[Kelamm]

My '87 Spider has a noisy front-end. I purchased the whole repair kit from Centerline, including the control-arm bushings, the adjustable upper control-arms, tie-rods, etc...
Had a local mechanic put all the stuff in the car (big mistake. I could start a whole new thread on this subject, but why...). Anyway, the squeaking noise when the suspension moves up and down is still there, but that's because I found out that the new bushings were never installed... but everything else was, at least from what I can see.
The remaining noise is still there. A tapping, metal to metal sound when the car drives over tiny little imperfections in the road. It sounds as if something is loose, and tapping against another component.
Also, the play in the steering is still present, but not on center or while driving for that matter. You can only feel it if the car is parked, with the wheel cranked all the way to one side or the other. My experience has taught me that steering box play occurs mostly on center, since this is the place with the most wear. Do I have a bad idler or pitman arm? and how do I check for that?

Any and all help on the subject is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[sprintgtc]

Yep, your squeaking/creaking noise is the inner a-arm bushings. Unfortunately, the whole thing needs to come apart again to get to them. Did he replace the castor ball joint at the front of the inner fenders? That is the most likely source of your tapping sound. This is an easy job and can be done with the suspension in place. Lastly, don’t worry about steering play at full lock. If the steering feels tight while driving, the box and idler are probably fine.

 

[WopJob]

The up-down sqeak can be the lower A arm pivots. This happens toa car that sits for a long while. to fix remove the grease cups and spray PB blaster inside, put the cups back in. drive around for a few days/weeks give time for the PB to do ita job. redo again but this time add grease after the PB blaster.

Clunking noise when you hit a bump are most likely the the front sway bar end links.