2001 Concorde - Squeaky intermittent front end noises - Anybody have a clue?

I have a 2001 Concorde with 27000 miles. Intermittently there is an
aggravating noise from the front end that sounds almost like a strut
squeaking or something loose in the front wheel assembly. It's not really a
rattle but more of a low pitch squeak that at times are very close together.
I don't think it is CV related and isn't a squeak or grind like worn brake
pads.

I have a relatively steep incline on my driveway and my first thought was it
may be brake related because the noise seemed to occur after the car was
driven after the emergency brake had been set However, I'm not convinced
that the noise is brake related either. It almost seems suspension related
but the noise is not repeatable in that it doesn't always occur on bumpy
roads or when the brakes are applied, etc. It does seem sensitive to bumps,
but only on an intermittent basis. If I bounce the car on the front end I
can sometimes reproduce the sound, but from the outside the noise seems to
be more towards the firewall rather than the wheel assembly.

Any thoughts, Anyone else with similar problems?

Thanks,

Bob in L.A. (Lower Alabama)

 

Probably stabilizer bar bushings - a common problem in the LH vehicles.
It gets discussed a lot on the 300M ezBoard (I also have a Concorde -
'99 - but I hang out there because mechanically it's the same car) and
on www.dodgeintrepid.net.

If that's what it is, the solution of choice is replacing the bushings
with graphite impregnated polygraphite from www.suspension.com. The
brackets that come with the poly's will have to be used, but modified to
fit the mounting holes in your chassis (by cutting off the mounting legs
and welding longer ones on).

I have these for my Concorde.

To prove or disprove, remove one of your stabilizer bar links (either
side), which will take all load off of the stabilizer. You can drive it
fine like that for a few days to see if that was the problem.

There are some who claim also that squeeking noises can come from the
spring seats and some guide bushings on the struts, but the more common
diagnosis seems to be the stab. bushings.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

To put in the aftermarket poly bushings, it's hard to say. Especially
because the brackets have to be modified, that would be more of a DIY
type thing. But the bushings with brackets cost about $20 IIRC. The
bracket mod would be anywhere from free to maybe $30 depending on if you
have a friend who does welding or have to pay to have it done. Maybe
$30-50 to have the bushings and brackets swapped out once the bracket
mod is done (I ordered a new OEM bracket from the dealer for about $8
just to get the bolt hole spacing for the mod.

So I'm thinking maybe $100 to $125 for a shop to do a turn-key job.

To simply swap out OEM bushings (which would probably develop the same
problem after some wear) might take 1 hour labor plus parts.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")