bac2h

Does it have to be bushings and can you tell by looking at them if they are shot? Car has 88k miles. Can bushings be replaced or do you have to do the whole control arm? And do you do upper and lower. There is also a metallic kind of clunk from the rear. Do worn brake rotors make some noise because of the floating design? Thanks as always!

Brozee

If it's not terrible just live with it. I had all of my bushings replaced and it is fine when the weather is warm. Regardless of new or old ones I heard crunch noises in the winter when the car was first driven.

mishar

You can say by looking at them that rubber is busted. You can replace bushings only. Probably just upper four. It is not good advice to “live with it” because alignment is off and ever changing. In some time you will have metal to metal contact and even worse noise. If you are really persistent you will damage body attachment points.

By the way, when changing bushings you have to bring wheel to the riding height before tightening bolts that connect bushings to the body. If not you will most likely crack bushing rubber when you lower your car and have similar noise when it is cold. Does it sound familiar?

A8nightmare

See if it does it when you turn the wheel from left to right when you are parked. If it does it probably is just the sway bar links.... they creak, groan and pop. You may just need the them and they are inexpensive and easy to replace. They look like a little U shaped aluminum piece on the very bottom of the suspension mounts. AS far as the noise from the back you should get it on a rack to see if anything is loose on the splash shields, because they cvan cause a slapping noise or a possible loose exhaust mount.

newaks

Esonian dealer said, that it`s the stabilizer bushing...

bac2h

I had my very trusted independent mechanic check it out and he put it on a lift and found basically nothing drastically wrong. No bushings or anything that he could find. Need to fix it because it is annoying.

newaks

Actual words of the dealer for the local Autoworld magazine:

From the beginning there were problems with stabilizer bushings squeaking, but those worries have now been resolved.

Here is the source if you are bothered to tranlate it.
It`s about A8 D3.

http://www.autoleht.ee/testid/kasutatud?id=2131

bac2h

So the bushings that are on the sway bar or the bushings in the end links?

FlyTyinFool

I've had every imaginable front bushing replaced this last winter for "creaking" noises of one ilk or another. None of them eliminated the noise entirely for long. Thank goodness for a good warranty and a better Service Advisor getting it all covered.

The final solution? Nope, it wasn't, "Just live with it." The final solution was waiting for warmer weather! No joke. Now that it's warmer outside I'm not hearing any of it. (Actually, I think I'm creaking alittle less with the warmer weather too! )

newaks

Bushings on the sway bar!
I`m pretty sure that`s the ones that make that noise, I`ve sprayed some silicone on it and that helped for a while. Just try silicone or some other lubricant which is compatible with rubber.
And let us know did it help!