Did anybody ever find out exactly what creaks?

[bennylava]

This might be something that was only in the 94-98 cars, I'm not really sure. But I'm sure you guys have noted how creaky the interior gets with age. One source of the creaks is obviously the console door. I believe that another is the driver's door panel. Is there anything else that you have identified as producing these creaks?

I was hoping that someone knew exactly where to spray the silicone spray

 

[cobrajeff96]

Doing that won't solve any squeaking problems past one week.

You'll need felt tape for starters. Depends on how far you want to take the effort to hunt down and eliminate the noises. For one, the center radio bezel on a 94-98 rattles like crazy on the back side of the air register vents because it's actually two-pieces. For this area, I used Bondic (UV-cured glue) and I applied it quite liberally. No more noises from there. That's just one of many examples. There are lots of places in the SN95 interior to be examined.

 

[96blak54]

The plastic injection company I worked for made interior parts for cars. The amount of felt tape/pads application on the parts was crazy. The felt kept the panels from rubbing its neighboring panels and the purpose wa for squeaks and rattles.

 

[bennylava]

Doing that won't solve any squeaking problems past one week.

You'll need felt tape for starters. Depends on how far you want to take the effort to hunt down and eliminate the noises. For one, the center radio bezel on a 94-98 rattles like crazy on the back side of the air register vents because it's actually two-pieces. For this area, I used Bondic (UV-cured glue) and I applied it quite liberally. No more noises from there. That's just one of many examples. There are lots of places in the SN95 interior to be examined.

I've had silicone spray last for weeks on plastic, and several months on metal. But yeah it will wear off eventually. And yeah the SN95 cars have a lot of interior alterations that need to be done, just to get them up to my standard. I haven't started on the process yet, only made a few repairs.

What made you choose to use UV cured glue? And do you have a specific recommendation on felt tape, or just any old felt tape?

 

[cobrajeff96]

As long as the tape is fuzzy, I'll just say. It could be velour, hell it could even be the soft side of the velcro type of tape.

I chose the Bondic partly because of experimentation and partly because it doesn't cure to a hardness level of say JB weld or most epoxies. The Bondic when cured is still somewhat soft and pliable which is sometimes what you need for a part that will sometimes get removed and handled a bit.

 

[I_LIKE_TURTLEZ]

1994-2004 was the epitome of what I call rattle-boxes. It was the weird era where cars started to become fast again but manufacturers were trying to balance cost-performance, the plastic used was very cheap and flimsy compared to what's in most cars today.

Then again you can take the interior loose in a brand new car and once it's back together, it will make noise from that point on. It's always a one-and-done.

What creaks in a 94-98 Mustang? Everything.


Solution? Make the exhaust really loud and hope you survive your 40 minute cruise with no traction control.

 

[Terrorist 5.0]

How To Make Your SN95 Rattle Free! (Solution To Common Clutch Quadrant Rattle)

Hi everyone, the SN95's are a huge upgrade in terms of quality from the Fox Body, but they still have many rattle points in the interior. Some come with age, some with neglect, but I have spent months driving my car, tracking down the rattles, and fixing them one by one. If your car suffers from...

www.sn95forums.com

No pictures unfortunately, my Stang is gone now, but I can help you out if you need anything through pictures. I made this thread a while ago, solved A LOT of creaking and rattling. Felt like my old Lexus.

 

[PinkieT]

The creaks I heard in my lowered 98 were my joints when I tried to get in and out!

 

[Terrorist 5.0]

One thing I haven’t seen mentioned yet is chassis stiffness. I’ve heard many people with sub frame connectors mention how much less their car creaks. SN95’s aren’t as bad, but Foxes are like wet noodles chassis wise.

 

[ttocs]

The majority of rattles today are probably caused from people removing the panels or putting them back on incorrectly and breaking the tabs/hooks that hold them in. Now to fix this the easy button if you can find pieces that are not broken to replace them otherwise it is a game of chase the rattles and once you know what is rattling there are a couple of options to fix it. Something as simple as tesa tape(cloth tape you commonly see around high end wiring) can sometimes help, other times you need something like dynamat or some mass loaded vinyl to create a little tension as well as to stop the vibrations. But know they were not delivered this way and it is possible to fix but it might require either someone driving you around while you push/pull on panels to figure out which ones or if it is suspension you suspect consider maybe borrowing an action cam from a friend and mount it and go for a ride and see if it can record the problem.

 

[bennylava]

The majority of rattles today are probably caused from people removing the panels or putting them back on incorrectly and breaking the tabs/hooks that hold them in. Now to fix this the easy button if you can find pieces that are not broken to replace them otherwise it is a game of chase the rattles and once you know what is rattling there are a couple of options to fix it. Something as simple as tesa tape(cloth tape you commonly see around high end wiring) can sometimes help, other times you need something like dynamat or some mass loaded vinyl to create a little tension as well as to stop the vibrations. But know they were not delivered this way and it is possible to fix but it might require either someone driving you around while you push/pull on panels to figure out which ones or if it is suspension you suspect consider maybe borrowing an action cam from a friend and mount it and go for a ride and see if it can record the problem.

In my case I don't really have that problem, as I don't think my car was messed with a lot. It was an oklahoma car and I'm the 3rd owner, but the 2nd owner only really had it for a few months. The only real noises I hear are the classic creaks from the door panel when you're shutting the door, and the center console when you use the armrest.

For the door panel, the sound is clearly the handle itself, the part that you pull towards you when you're closing the door. It's got holes in it where the button stick through. When you pull on that, it rubs slightly on the rest of the panel making that creak sound.

The center console may be a bit different, cause I don't know if it's the door or the tray/box under the door. I'll find them though. I'll find everything

 

[ttocs]

Yes the clip in the bottom of the door pull was a bad design at least for people that really yank on the doors. I know ours lasted 15+ yrs until my brother drove it one time. He LOVES for some reason to really slam his door to the point I have seen him hop out to throw something out and jump back in grabbing the door and slamming it so hard that the momentum makes the car shake back/forth for a second or two after, and he has actually ripped his entire door panel off of his old mazda 3 in what I can only image was the same situation. I mean he acts like it is our dads OOOOOLD AMC javelin with the 50 lb doors that needed to be slammed when in reality to this day I am not sure that when working correctly I have found a smoother shutting door than my 94. You just have to give it a slight pull and it is latched.

Those pieces can be replaced and slide right in, although again if you really slam your door that same clip will break.

 

[bennylava]

Yes the clip in the bottom of the door pull was a bad design at least for people that really yank on the doors. I know ours lasted 15+ yrs until my brother drove it one time. He LOVES for some reason to really slam his door to the point I have seen him hop out to throw something out and jump back in grabbing the door and slamming it so hard that the momentum makes the car shake back/forth for a second or two after, and he has actually ripped his entire door panel off of his old mazda 3 in what I can only image was the same situation. I mean he acts like it is our dads OOOOOLD AMC javelin with the 50 lb doors that needed to be slammed when in reality to this day I am not sure that when working correctly I have found a smoother shutting door than my 94. You just have to give it a slight pull and it is latched.

Those pieces can be replaced and slide right in, although again if you really slam your door that same clip will break.

I think it's easy to get into that habit with these cars, cause the doors are so heavy that most people have to put some grunt into it, just to get them to start moving. By that time you're hauling on the thing, and it's going to slam. You just have to be patient and be content that you're only going to close these doors slowly.

 

[ttocs]

people that think these doors are heavy have never got in/out of a 2-door classic car. But then on the same side of the coin the cars today are made of more air than anything and modern car doors vs our doors are probably about the same comparison as our doors and my dads 70s javelin. I am not sure how old I was when he sold it but I was never able to close that door on my own as a kid. I can remember grabbing it with both hands and my feet braced against the side to pull as hard as possible but they were so LONG/HEAVY that I could hardly move them.

 

[bennylava]

people that think these doors are heavy have never got in/out of a 2-door classic car. But then on the same side of the coin the cars today are made of more air than anything and modern car doors vs our doors are probably about the same comparison as our doors and my dads 70s javelin. I am not sure how old I was when he sold it but I was never able to close that door on my own as a kid. I can remember grabbing it with both hands and my feet braced against the side to pull as hard as possible but they were so LONG/HEAVY that I could hardly move them.

Yeah everybody is used to toyota doors now.

 

[I_LIKE_TURTLEZ]

Old school doors, especially on F-bodies etc used to have huge steel braces welded inside of them. They weighed 100lbs but were a lot safer in a side impact than the hollow pot metal doors they use today, you get t-boned in a modern car you're pretty much a goner. Just crumples like a beer can.

 

[ttocs]

well they took out the steel but don't forget that most modern cars now have side impact airbags for protection rather than the steel that they then had to cut you out of.

 

[Terrorist 5.0]

Cars definitely have gotten safer. But I wouldn’t say that is a good thing.

The amount of bad drivers out there proves that there is such thing as too safe, because if cars were still dangerous enough to kill you in the “typical” accident, people would think twice before doing whatever and causing said accident.

The rest can be natural selection, and a grim example for others. I have never experienced losing a car due to someone else’s stupidity and hope I never do.

On the subject of rattles though, just close the door slowly. I don’t know why people can’t wrap their head around that Prevent the problem before it starts.

 

[gatorblue92]

One thing I haven’t seen mentioned yet is chassis stiffness. I’ve heard many people with sub frame connectors mention how much less their car creaks. SN95’s aren’t as bad, but Foxes are like wet noodles chassis wise.

This is a good point. My 98 GT does have some interior rattles but for a nearly 30 year old car with ~180k miles it's not bad at all. My 86 SVO had the creaks of a 40 year old car plus the legendary Fox chassis strength so it made all kinds of noises rolling down the road.