Creaking/Squeaking steering wheel when turning fix

hyelife2

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I installed the MM Aluminum Bushings also. What a difference in steering response!!! Best bang for your buck suspension mod.
I do have one question. I noticed my creaking and poping went away right after the install but I noticed the poping came back a couple of weeks later.
Do the nuts need to be re-torqued after some time ?
Thanks. :beer:
 

Venom04

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It's worth a shot to re-torque them. Did your kit come with the mounting washers? If not that might be the problem since the mounting surface on the stock piece isn't smooth or uniform. Check out MM's website for details.
 

hyelife2

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It's worth a shot to re-torque them. Did your kit come with the mounting washers? If not that might be the problem since the mounting surface on the stock piece isn't smooth or uniform. Check out MM's website for details.

Do you mean the concave washers that fit into the aluminum bushings ? If so then yes my kit did come with it. Im thinking I will just torque them again to be on the safe side. Steering is somewhat important. :beer:
 

brad65ford

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I installed the MM Aluminum Bushings also. What a difference in steering response!!! Best bang for your buck suspension mod.
I do have one question. I noticed my creaking and poping went away right after the install but I noticed the poping came back a couple of weeks later.
Do the nuts need to be re-torqued after some time ?
Thanks. :beer:

Old thread bump, but i have to add this is one since it has to be one of the greatest simplest mods you can do all while being super quick to install. Got rid of the creaking and steering feels so much tighter. When it was on the lift i had someone move the steering wheel and i was amazing how much play the stock bushings / rack had and my stangs only has 10k miles on her. If any buddy is on the fence with the MM alum bushing mode imo its a no brainer.
 
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b_dike

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Thanks for the bump, I've been looking for this thread. This something I'll be doing once the car gets put away for the winter.
 

Danny281

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have any of you guys installed the Prothane 6704 Steering Rack Bushings - Offset Style - For Lowered Cars? Instead of the Prothane 6703 Steering Rack Bushings? when doing this fix.
 

brad65ford

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have any of you guys installed the Prothane 6704 Steering Rack Bushings - Offset Style - For Lowered Cars? Instead of the Prothane 6703 Steering Rack Bushings? when doing this fix.

All depends on if the tapered hollow pin rubs on the back of the rack like it does with the stock rubber bushings. Eliminated bushings and switching over to solid rack was the best think i've ever done to the steering IMO.
 

SeanUSAF

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Great write up. If your kinda strapped like I am right now, you can definitely use your old ones. My bushings looked great so I just pulled out my stock sleeves, cut 1/4" and it worked out awesome. I was about to change all of the bushings and ball joints until I saw this. Saved me a good chunk of cash too :)
 

99FiveOh

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Bump for an awesome write up! I just got my 03 and it's doing this very same thing. I ordered a set of prothane rack bushings from American Muscle. We'll see how it goes.
 

griffey2824

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This worked perfect. Used American Muscle prothane bushings but didn't change the sleeves and have no more creaking! Thanks for the write up!
 

texas_snake

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As some feedback, I can say with 100% certainty if you use jack stands under your front U frames (with a 3 stand somewhere for redundant safety always), you DO NOT need to detach the steering column from the rack to get the back bushings out and then in. It gives enough movement to get back there with not too much effort once the front bushings and sleeves are out. So that tip might save you some time and touching a very critical bolt. You might want to update your write-up to mention this as a choice. Since I used stock bushings, I only greased the sleeves once both front and back bushings were in to make sliding it in easy.

Thanks for the great write-up by the way. I just used it.
 

19935.slow

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Bringing this back from the dead. The rack was moving on my 2003 Cobra. I re torqued the bolts down and what a difference it made.

I ordered the following as instructed:
2 tubes: E5DZ-3K620-A
4 of the Prothane Rack Bushings: 6-703, they say 61096 on the back though

Is the inside of all 4 Prothane bushings supposed to be the same? I noticed the tubes are larger on one side and smaller on the other. All 4 bushings slide on the tube, obviously loose on one side very tight on the other.
 
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19935.slow

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Unfortunately I see that now lol.

Top left is the large OD of the tube.

Top Right is the small OD of the tube.

Once you remove all 4 old bushings and tubes, the small outside OD rack tube is slid through the front of the rack to the rear of the rack. Shave 1mm of material off the large OD facing the front of the car. Tap Urethane bushing on the front side. Go around to the rear of the rack, slide loose fitting bushing on the small OD side. Then slide the bolt through and put the nut and washer back on? Do I have that right?
 

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19935.slow

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Got it wrapped up in probably an hour from the time it was on the ground to being back on the ground. OP's part list was a huge help. Grounded down the tubes and all is well. Did unhook the steering knuckle. Locked the steering wheel and marked where it was before unhooking it. Went back together great, no issues with alignment.
 

mickey 03

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I had an Eibach Pro Kit and sway bars install. The creaking started about a week later. I replaced a slew of parts including polyurethane rack bushings, grinding down sleeves, new lower control arms with ball joints that have grease fittings etc. After a year, I finally figured out it was the drivers side strut. I lifted up the dust boot and applied some grease. Squeak is completely gone.
 

AnarchyVA

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I have done this. Once for this fix. Several more times to drop the K member in order to replace an oil pan gasket that I thought was bad and wasn't (turned out to be the rear main seal). Although I now know exactly how to do this, its still a PITA removing those aluminum pins.

Good news is that with new pins, slightly ground off, and the poly bushings the noise is gone. I was hoping for a better feel with the upgraded bushings but I'm not sure that I really noticed anything.
 

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