Suspension Sound
 

I am having a weird sound coming from my front passenger side. It sounds like a rubbing/squeaking sound. The suspension is stock and the wheels are stock 17". I noticed the problem after doing some doughnuts in it during an ice storm that we had. They were all left hand doughnuts, and the sound only happens when I turn left. If you are going straight or turning right there is no sound at all, turn left and it sound like the wheel is going to fall off. I have put it up on jack stands and went through to check to see if anything is loose. I checked the torque on all the bolts and everything was tight. Now that I think of it the only ones I didnt check were the sway bar ends. There is minimal play in the tire moving left to right when your hands are at 3:00 & 9:00, there is no play up and down when your hands are at 12:00 & 6:00. The driver side felt the exact same way so I dont suspect it to be a wheel bearing judging by wheel slop.

Anybody have any ideas as to what it could be? I'm taking it to a guy Tuesday to hopefully get it diagnosed but thought I would ask here as well.

Yeah, These kinds of noise issues are tough to diagnose on the forum. Did you pull the wheels off & give it a good look?

Just recently I was getting a clunking sound & it took 2 wheel dismounts to find a loose front sway bar mount at the end link

Let us know what you find{thumbup}

Yes, I jacked the car up and took the wheels off it. Checked every suspension bolt except the sway bar. I may go in tonight and check them because it sound like a clunking/rubbing noise. I also discovered that it is also making the sound while going straight, its not as loud as when turning left though.

check tie rods, or ball joint the last time i had a clunking noise was my strut good luck on your search though .

Last night I took the car to the guy that does my suspension work and let him hear the noise. He couldn't diagnose it by sound and said he never really heard anything sound like that before. So we get back to his shop and get it up on the alignment rack where we could get under it. I told him what you said MinusPrevious about the end links so we unbolted one and I drove the car back down the road and basically put it through the same test. The noise went away. So I guess that was the problem. Looks like I will order some and we will see once they get installed.

Update, the end links were not the problem. I bought new ones for the left and right side and installed them yesterday. Went out driving around and at first it didnt make a sound. Then after the suspension got warmed up it started back. So I am guessing that the problem lies with the sway bar. Maybe a bushing? If the sound goes away with the endlink unbolted but then comes back when re-attached, then it has to be tied to the sway bar somehow.

I'm almost certain that its a control arm bushing. I have new energy suspension bushings ready to install. This should take care of it.

Unless the rubber is broken I don't see how it could be a control arm bushing - no moving parts.

I had a strut fail and it produced several strange symptoms: first it was very stiff in winter then noisy on the road and finally got to where I could bounce the car while touching the strut and feel the noise. I called the strut maker, talked to a representative and he said, "You strut is broken", a very technical explanation. :lol: BTW, I first noticed this problem in the winter.

Its either a bad bushing on the control arm or something with the sway bar. When the end link is disconnected from the sway bar the sound goes away. Which is why I don't think its a strut. I've had two of them and both tightened up and was bouncy. I also sent KYB an email asking what could be causing them to tighten up, expecting a technical answer back I got the same thing you did. With the exception of "We don't sell replacements for those, you will have contact KYB Japan".

Since you've had the experience of the front struts going bad the next thing I would suspect is the bushing for the sway bar. They do move in the rubber especially if the rubber is getting worn. Try some silicon spray.

I had my car up two days ago looking for the reason the a/c clutch sometimes does not engage. BTW, the compressor clutch parts are no longer available separately, only as a kit. Grabbing the front spring as I got up off of the creeper I was seated on, the front spring went "bong". These car weren't designed with the idea of having quiet suspensions.

The sound is gone. I fixed it over the weekend. Friday I replaced the front sway bar bushings and it didn't solve the problem. So yesterday I swapped the front struts from side to side and now its fixed.