by me. At $200 vs. $1200 to fix my squeaks, that sounds pretty appealing. (He can me this gear cheap because they convert so many stock '14 and '15 wranglers to lifted ones, so they have these parts laying around all the time.)

Thoughts?

[gbaumann]

I like my AEV lift. I don't rock crawl. I don't need super twist. 80% of the time I'm going 80 mph. It's quite, comfortable and smooth.

[Snarf77]

Metalcloak's joints are 100% squeak free. Period. Its inherent in the design. There have been extensive arguments in the past about the longevity of the joints (mostly by a direct competitor), but they've been opened up after 20k miles of use to show negligible wear.

BUT, there are a lot of joints that don't squeak terribly. I just happen to have a couple years experience with a squeak-free metalcloak system and know that they will never squeak based on how they are made.

[JeepLab]

My RK 3-link dosent squeak, and my X-Factor didn't.

Could the squeak be in your shocks?

[Timmy]

My RK 3-link dosent squeak, and my X-Factor didn't.

Could the squeak be in your shocks?

Thanks for the idea, but no, it is for sure the bushings on the Pro Comps that squeak. I've done extensive "listening" tests, and ever time it has been those. If I can get enough grease into the bushing area, it goes away.

I'm sort of leaning towards the AEV drop bracket idea from Northridge4x4 because it is so dang cheap. I have continued to read that the OEM bushings are as good as any you'll find (for a similarly designed solution.) I already have lots of other upgrades planned this year that I'd rather not drop another grand just to get rid of squeaks as I'd prefer that money go into something else.

[Timmy]

Problem 1/2 solved! Got my Metal Cloak control arms yesterday. Put the rear upper and lowers on today and no more squeaking from the rear! What is even better though is that it drives better and it's quieter (not just the squeaks.) There is less jarring, rattling and knocking, and I only have the rears on. Can't wait to put the fronts on. I'm beyond impressed at these control arms.

[Timmy]

I ended up installing the front control arms in the same evening as the rears. Man what a difference these arms make! The Jeep drives so much better and quieter, and the squeeks are gone. When I go over railroad tracks it is now more of a "thump" sound than a full on rattling and a hard knock sound. One of the reason I picked the Metal Cloaks was because of some of their marketing literature indicating that had some of the least impact vibration that came through their arms versus the competitors. I would say the market literature was correct!