Fg Ute Creak Chassis Damage

[Davefg]

so I got my ute lowered a while back now and ever since it has been creaking. I thought nothing of it but it finally starting irritating me as it progressively became worse over time.

I used new ssl king leaves, ssl king springs up front and bilsteins all round and it was great, until it started creaking...

it used to go away whenever I coated the crap out of it with wd40 but always came back, eventually I took it back to the shop to get fixed, they tightened everything but it has come back with a vengance, now its loud all the time and sending me crazy.

pulled it apart and found the bolts on the eye bush to have been over tightened and have pushed the crush tubes in the bushes a few mm into the chassis, causing the crush tube to be recessed into the chassis, we couldn't drop the leaves without completely removing the leaf hangers that bolt to the rail. they tried fixing it by installing a washer in between the chassis rail and bush and pushing the crush tube back into the centre of the bush and re tightening. this has not worked and is driving me crazy. if anyone has had this problem before it would be a great help to know how it was rectified.

The shop who fitted it are a big mob and have accepted liability of what they did wrong, although its been back twice now and still no fix.

[hawlass]

I have a creak in the front, also with bilsteins- I have gotten sick of trying to solve it after many trips to the suspension shop.

I have read its a bilstein trait, and have a mate who had the same problem on both his fg's he fitted bilsteins to. Let us know if / how you solve this issue.

[PhilMeUp]

This stuff is extremely thick and gooey. Might be worth a try?

[Davefg]

the front end is pretty quiet, the shocks appear fine as you can jump on the tray as much as you like without it making a noise, only when the rear end is flexing around and moving it makes the noise, its really bad when driving up a gutter on the passenger side. its just the rear left hand leaf spring that makes the awful noise, that grease may work, surely the suspension shop would know that's a possible fix as there didn't look like there was any grease in there when it was dismantled?

I'm more concerned about the damage done to the chassis from the over tightening of the bolt though

[PhilMeUp]

I'm more concerned about the damage done to the chassis from the over tightening of the bolt though

That's a big issue - something to take up with the head office of the company. At store level, it will be in the "too hard basket" and they might want to fob it off.

Could such chassis damage end up making the car a statutory write-off and therefore unable to be licenced for road use?

[Davefg]

Yeah I've had a fair few conversations with the store about it, I can't see it being to much of a major issue. Is it legal to weld the recessed section of the hole back to flush with the chassis?

I'll be taking it to my mechanic to look at it and write a report/have a better look at potential fixes. If it cannot be repaired a phone call will be made to head office telling them to buy me a new ute haha

[PhilMeUp]

I'll be taking it to my mechanic to look at it and write a report/have a better look at potential fixes. If it cannot be repaired a phone call will be made to head office telling them to buy me a new ute haha

Each state will have different rules about this.

In WA, a car has to be quite badly damaged before it is declared a stat write-off. In NSW it seems that it requires a minor scratch somewhere.

There will be a govt person somewhere that will have specifications and can advise you on this.

Although it's a messy situation now, it needs to be attended to now so that you don't end up with a bunch of grief in years time when you want to sell the car.

[Davefg]

I'm in QLD so I'll have to see what they say in relation to fixing it. The company has accepted responsibility and tried fixing it last week, the guy said the workmanship warranty will extend another year now, obviously if they let it leave the shop it isn't going to cause a safety issue, more so an annoying noise.

I appreciate the help mate I'll chase it up with head office and see how I go

[hawlass]

I friend has a mitsi 4wd yoot that creaks in the back like crazy.

He mentioned it at service time (within warranty) and they solved it temporarily by taking the leaves out , greasing them and reasembling them.

It was the leaves themselves rubbing on each other under compession making the racket, unfortunatly a months dust and water ingress had it creaking again.

[I JET]

As you said, they have accepted liability, so I wouldn't worry about going else wear to get a report done,I'd book it back in with them, leave it with them for a whole day and get them to sort it out, that way they'll have more time to work it out. My original leafs use to creek going in and out of driveways. WD-40 is water based so you really need to use the proper grease or something a little better for lasting results.

Hopefully they get it sorted for you, I myself cant stand annoying squeaks and creeks.