Have a 2004 R50 Automatic that started making a creaking/popping noise on the right front area when turning either direction. Reading the threads it all pointed to bad CV axle. I replaced the right CV axle, it really needed it as the inner boot was broken and spitting grease out. However my creaking noise is still there. Anyone run into this before? Bushing perhaps or full blown strut going bad? The noise it on the right side only and there is no play in the steering that I can tell. Looking for advice.

 

Had the same issue. Replace your upper strut mounts; they're not too expensive. You'll need a spring compressor to do the job (among other common tools).

 

Thanks for the info. I have seen a few posts that state the bad strut mount is probably caused by a weak or bad strut and you should replace the struts as well. The car has 113000 miles and, from what I can tell, it still has the original struts. Guess it might be time for those as well.

 

Replacing wear item parts is always a good idea at ~100,000 miles. But I've never heard that bad struts are a common reason for bad mounts. Not that they couldn't be, but the mount is a metal rim surrounding rubber with a bearing in the center. Whether bad or good, the strut pounds up into that rubber and the strut shaft turns in the bearing, so it's kind of the same forces either way. It certainly wouldn't hurt to replace the struts at 100K, but that's a few hundred more dollars you may not have to spend.

Update: I just checked prices on front struts and I'm way off base. You could replace both fronts for just about $100 - total. If I had known this, I would have ponied up the extra $ and replaced them while I had my struts disassembled.

http://performance.importrp.com/i-17...FQpsfgodG1cHxg

 

Thanks again and thanks for the link to part. I have never replaced shocks/struts so this will be an adventure :-)

 

Any time. I hadn't dealt with struts either until I did the mounts about a month ago. ModMini has a great YouTube video you should watch; it's all pretty straight-forward. My mistake was attempting to do the strut mounts without using a spring compressor. Everything will come apart without one, but it's virtually impossible to line everything up for re-assembly and install while the springs are expanded.

As I said above, after having everything apart it would have been so easy to plug in new struts. And for $100 I woulda done it, no question. I still have the bulk of my suspension refresh to do. I might even get started on it tomorrow.

 

If you want to save some time and money you can do the job with a ratchet strap.

Have the car up on stands.

Remove the tierod, endlink, outer ball joint, axle from the hub, then drop the whole assembly out the wheel well.

Set the ratchet strap on the upper spring perch, tighten it down a little bit past it taking tension on the spring.

Remove the nut holding the strut mount on, and replace mount.

Reverse the order and you're done in under an hour.

 

Thanks for the tip. AutoZone rents tools for free so I'll see if they have spring compressors. If not, this is a great alternative.

 

I did the AutoZone thing... eventually. (Wish I'd started my day with the spring compressor already in hand, but... no.) And honestly, if I had thought of using ratchet straps to save time and a trip to AutoZone, I absolutely would have. I would be really careful with using ratchet straps - just make sure they're not dollar store quality, and they're only on there for a few minutes - but it's a good alternative in a pinch.

As much as I like to always agree with our parts suppliers and their experience and rec's, I take pause with disconnecting the whole hub, because that's two extra ball joints and the axle nut to remove, plus you have to be very careful of the brake line when it's that loose. Maybe that's not a big deal when the car's up on a lift and you have an air gun: zip-zip-bang. You do need to disconnect the sway bar end link (which is probably the biggest PITA of the job, having to do the box wrench & allen wrench thing), but once you un-clamp the strut from the hub, remove the three nuts from atop the upper strut mount and pull off the cable and hose from the strut housing, the strut & compressed spring assembly just lifts out of the hub & rotor assembly. It's a tight fit, but it will pull down far enough to clear the spring mount out of the tower if the hub is dropped down as far as possible.

Once out, compress the spring on both sides (avoiding the top and bottom coils) and it should give you enough slack to pull the strut mounts off. It's a little tight getting the strut back into the recess in the hub (because the lowered hub is now at an angle) and you have to get that inside ear into the recess slot, but with some spit and a little jiggling it will all go back in place.

Note on the top washers: the OEM version of strut mount has an open bearing, therefore uses a second, thinner "grease sealing" washer with a beveled edge. If your replacement parts have a sealed bearing, you don't need to use this second washer.

 

Your chances of breaking any hardware by removing the ball joint, tie rod end, axle nut, and sway link are far less than the average guy trying to remove the pinch bolt on the steering knuckle. There have been times that even we as a fully functioning shop with a hoist, air tools, and an oxy acetylene torch have broken the pinch bolts for the lower shock mount. Drilling those out is NOT FUN, we have found that removing a couple extra nuts is far superior to spending the day drilling out broken bolts.

There isn't much pressure on the R53/50 springs, unlike the R56. A quality ratchet strap is more than enough to compress and hold the spring tension long enough for you to swap out the mount. You only need to take a slight amount of tension off the assembly with it still being assembled.

Having the car low enough to the ground you won't have to worry about damaging the brake line as the whole assembly will be out and resting on the ground.

 

Exactly what I meant about you guys having a lot of experience, having done a lot of these repairs. I wouldn't have thought that pinch bolt would be a problem at all - probably because I'm in SoCal and the car has lived its whole life here, so no rust problems. Mine came out very easily.

My point was that as a DIY-er, taking things apart (unnecessarily) with hand tools is a PITA. I guess we have to pick our repair battles in our own way.

 

Thanks for everyone's halo and advice. I replaced the front struts and mounts. What a huge differences in the ride, plus the creeping noise is gone. Thanks again, it was a bear to get the shocks out and back in, I broke the CV boot somehow getting the left side out. Guess that is my next adventure! The ride is son much better now, my wife wants me to replace the rear shocks now as well. Guess the projects never end.

New question, while I had the car up and before I put the wheels on I thought I would test the axle rotations to make sure all was well. I notice the right side does not rotate as fast and aggressively as the left side. Is that normal because the right side is twice as long as the left side? Just thought that was odd.