Anyone ever grease their Front Upper Strut Bearings?

[spoolinX1]

After swapping out my suspension with Bilstein B6's and H&R Springs, I've noticed that my front driver's side upper strut bearing squeaks when I turn the wheel after the car has been sitting.

For example, car sits in my garage overnight. When I start it in the morning and turn the steering wheel to back out, it squeaks for about the first 2-3 turns, then it goes away and does not come back until I let the car sit overnight again.

I did notice during assembly that there was nearly no grease at all on the bearing and it looked extremely dry compared to the passenger side. Didn't rotate as effortlessly, but it did rotate. I was in a rush to put it back in, and I guess I deseve this outcome. I should have greased or replaced it then.

Has anyone ever done this? I'm guessing any automotive bearing grease would probably work. I'm thinking redline synthetic. I've heard of some guys removing the rubber cap up on the strut housing and then using a 16 or 18 gauge needle in order to inject the grease down into the crevices of the bearing? Is this necessary, or should i just try to pack it by hand as best I can?

[X1Denver]

Same problem for me when I went with bilsteins. I put new strut bearing in. I don't think you can grease them. Probably sealed bearing. You might be loose or too tight also. That's what she said.

Originally Posted by spoolinX1

After swapping out my suspension with Bilstein B6's and H&R Springs, I've noticed that my front driver's side upper strut bearing squeaks when I turn the wheel after the car has been sitting.

For example, car sits in my garage overnight. When I start it in the morning and turn the steering wheel to back out, it squeaks for about the first 2-3 turns, then it goes away and does not come back until I let the car sit overnight again.

I did notice during assembly that there was nearly no grease at all on the bearing and it looked extremely dry compared to the passenger side. Didn't rotate as effortlessly, but it did rotate. I was in a rush to put it back in, and I guess I deseve this outcome. I should have greased or replaced it then.

Has anyone ever done this? I'm guessing any automotive bearing grease would probably work. I'm thinking redline synthetic. I've heard of some guys removing the rubber cap up on the strut housing and then using a 16 or 18 gauge needle in order to inject the grease down into the crevices of the bearing? Is this necessary, or should i just try to pack it by hand as best I can?

[spoolinX1]

You may be right, as I did find myself wondering how loose or tight that upper strut nut should be. At first, I know I definitely had it too tight because the top wouldn't turn at all. Loosened it a little bit, but now I'm wondering if I didn't loosen it enough.

Originally Posted by X1Denver

Same problem for me when I went with bilsteins. I put new strut bearing in. I don't think you can grease them. Probably sealed bearing. You might be loose or too tight also. That's what she said.

[spoolinX1]

Looks like you were definitely right. I loosened the strut tower brace and moved the arm out of the way. Nut on the driver's side strut was so loose, I could almost take it off without a wrench. This wasn't the case on the passenger side and the passenger side wasn't making the noise.

The Bilstein instructions don't list a TQ spec for 19mm nuts, so I tried my hardest to firmly snug it without going nuts. . We'll see how it goes.

Originally Posted by spoolinX1

After swapping out my suspension with Bilstein B6's and H&R Springs, I've noticed that my front driver's side upper strut bearing squeaks when I turn the wheel after the car has been sitting.

For example, car sits in my garage overnight. When I start it in the morning and turn the steering wheel to back out, it squeaks for about the first 2-3 turns, then it goes away and does not come back until I let the car sit overnight again.

I did notice during assembly that there was nearly no grease at all on the bearing and it looked extremely dry compared to the passenger side. Didn't rotate as effortlessly, but it did rotate. I was in a rush to put it back in, and I guess I deseve this outcome. I should have greased or replaced it then.

Has anyone ever done this? I'm guessing any automotive bearing grease would probably work. I'm thinking redline synthetic. I've heard of some guys removing the rubber cap up on the strut housing and then using a 16 or 18 gauge needle in order to inject the grease down into the crevices of the bearing? Is this necessary, or should i just try to pack it by hand as best I can?

[spoolinX1]

Confirmed. This fixed the issue. All good.