So when I was driving today I heard a creaking sound when I was driving today. I got out of the car and pushed down on the hood of car and it makes a creaking sound like when you were a kid and would jump up and down on a bed. I'm guessing struts? Another thing that makes a kinda creaking noise is when I'm turning the steering wheel. Could that be related to the struts (if that is the plm which i'm guessing it is) or is that another plm?

 

Thought I would add that it seems to make more of creaking sound from engine bay then by wheel well. I hope its the struts and not ball joints or something difficult...but i'd like some ideas before I take any action or take it in somewhere since I trust ur guys' opinions. Oh yeah, it seems to be a lot louder on one side than the other.

 

Check some of your bushings.

 

i had the same problem with the squeaking, and it turned out that one of my struts blew out, check ur wheel well, where the springs are at, and see if it did blow out, and see like oil build up at the bottom of it

 

Since it sounds more like engine bay rather than wheels, look at some inboard stuff.

Inboard pivots of lower control arms?
Sway-bar bushings?
Bushings at front end of radius rods?

 

I had the same problem not to long ago and it turned out to be the lower ball joints being loose and binding. Try jacking the car up, putting the key in the ignition (dont start it) and turn the wheel back and forth, if it is creaking its the ball joints. If it isn't creaking it can still be the ball joints, they just aren't making noise because there isn't a load on them.

Does your steering not return to center after you make a turn? That's a big sign its a ball joint problem.

 

I'll defintely do that test in a few days srlance24. Is it still safe to drive the car on the freeway?

Are the front swaybar bushings easy to find?

 

Front swaybar #1 pivots in it's bushings #2.They're fairly common to make somenoise. Squirt some silicone spray in there. Very temporary, but it'll show whether that's the source of the noise.

Also try the inboard pivots for the lower control arms (#12).

 

Thanks for that diagram Jim!

And yes the steering wheel does return to center.

 

if the silicone helps the squeek then look for some water resistant lubricant, common stuff for polyeurethane bushings since they have a tendancy to squeek as well.