nfs1000f

which is the sensible thing to do, but costly, is the noise from the CA's or TRE's? I have no clunking or play in the wheels which I understand would indicate CA's are bad. I would prefer to do the TRE's only at this time as this is an easy job while the CA's are much more involved. Should this stop the noise? The car has 101K miles.

4Driver4

comes from a ball joint. There is a ball joint at the outer end of each control arm and each end of the tie rod. The inner tie rod joints rarely creak, so your issue is one or more of the control arms and/or the outer tie rod end.

Not very helpful in isolating it.

Grapeking

isolate this to one side or the other, to help locate the source? I'd wager that it is the ball joints on the lower control arms.

As a purely temporary fix to silence the groaning you could inject some grease into the ball joint. Doing this will tear the rubber 'boot' that covers the ball joint, but will silence them for a short while (a few weeks) while you get the job repaired properly.

nfs1000f

The boot was melted on the outer end where it secures when someone tried to heat the seized bolt. When I washed the car recently, water got in to the boot resulting in the excessive groaning noise. I'll try a zip tie to secure the boot since the clamp will no longer work. Still have the noise when the suspension compresses, but altogether significantly improved.

4Driver4

The seal on that end on the rack will not like water and dirt and salt.

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Get some lithium grease or synthetic (fair disclosure...lifetime amsoil dealer am I, grasshopper!) grease and inject it into the boot before you clamp it up. The WD40 is handy to track down problems, but it won't cure them for long.

If the TRE isn't displaying play (a little alliteration here) and it stops creaking and groaning with the lube, leave it alone. If there is a tear or puncture in the boot, try cleaning the boot at the puncture area, prep it with acetone, and then seal the boot with black silicone RTV or even Goop (trademark for athletic shoe repair stuff).

If all else fails, go ahead and replace the TRE and the boot.

4Driver4

Grease should be localized on the inner tie rod ball joint. If the goal is to reuse the boot and the tie rod, at least remove the boot from the rack and inject (or pack with a finger) the grease into the joint.

A boot full of grease is not good for the rack, and just makes a mess later on.

donp

Not a solution. If you're going to do that, inject a good grease with a syringe. WD40 won't last.