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Old Man Emu leafs are about 6 months old (texas life) and they are getting squeaky during acceleration from stop, deceleration, and over bumps.

Mitigation I've done so far:
1. Added marine grease between the leafs as best i can (while leafs were installed).
2. Sprayed silicon lubricant around the front and rear bushings.

My guesses for why they are squeaking:
1. The provided bushing grease (I used all of it) was not a sufficient amount
2. I tightened the leafs too much and the "box" formed around the front leaf eyelet / bushing is deformed and sandwiching the bushing causing the noise.

What are the common causes for these to begin squeaking? Any tips are greatly appreciated.

 

Did you tighten the bolts before or after you let the Jeep down on the ground. If before.....it's on you.

 

Bolts were torqued after setting the jeep on the ground

 

Poly or rubber?

 

Poly bushings.

Are the bushings or leafs more common to cause the noise?

 

Poly bushings squeak.

A lot.

I've had them in my Camaro for years. From the moment I installed them, they squeak. You'll be chasing that squeak until you give up and get used to it.

 

Did you grease them?

Take it apart and grease them.

 

Poly bushings often have small kerfs or channels cut into center bore where sleeve is located. To minimize squeaks, sleeve should be removed and channels filled with grease.
Grease is not recommended for between leafs because it will attract contaminates. There should be anti-friction pads separating leafs and they operate effectively without grease. If lubricant is necessary, use a dry lube like graphite.

 

Well Im not giving up. (1) Many people have silent or near-silent poly bushings. (2) If I determine it is infact the bushing, I will regrease (more grease on the bushing and inner sleeve or switch to rubber).

But as of right now, I'm not convinced it is the bushing (based on the origin of the sound), so I came to the forum to see if there were any other common sources of noise.

Yes, in the first post I mentioned that I used all of the provided grease but that it may not have been enough (?).

I greased the sleeves during installation but perhaps it was not enough grease to completely fill the small channels in the bushing.

If I have to pull the leafs, I will remove the grease I added between the leafs.

Can you describe the "anti-friciton pads". My OME leafs came with yellow hexagonal pads but they are only at the ends on the leaf, not along the entire length (couldnt find a good picture online).

 

Put the back of the Jeep up on stands. You should be able to unbolt and drop one eyelet at a time so you don't have to take the entire rear-end out (use jack and ratchet strap for re-alignment if necessary). Lather with grease, inside and out. Then drop the Jeep, tighten the bolts, clean up the mess.

I have had poly on every joint in the front of mine for about 2.5 years, not a single squeak.

 

Shackles are another culprit of squeaks. And if the shackle bolt is too tight, it will hinder suspension movement.
Similar noises that result from suspension movement could come from parking brake cable routing or movement of rubber exhaust hangers.

The pads you describe are correct, located at ends of each leaf.

 

I wanted to update this thread with my solution to fix the OME leaf squeak.

There is no telfon pad between the two largest leaves, which was the source of my noise (not the leaf eyelet bushing).

I silenced the noise with two steps.

1. Use of 'fluid film'
2. Installation of zipties

See the following link for an excellent discussion and images.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/...lution.487394/

 

I just ordered BDS leafs from a authorized dealer, which are suppose to be top off the line. I greased the hell out of the poly bushings with silicone lubricant. After a few day they were squeaky. So checking around and realized that there are no anti friction pads. Called both BDS and the company I purchased from and found out they do not use anti friction pads and recommend red bearing grease inbetween the leaf spring. Wish I knew this before I installed them.

 

It’s relatively easy to pry two leaves apart while still installed on the vehicle using a screwdriver / small prybar and hammer. They you can add your grease to the outer interface.

the OME leafs have Teflon pads and a hole drilled through the leaf so lube can be added from the bottom