chassis creaking noises

[FongPei]

Hey ozhonda =]

i recently changed my shocks front and rear and i'm getting creaking noises when going up my driveway which is a little steep... even a speedbump and i'll get kinda metal grinding sounds from the rear - it's not very loud but gets a bit annoying and painful to hear. i suspect it needs lubricating.. does anyone know what it is?

car: civic hatch ek

thanks in advance

[bennjamin]

Easy.

For a number of reasons- the load which usually is absorbed into the shocks is being transferred to the surrounding chassis and bushes. Lowering springs, stiffer springs, bigger swaybars and new bushes can all do this to an older chassis.

Or , the most likely reason is the team installing your new shocks, tightened the fork and control arm points while the suspension is uncompressed. IE car off ground.
This will cause the bushes in the control arms to overly stretch / contort beyond normal movement and thus "creak".

[FongPei]

thanks benjamin! yeah bummer i did it myself.. didnt think of that. i don't think its the chassis bending which makes the sound? sounds like the lower control arms actually. what should i do from here?

[simply.shredded]

tightened the fork and control arm points while the suspension is uncompressed. IE car off ground.
This will cause the bushes in the control arms to overly stretch / contort beyond normal movement and thus "creak".

does this then cause issues ben?

[ceekay101]

Bushes will wear out alot quicker if not tighten in the loaded position

[bennjamin]

does this then cause issues ben?

It will put extra wear on suspension bushes- premature wear / failure !

If you can - put the car on jack stands or a flatbed hoist and get the suspension compressed / static - slightly loosen the lower control arm bolts then tighten again to about 55NM each.
Front control arm bolts ( to subframe) are about 85NM

[FongPei]

oh crap now you're scaring me. thanks ben! i'll need to buy a new torque wrench then

[bennjamin]

Dude don't worry. 55nm = firmly hand tight with a ratchet. 85nm = firmly tight plus half a turn or so !

[YoungBl00d]

I was wondering about this too actually. Is the best way to compress the suspension to use a floor jack so as to push the control arm up, loading the suspension?

[ceekay101]

Best way to do it at home is to raise the car and put blocks under all the wheels to raise it up and crawl under. You can jack up the wheel but you have to lIft it to the point that it starts to lift the car as then all the weight is going through the wheel and simulates being on the ground under full load.

[blk_shadow]

will this issue applies as well when you're running spherical bearings instead of bushings?

cos i got those creaking noise as well on a steep climb sideways

[bennjamin]

will this issue applies as well when you're running spherical bearings instead of bushings?

cos i got those creaking noise as well on a steep climb sideways

As in trailing arm or lower control arm etc? Still applicable but spherical joints have one less axis of movement. That's why they likely groan or creak. Rubber bushes can move in X Y and Z but sphericals can only rotate but not not allow sideways or back/forth movement

[blk_shadow]

As in trailing arm or lower control arm etc? Still applicable but spherical joints have one less axis of movement. That's why they likely groan or creak. Rubber bushes can move in X Y and Z but sphericals can only rotate but not not allow sideways or back/forth movement

yeah, they're in my rear LCA's.

Thanks Ben :)