Kar don

If I go over a speed bump or part of the vehicle goes up an incline or speed bump the front end lets out a nasty groan. Would these be the torsion bar bushings? Also can i get Genuine MB brake parts in OEM packaging for cheaper? I want the same exact company.

Man, maybe i should just get rid of it lol.

saturnstyl

Grease torsion bar bushings... No need for replacement. Could also be sway bar bushings, but torsion bars are most likely culprit.

Kar don

how should i grease them?

saturnstyl

I was afraid you would ask. There is no easy way to do this. Disassemble, grease and then you have to reset the ride height again, which means wheel alignment. You just turn the big bolts for the torsion bars till they come out, making sure the frame is supported on jack stands. Remove the metal plates under the torsion bars and you will see where the bar rides and you have to grease.

Kar don

LOL! def not a job i can handle.

pointman

grease wont work long term. it is a short term remedy but the creaks will return after a short period... perhaps days. i needed full replacement... on every ml ive had... and ive had quite a few.

Kar don

great!

saturnstyl

Wonder what kind of grease they are using? Our suspension and alignment guy uses some special stuff... I wish I knew what it was, but he has no comebacks with this issue. I do know the stock grease is a white pasty kind that is damn near impossible to wash off!

pointman

wish i knew to help out others on what to avoid. never got details... just told i needed to have everything replaced.

saturnstyl

Could also be a regional thing... I don't know how cars survive up north anyways. Salt should be banned from use! I HATE working on cars from northern climates. Rust everywhere, parts hanging on by a thread. You would think they would have come up with some alternative by now.

pointman

haha, i hear that one. but i hear that the ml's front torsion bars are the only one with real continued issues... i havent heard of other suv's with torsion bars with that sort of issue. oh well.

Kar don

Sounds like teflon grease. I have white grease that we use here at work to quiet the plastic parts.

mihir_d

The groaning just started a week or so back..

but, that's Nissan, not MB....and its 160K miles...almost 10 year old car.

I am in CA by the way, so no snow/salt issues here..

Anyways, thank you guys for this thread...I was just wondering what would the cause of that groaning be...even thought of replacing the front springs/hydraulic shocks, but just a month back, I had the car go through a 30 point inspection, and the shocks were marked as fine, not needing replacements.

So its the greasing on the torsion bars..may be I'll get down the car and see if some external application helps...

A common sense thought..wouldn't something like a high pressure greese gun help in squezzing grease down the joints, without having to dis assemble the torsion bar assembly?

I had gotten away with doing just that on my exercise machine (elipticle) which too started groaning a bit after 5 years of use..

00ML430 Bulldog

the ball joints on the lower and upper control arm are shot... (worn out) on your Maxima.

mihir_d

for the info...its my first time with a suspension problem....I'll look in to the ball joints and consider replacing them..

I can't complain though....10 years/160K miles is a long way to go...I guess, its just a normal aging process...

It seems, it the same ball joints that are responsible for a mild vibration at high speeds...I just got my car aligned a month back...that eliminated the vibration...but in a month it returned, and this time, just before a week before I felt the vibration, I first heard the groaning sound at a speed bump...