Lower control arm (squeaking problem!)

[mikey236]

Hi Guys

Hoping you can help me out here. I found this thread http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=310954&mpage=1&key=creak&

It looks like it descibes the problem I am having. Creaking coming from the front LHS, especically noticeable when pulling away. I managed to remove the lower control arm after a lot of swearing, but to be honest I'm not quite sure how to tell if its the bushes, or whether the ball joint is making the creaking noise. I took a load of pics of the arm here :

http://picasaweb.google.com/Mikeyc236/Porker#

Would be really helpful if someone could tell me if it looks like the bushes need replacing? Upon inspection, they aren't in a fantastic state, but there aren't any big tears or holes in the rubber (assume that the bush in the middle is meant to have the cut outs round it?) so am beginning to wonder whether it's worth replacing the bushes, or just biting the bullet and folking out £180 for a new arm. I tried contacting Peter Lloyd as per the thread, but they were only willing to sell me a set of 4 bushes, meaning it would total just over £100 - obviously I rather put this towards the new arm if changing the bushes doesn't actually cure the problem. I did squirt a load of WD40 over it - seems to have made the sqeuaking less noticeable now but am pretty sure it's only a matter of time before it starts up again.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

There's no way of telling by looking at them. If it was me I would replace the whole arm, as you don't know if it's one of the bushes, or the ball joint. They are £193.12+VAT at an OPC, or Hartech do an exchange service: http://www.hartech.org/parts.html at £120+VAT.