Hey, another one of these threads.. I've got a front end 'creaking' noise that sounds a lot like an old mattress. I can ONLY hear it going slow on really bad roads, or when I press on the front end. The car sounds fine going over speed bumps too. Additionally, If I turn the wheel fully right/left and try pressing on the front end, the noise goes away. I jacked it up and all of the bushings on the LCA/compression rod, and end links look fine. Any ideas?

2004 w/ 92K miles

 

Original shocks?

If so, I'd say they're giving up the final bit of shock absorption they had.

OEM shocks *MIGHT* last 40-50k before needing R&R.

Other things to check:

- Spring dampers top and bottom (and springs themselves)
- Control arm bushings
- Sway bar center bushings

Essentially all your front end bushings actually.

Good luck!

 

So I took a closer look last night and saw that both driver/passenger side compression rods had torn ball joints. A shop quoted me around $800~ to replace both. Not really looking forward to that assuming I'll probably have to do shocks soon after, they are OEM.

https://i.imgur.com/xEfFZO5.png <- Compression rod ball joint
https://i.imgur.com/qjymuJ1.png <- Compression rod bushing