Noisy traction bars

[drservo]

I have PMFs bars and they work great, but I can't get rid of the squeaks. I found a few loose nuts and bolts loose from when they installed them so I have double checked and tightened them, helped a little. Trevor has sent me a new type of bushing for the front that quietened them down for a few days. If i grease all the fittings they stay pretty quiet for a couple days then start squeaking again.

Does anyone else get any noise from theirs (PMFs in general)?

 

[Motostroker]

i have newton bars and they are noisy also, squeak all the time. im going to try to pre load them and see if that works

 

[MINK]

I have PMFs bars and they work great, but I can't get rid of the squeaks. I found a few loose nuts and bolts loose from when they installed them so I have double checked and tightened them, helped a little. Trevor has sent me a new type of bushing for the front that quietened them down for a few days. If i grease all the fittings they stay pretty quiet for a couple days then start squeaking again.

Does anyone else get any noise from theirs (PMFs in general)?

I'm running homemade bars with a standard non greasable end - I dont have noise unless the bar lossens up but yes every oil change I make sure everything is tight, you may try some lock tight aswell.

i have newton bars and they are noisy also, squeak all the time. im going to try to pre load them and see if that works

I wouldnt reccomend pre loading a bar when ran on a daily driver - they simply need to hold the rear end in place.

 

[extreme3807]

Mine squeak if I don't grease them after a few months. Grease works for me though

 

[superstroked]

You could always try synthetic grease

 

[NotStock]

Dr Servo, I believe we have talked on the phone a few times and I had thought you had gotten it figured out. I apologize that you are still having noise issues, that is certainly out of the norm. With a setup like ours that uses nothing but greaseable poly bushings, you should not be getting any noise. That is the biggest problem with running a setup that uses heims is as they wear, it is a metal on metal contact and thus you will get noise. Having to add preload to the system is simply masking the problem instead of addressing the problem itself.

Concerning your noise, were do you believe it is coming from? When we first talked, you went over the kit and found a few locations with loose bolts. After correcting that, you had said that fixed the problem. Then later, the forward joint was making noise and the new races were sent which should have corrected any noises at that location. The only thing I could think of that may be causing noise would be again loose hardware or an elongated hole from hardware being loose allowing movement.

As always, feel free to call me as you have done in the past. I will assist in any way I can.

 

[Motostroker]

Well what would you recommend i do? 60k dollar truck and it sounds like a 500 dollar toyota when i take a turn....squeaking and rattling

 

[NotStock]

You could always try synthetic grease

Yes, we always recommend synthetic grease. Never should a petroleum based grease be used as this will break down the poly bushings. Im pretty certain the OP is using synthetic though.

 

[NotStock]

Well what would you recommend i do? 60k dollar truck and it sounds like a 500 dollar toyota when i take a turn....squeaking and rattling

Unfortunately its a problem associated with heim joints. Adding preload will take some of the looseness out of a slightly worn heim. Replacing the heims with a higher grade heim may prolong the life of them but again, the end result is inevitable.

 

[Twinturbostroker]

No problem with mine, had them one for a few thousand miles now

 

[78f100]

I had a issue with mine squeaking and it would go away with grease but back in a few days. Trevor told me to tighten the joints on the front and it took care of my noise. You have to remove the set screw and tighten them with a hammer and punch/screwdriver, worked great.

 

[Frank_C]

Had mine on for ~8 months now. Greased them once during install, and are still silent

 

[TripleE44]

Mine squeaked like hell when I first got them. Turns out my installer didn't feel it was necessary to grease the joints before he put them together. I loosened them and greased them like crazy then tightened them back up some. Still squeaks every once in a while and I've gotta grease them, but it lasts months instead of weeks. I think they were too tight and the grease wasn't getting where it needed to get.

 

[B585Ford]

Yes, we always recommend synthetic grease. Never should a petroleum based grease be used as this will break down the poly bushings. Im pretty certain the OP is using synthetic though.

Do you still recommend the Lucus Red?

 

[AllanB]

Dr Servo, I believe we have talked on the phone a few times and I had thought you had gotten it figured out. I apologize that you are still having noise issues, that is certainly out of the norm. With a setup like ours that uses nothing but greaseable poly bushings, you should not be getting any noise. That is the biggest problem with running a setup that uses heims is as they wear, it is a metal on metal contact and thus you will get noise. Having to add preload to the system is simply masking the problem instead of addressing the problem itself.

Concerning your noise, were do you believe it is coming from? When we first talked, you went over the kit and found a few locations with loose bolts. After correcting that, you had said that fixed the problem. Then later, the forward joint was making noise and the new races were sent which should have corrected any noises at that location. The only thing I could think of that may be causing noise would be again loose hardware or an elongated hole from hardware being loose allowing movement.

As always, feel free to call me as you have done in the past. I will assist in any way I can.

It is always nice to see when someone post about a problem they are having with a piece of equipment, and the vendor takes the time to help resolve the problem instead of ignoring it. Even when the post wasn't written to the vendor.
Very professionally handled. :thumbsup:

 

[Jeff@Spartan]

Trevor is a stand up businessman. He has excellent service and excellent parts.

 

[AllanB]

Trevor is a stand up businessman. He has excellent service and excellent parts.

Honestly I don't know him and have never dealt with him. But reading this post, I couldn't agree with you more.

 

[clayton]

+1 For Trevor.

Ive been trying to diagnose an odd sound from rear of truck going over bumps since installing PMF. (Sounds like a loose chain underneath truck) I put a 3200 lb valve in back of truck yesterday to see if it altered, and noticed the bars squeeking a bit.
Closest to syn grease I could find around here is the lucas red n tacky stuff..... However, I didnt grease before installing to I think thats an issue as well.

 

[drservo]

Dr Servo, I believe we have talked on the phone a few times and I had thought you had gotten it figured out. I apologize that you are still having noise issues, that is certainly out of the norm. With a setup like ours that uses nothing but greaseable poly bushings, you should not be getting any noise. That is the biggest problem with running a setup that uses heims is as they wear, it is a metal on metal contact and thus you will get noise. Having to add preload to the system is simply masking the problem instead of addressing the problem itself.

Concerning your noise, were do you believe it is coming from? When we first talked, you went over the kit and found a few locations with loose bolts. After correcting that, you had said that fixed the problem. Then later, the forward joint was making noise and the new races were sent which should have corrected any noises at that location. The only thing I could think of that may be causing noise would be again loose hardware or an elongated hole from hardware being loose allowing movement.

As always, feel free to call me as you have done in the past. I will assist in any way I can.

Hello Trevor,
I didn't call again because I was asking around in case it was just my truck and not the bars causing the noise, you've been a great help. Each time I think we find the problem and I tell you it sounds great, the noise comes back in a few days. I'm still getting squeaking from the front joint, if I take it apart and pack it with grease it last for maybe a week. I'm also getting alot of noise from the back end, sounds like the leaf springs squeaking, I have even soaked them down good with WD and greased the rear joints, but this again only last for a few days. They don't clank anymore since I tightened all the nuts and bolts. I'll say again I'm not knocking your bars thats why i didn't post the name in the thread title, you do have great customer service.

 

[NotStock]

No worries, I didnt take it as though you were knocking our bars.

I like Lucas Red Tacky, but you do have to keep an eye on it in dryer climates as it can dry out. Another good one I just found was Valvoline Cerulean.

The large 3.0" joint at the front side of the bars should be tightened down just to the point that you can still move the ball around by hand but feel a reasonable amount of friction on it. All of the smaller poly bushing location bolts and frame bolts should be torqued to 110 ft lbs.

The front shackle should sit perpendicular with the frame of the truck while the truck is unloaded and sitting on level ground. The 3/4" bolt that holds the traction bar into place should slide into the hanging shackle freely with out any preload on the bars.

I would suggest doing one change at a time, this way if it fixes the problem, you have isolated it. Doing a bunch of things all at once may fix the problem but it wont tell you the true source of it.

If you need anything, just let me know.