Best way to lube suspension bushings?

[Aurora40]

Perhaps it was all the rain I drove through in the last week (about 1,500 miles of it, it seemed like) but I noticed the car is squeaking a bit in up/down suspension motions. What's the preferred product and method to lube the various suspension bushings? Anything to be wary of?

[tomtom72]

That's a good Q. I would think that any of the rubber bushings that are not like the A-arm bushings, which only leaves the spring & shock cushions, would be the only ones that you could lube with any positive results.

My 72's rear spring bolt cushions started squeaking & I sprayed some silicone spray but after awhile I just r&r'ed the cushions...that fixed it. The spray only put it off but they had cracks in them & were old.

It used to be that when bushings like A-arm bushings started to squeak....the only cure was replacement due to the nature of their construction, ya know the rubber outer layer and that metal insert that rides on the cross bolt? Ya know what I mean...usually it's the metal that corrodes & makes noise and it eventually makes the rubber tear.

Heck a spray can of silicone is cheap...I'd try that. I'm thinking that any oil based spray would be the thing to avoid unless the rubber is oil resistant? Back in the old days if the metal didn't rust then stray oil would kill the rubber if they didn't just up & dry out & crack first.


Tom