front suspension creaking noise Options

[lagos]

I just replaced my struts and springs on the car.
Everything went well, but now a few weeks after driving the car, the front left is making a creaking/popping noise when turning the wheel.

Any idea why it would be doing that?
Did I align the top strut mount in the wrong position, or could it be cause by the top nut coming loose ?

[jordisonjr]

Yea there's an arrow on the mount, that I believe is supposed to be pointing towards the outside of the car.
If it's not allign properly it will create a popping sound.
I'm not sure where it is but this has come up a few times in other threads, and Azian_Advanced has posted a diagram of what has gone wrong.

If you do a quick search I'm sure you could find it, or maybe he will chime in here and post it up for you.
But that's most likely your problem, I had the same issue when I did mine.

[lagos]

The odd thing is, I labeled mine with tape before taking it off and it didn't initially make any noises for a few weeks after the install. But maybe I made a mistake on that strut somehow.

This post has been edited by lagos: Jun 4, 2012 - 10:31 AM

[jordisonjr]

Hmm thats odd.
I can't remember if mine was right away or not.
Maybe tighten the top nut with the car sitting on the ground first to make sure you didn't miss something.

But I'm pretty sure its that mount thats not alligned properly.
Maybe before you rip the whole thing apart again, wait till someone can confirm this as well.

[xxgetbackupxx]

This happened to me look for my thread, for me it was the arrows as pointed out and the fact is I had no bump stops.is your car lower now?

http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showto...mp;#entry958483
Here ya go

[marinos]

Yes I had the same issue on the left side I had placed the upper spring holder wrong as the xxgetbackupxx said and it was really noticeable when I was turning my steering at one side and even more when the car was entering my garage which has a small pavement. The creaking was louder when the one wheel was on the pavement, the 3 others on the road and I was turning my steering wheel at this point when I was trying to enter my garage.

You can find is this is your problem if you lift your car turn the steering until you hear this and check if the upper plate is scratching the plastics under the front fender.

[xxgetbackupxx]

Yea my spring was what was rubbing against itself, I have pix but don't know how to upload it lol

[lagos]

Yea my spring was what was rubbing against itself, I have pix but don't know how to upload it lol

Upload them to a photobucket.com account and post the links with the IMG tags in the thread.

This happened to me look for my thread, for me it was the arrows as pointed out and the fact is I had no bump stops.is your car lower now?

http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showto...mp;#entry958483
Here ya go

My car is lowered on TRD springs and the bump stops are in place.
When you fixed your upper strut mount, did you just simply rotate it or did you have to remove the whole mount and reseat it? I don't want to have to rent a spring compressor again just for this quick fix.

[xxgetbackupxx]

Acutally I never used sporting compressor. I took the tie off obviously car is on jack stands. Jack up the car under your rotor all the way up so spring is really compressed, unbolt the top nut and SLOWLY again SLOWLY let the car back down on the stands and the spring is decompressed. I took out the can bolts first then took the top 3 nuts out to release the whole assembly. you have to take the top off to rotate it I believe. Make sure your bearing is on the right side I know I installed mine upside down the first time on the first one I did.not sure if it makes much of a difference.

This post has been edited by xxgetbackupxx: Jun 4, 2012 - 8:32 PM

[xxgetbackupxx]

So I try uploading photo and it dynamic pages in img not allowed?

[lagos]

So I try uploading photo and it dynamic pages in img not allowed?

copy and paste the links in the section called IMG. It might say IMG for message boards (full size) or something like that.

This post has been edited by lagos: Jun 4, 2012 - 9:52 PM

[jordisonjr]

I don't think you need a compressor for lowering springs.
There was next to no force on my s techs when I had to do it.

[Xander_X]

also check your ball joints and CV joints. If you just replaced both struts and put lowering spring on, that's a lot of new pressure on your old worn out joints. jack each side up, jam a decently large pry-bar up in there and try moving the ball joint area. If it's loose or you hear a knocking (no more rubber, just metal to metal) you might have found your problem ... either way you need ball joints if this happens. The CV joints are a usually a little more obvious ... see if you have ripped boots or leaking grease, move them around with your hand and see if they're loose or making noise.

This post has been edited by Xander_X: Jun 7, 2012 - 8:40 AM

[lagos]

So I took the strut out, and here is what I found.


So thats obviously the issue. Now the odd thing was that the metal mount was pointing in the correct direction.
After thinking about it and further inspection I noticed that the very top portion of the mount (with the studs) was kind of on there crooked due to it not being lined up with the two notches that hold the upper mount inline with the strut rod. So I took everything apart and lined it up again and zipped it down really well with an impact gun.

So far the problem appears to be gone, but I have yet to take the car out for a full test drive.
And yeah, there was no need for a spring compressor. At least not for the fronts as they were easy enough to push down by hand.

[xxgetbackupxx]

Nice man, glad u fixed it. Still can't post an img lol

[lagos]

Nice man, glad u fixed it. Still can't post an img lol

did yours rub in the same spot?

[xxgetbackupxx]

Nice man, glad u fixed it. Still can't post an img lol

did yours rub in the same spot?

no it was rubbing on the actual spring

[lagos]

Oh! I actually noticed that on mine as well but didn't take a picture of it.
I guess the top part gets stuck from not having enough space in the strut tower to move freely (hence why mine looks damaged) and then doesn't let the strut turn freely so the bottom part of the springs start to rub.

Good job on the pic posting!!!

[lagos]

Actually here is another pic. You can see everything was lined up but there was still rubbing at the bottom of the springs.

[xxgetbackupxx]

looks like mine, make sure if these are lowering springs to cut some of the bump stop off so you will have more room between your springs so its not compressed