Squeaking/Ratting Suspension - 96 Grand Marquis

Dried out / worn out ball joints or tie rod ends can make squeaking/groaning noises. You can use a needle to inject grease into the boots of the ball joints and tie rod ends and see if that affects the noise. Dried / worn / damaged rubber bushing also could be the problem. You should inspect those. Spraying them with a silicone lubricant can sometimes temporarily eliminate the squeaking, but it won't do much it they are worn out (and thus the rattling). Another possible source is the idler arm which is on the passengers side. It may or may not be possible to lubricate the idler arm pivot. To me the rattling indicates a worn out or broken part. The springs are a possibility, but I'd think it more likely that it was related to the front sway bar / sway bar links, the suspension bushings, or the ball joints.

Ed

My Ford (not the same model as yours) has exactly the same noise. It's the top anti-rollbar mounting bush. I didn't bother to get mine replaced as the noise only happens in hot, dry weather. Replacement cost should be minimal however.

Al.

Balljoint?

Mine used to do that for quite a while, turned out the balljoint snapped out last month. Now, it's very silent :)

(fortunately it snapped while starting at a red light, if it would've snapped on me on the highway, I might have hurt somebody else and maybe get another nasty scratch on my car :)

If it has a greasing nipple, you might try to regrease it.

Look for tie-rod ends too, or other sterring/suspension parts might be in need of lubrication/replacement...

Thanks for all the replies.. What you said makes sense Ed, I'm dropping the car off at a garage on sunday, i'll post an update as to what the problem was.. Thanks

Turned out that it was the sway bar link on the passenger side, which had severed off totally. I replaced both at the same time, as the drivers' side was getting chewed up as well.