kyk007

Hello again LS fans. I'm slowly doing maintenance items on my car one by one, but one thing I can't seem to diagnose well, for lack of a garage or place to work on my car, is the creaking noise coming from my front suspension on the driver's side. It seems to be getting progressively worse over the last month.

I've scoured the boards to find out what the noise might be, but I realize it's hard to diagnose my description with relatively little information. All I can say is this - the remaining three suspension components are not emitting any noise or exhibiting any unusual damping.

For that matter, I don't feel any strange dipping from the suspension that is making the noise. I have thought of just replacing the strut itself, but wanted to get some opinions from you guys first. From what I have read, the springs on our cars seem to hold up pretty well.

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated . . .

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

bushing do get dry and squeak every once in a while. also the spring isolators can also deteriorate and cause noise when the springs are compressed.

big clunks from the front mean the strut rod bushings (SRB) are toast. this is very common and covered elsewhere here. then you also have inner and outter tie rods, which will reveal itself with bad alignment. check your tires for any uneven wear. bad SRB will also cause bad alignment.

kyk007

Timmy - thanks for the education on all things suspension. I'll eventually have to get it checked out somehow to see what parts in fact have to be replaced, if any. Will let you know how it goes.

dicer

On one of mine it is a strut and both UCA pivots as they have some movement too and can manually make noise with them.

kyk007

Dicer, what year LS do you have? Mine is a '98. I can tolerate a slight squeak just fine, but the creaking noise I described with my car is audible when you drive at slow speeds. Of course,when you press down on the driver's side of the hood, you can elicit that same sound. It has progressed from annoying to very disconcerting at this point.

Are you referring to the control arm when you say UCA?

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

007, on my 99 I had a creak and removed the rubber caps on the struts and tightened them up about a turn each and the sound was gone try it..

kyk007

Billy D - are you referring to the rubber caps mounted on top of the struts? I read your other post earlier, and must admit it's worth giving it a try. Let me clarify to make sure I understand. When you suggest removing the rubber caps, do you mean I should remove them, readjust, and then tighten up the bolts. Or are you suggesting removing them altogether?

Please enlighten me . . .

dicer

Mine are UCF10.

http://www.lexussouthatlantaparts.co...rimLevel=19107

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Tighten up the nuts under the rubber cap.

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

Thanks sha, just put them back on after tightening the nut. it is easy plus they are just a dust cover.

kyk007

Sha4000 & Billy D - thank you both for clarifying what to do. I will go ahead and try to get around to that this afternoon. Will tighten the bolts underneath the caps and see if that takes care of some of the noise.

kyk007

OK, quick update on the suspension. I tightened up the bolts as suggested, however, no gains or benefit to be had. It still makes the same creaking noise, so I guess I'll have to think about changing out the SRB's. Thanks for all the tips guys.

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

be SURE the colored tabs are at 6 o'clock when pressed in
(b) Using SST and a press, install a new cushion as shown
in the illustration.
SST 09316–60011 (09316–00011),
09710–26011 (09710–05081)
HINT:
The index tab of the new cushion should be at a right angle
(±5°) to the center of the strut bar, and facing downwards when
seen from outside the vehicle.

kyk007

Billy D - I will keep this valuable information in mind when I manage to get around to doing the suspension on my car. Unfortunately, living in a condo does have its concessions, so I should say when I find a local mechanic or fellow LS400 fan with a garage, I will fix the suspension. Thanks again for the timely help and input.