brownboy

Had 4 new Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires installed (was told that Michelin doesn't make the Pilot Sport 4s in 285/35/19) and asked my indy they could look into the loud creaking sounds I get from the front suspension when I get in and out of the car and while hitting ramps in parking garages. They said the control arms need to be replaced for $1400 and that they couldn't find a way to lubricate them. Does this sound right? They did say they didn't think it was a safety issue so I passed on doing it but the creaking is pretty loud and makes the car feel really old. Which with 100k miles and being 12 years old I guess it is.

Gene Fiorot

Well with a car with 100000 miles you should expect to do some front end refurbishing. In your case you need to. Control Arm bushings have an effect on Alignment,and other effects when driving. There are quite a few bushings in the front end that probably need to be replaced. One thing I learned on my 04 with 60000 miles. Including the caster camber bolts too. I thought I could buy the bushings and have them pressed in. As it turns out you need a special tools for the press. Most places will not have them. But you can shop on line and get replacement all new parts with new bushings already installed. You don't need a super MB specialist to do this work. Any good Front End Place can perform the work. Not tire express. I would have them go over the front end and then tell you what needs replacement and if they let you get the parts so you can shop for brands you want to spend on to meet your budget. New tires and worn control arms don't agree/ Especially with the money you spent on the tires. Don;t forget the rear too.

brownboy

Thanks Gene. This makes sense and I'll get the work done soon since I plan to keep the car. Wanted to see if others had done this around the same age and mileage.

Gene Fiorot

I don't know if your car has been replaced with coil overs or you still have the ABC suspension. At 100000 I would expect ABC issues which can break the bank if you are not a mechanic. Something to consider going forward. Also what service records do you have? If not consider a total service of all fluids and filters, spark plugs, belt pulleys thermostat etc, Like starting off at zero miles.

brownboy

I have the suspension service scheduled for 2 weeks from now and asked them to inspect the rear suspension as well. My tires have been wearing evenly if that's any positive indication of things.

I've owned the car for 10 years and have made sure all service and maintenance have been done. First at the dealership while it was under extended factory warranty and then with a good (but expensive) indy. I never go to tire express type places. If you're bored the details are here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

I've spent $15k on maintenance (no DIY since I live in a downtown high rise) and $11k on repairs. Warranty cost $3600 but paid $8800 in repairs. Spark plugs were replaced at 73k. Various portions of ABC have been replaced (ABC pump replaced at 55k under warranty).

Even after 10 years I still love this car and plan to keep it. Not a fan of the new one being a soft top with rear seats.

I could use new seat covers though and saw a few threads here about those.

Gene Fiorot

You are doing Great!!!!

A1EK

I had that creaking on my car since I got it and it took me 2 years to finally resolve it.
Like others have said, our cars are old and so you would expect some creaks. I was quoted about £1500 to change various ball joints and bushes on the front of my car, however the garage also said that its up to you, as the car drove fine otherwise. I lubricated using a small straw behind rubber sleeves spraying every joint I could get too, with the exception of the bottom knuckled right underneath the suspension bolt, for this I used a tiny metal needle syringe filled with some oil and pushed it right into the rubber sleeve injecting the oil into it about 10ml's only. No more squeaking creaking and its been 5 months now ! the hole is so small it seals up and no water gets in or oil out. You can used a dab of sealant or superglue if you want.

Heres a video I did of the noise.

brownboy

That's great that you were able to get rid of it in this economical manner and thanks for sharing the video! I think I'm going to keep my scheduled repair primarily because of my car's age and since I plan to keep it. My indy did try to lube a few places but wasn't as thorough as you.

tonylinc

I heard that mercedes makes updated version of the control arms where the rubbers are glued on. Older versions they are not, and I also heard that spraying lithium grease on them makes the squeaking go away, if not permanently at least for a while. And a lot less money than having it all taken apart and replaced

brownboy

Thank you Tony for this information. My car is otherwise in great shape so I'm concerned about your comment about your '02 W220 not being the same after having front end work done but changing the control arms doesn't seem like delicate work. I look forward to others' responses as I have 2 weeks before the scheduled repair. Paging Rudeney

Gene Fiorot

I find it very hard to believe a car that is 14 years old with 135k miles does not need front end work. It would be amazing you could get an alignment in the spec range with those miles and years. One exception might be a Florida car where there are no potholes.

eatmycrackers

I have 107k miles on my SL65. The front control arm bushing is at its limit and rather than replace the bushing I think it could be cheaper to replace the whole arm.

I took the car to MB Manhattan and the service advisor recommended that because my car was a v12 it would probably cost more to fix the front suspension than a non-v12.

The suspension is not correlated to the engine at all and they just used that as an excuse to quote me even higher than reasonable because of a few extra cylinders.

Replace the various suspension components and ABC struts and you should have a like-new front end. Cost would be a few thousand however so just replace certain things to stay in budget. $1400 is a bit high as the arms are $200 each and then should take at most 2 hours each to replace... at labor at $150 an hour youre still all in $1000 but in the ballpark.

Rather than spend $1400 ahead of an upcoming trip I purchased some auto lubricant (not WD-40) and I sprayed down the suspension bushings on the creaky side of my car it took care of 99% of the creaks so I could put the top down without being annoyed/embarrassed about my creaky sportscar

tonylinc

I lubed my control arm rubber components with white lithium grease in a spray can and it is all quiet now.

Gene Fiorot

.

tonylinc

I lubricated my control arm rubbers with white lithium grease in a spray can and it's all quiet now. And the car goes in a perfectly straight line

Gene Fiorot

I love these cars

tonylinc

I think the car dealership I bought the car from must have lubed the control arms before i bought the car because it didn't squeak or creak at all until about six weeks after I bought the car! LOL

tonylinc

I believe MBZ has an updated version of the control arms in the front end that include having the rubber pbushings glued to the control arms; the original ones were not and that is why they begin to creak

Gene Fiorot

[QUOTE=tonylinc;8415074] Great cars

Gene Fiorot

For the record this was one of the original posts by Tony "tonylinc has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - creaking suspension requires $1400 fix? - in the SL-Class (R230) forum of MBWorld.org Forums.

This thread is located at:
https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...3&goto=newpost

Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
I may just be a lucky guy or maybe I just simply don't buy worn out pieces of crap. Either way, BLOW ME
***************

tonylinc

After lubricating the rubber parts the car is very quiet now, It will be interesting to see how long before they start to squeak again?

tonylinc

Amazing how the squeaking sounds so bad inside the car, a little embarrassing when picking up dignitaries at the airport.

tonylinc

My sister commented about the creaking sound and so that is why I tried white lithium grease and it quieted it right down.

tonylinc

Update" The car is perfect now.

tonylinc

These cars are so great.