E55 Rear Toe Arm Creak/Sqeal -- ID these! Rebuildable?
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Jetta TDI [Daily] , Audi A8L [Sold], '12 STI [Sold], '06 E55 [Sold], '05 S500, '15 GLA250
E55 Rear Toe Arm Creak/Sqeal -- ID these! Rebuildable?
So, I found my problem!
This squeal was driving me nuts. So it was present on almost any load change, whether coming to a stop and the load was moving towards the front of the car, or when taking off slowly enough to hear load get transferred to the rear, and also when lifting/lowering the car on the rear-right and listening to it creak on the way up AND down.
So then I applied pressure to the tire while it was still mounted on the car. Up and Down play resulted in no noise. Totally sturdy.
Then I applied lateral Left and Right twisting, and the noise would "pop" and I could feel the tire shift about 2mm each time.
Turns out it's my rear toe arm bushing where it connects into the hub assembly.
In the video, on the way up you can hear at at 00:20 seconds.
And on the way down, you can hear it at 00:34 seconds AND if you pay extra close attention and watch in full screen you can see it shift 1 or 2mm.
(ignore the background noise of the parking brake shoes and/or the jack)
When grabbing it and shaking the shaft it makes that same popping/creaking nose it does on the car with about a 1mm worth of slop in it.
Also, this explains the veeery subtle vibration I was starting to develop at 80ish MPH from the right rear tire. And I don't want to trash my new PSS's.
Thoughts?
They look to be rebuildable -- does the rear subframe need to be dropped?
Also, can anybody ID them? From some googling, they look like an early MBArts version? But I can't find a website or anyone to contact to rebuild these.
In the defense of these things, the rear tires (Potenza's) that I just took off 200 miles ago wore perfectly evenly all they way down, so these things seemed to have done a good job in the meantime...
This squeal was driving me nuts. So it was present on almost any load change, whether coming to a stop and the load was moving towards the front of the car, or when taking off slowly enough to hear load get transferred to the rear, and also when lifting/lowering the car on the rear-right and listening to it creak on the way up AND down.
So then I applied pressure to the tire while it was still mounted on the car. Up and Down play resulted in no noise. Totally sturdy.
Then I applied lateral Left and Right twisting, and the noise would "pop" and I could feel the tire shift about 2mm each time.
Turns out it's my rear toe arm bushing where it connects into the hub assembly.
In the video, on the way up you can hear at at 00:20 seconds.
And on the way down, you can hear it at 00:34 seconds AND if you pay extra close attention and watch in full screen you can see it shift 1 or 2mm.
(ignore the background noise of the parking brake shoes and/or the jack)
When grabbing it and shaking the shaft it makes that same popping/creaking nose it does on the car with about a 1mm worth of slop in it.
Also, this explains the veeery subtle vibration I was starting to develop at 80ish MPH from the right rear tire. And I don't want to trash my new PSS's.
Thoughts?
They look to be rebuildable -- does the rear subframe need to be dropped?
Also, can anybody ID them? From some googling, they look like an early MBArts version? But I can't find a website or anyone to contact to rebuild these.
In the defense of these things, the rear tires (Potenza's) that I just took off 200 miles ago wore perfectly evenly all they way down, so these things seemed to have done a good job in the meantime...
Last edited by mkiv_tdi; Jun 24, 2015 at 08:30 AM.
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From: Earth, USA, Atlanta, GA
E55
hmmm yes squeaky suspension bits are very annoying. I found mine by spraying a PTFE (teflon) lubricant and replaced the part once I figured out where it was. Here was my squeaky issue (different car)
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From: NZ
2004 E55 AMG, 2006 CLS63, 2004 ML55, 2014 E350 sport
Just buy a new rose joint end in the right size and spec. QA1 is a well known company. Id get one with kevlar inserts in the ball end.... Basically just buy the most expensive one they sell in the same thread and eye size.
You can also look into getting rubber boots to protect them. These things will hardly last a year or two on a car that really gets driven in harsh conditions.
Also whats the other end look like is it rotated around the ball in the opposite direction to that one? If so thats probably the actual cause poor installation.
You can also look into getting rubber boots to protect them. These things will hardly last a year or two on a car that really gets driven in harsh conditions.
Also whats the other end look like is it rotated around the ball in the opposite direction to that one? If so thats probably the actual cause poor installation.
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Jetta TDI [Daily] , Audi A8L [Sold], '12 STI [Sold], '06 E55 [Sold], '05 S500, '15 GLA250
Thanks for the replies, guys. I'll post a pic of the other end before I remove them. I've never dealt with these sort of joints (seems like they're popular with the off road guys), so at least I get to learn something in the process.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Apr 2014
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Jetta TDI [Daily] , Audi A8L [Sold], '12 STI [Sold], '06 E55 [Sold], '05 S500, '15 GLA250
Just buy a new rose joint end in the right size and spec. QA1 is a well known company. Id get one with kevlar inserts in the ball end.... Basically just buy the most expensive one they sell in the same thread and eye size.
You can also look into getting rubber boots to protect them. These things will hardly last a year or two on a car that really gets driven in harsh conditions.
Also whats the other end look like is it rotated around the ball in the opposite direction to that one? If so thats probably the actual cause poor installation.
You can also look into getting rubber boots to protect them. These things will hardly last a year or two on a car that really gets driven in harsh conditions.
Also whats the other end look like is it rotated around the ball in the opposite direction to that one? If so thats probably the actual cause poor installation.
Since you asked, here's the car end below. It looks like both heim joints are in the same direction; as in the top of the joint is rotated towards the front of the car, and the bottoms of the joints facing away towards the rear.
And another of the wheel end:
I've packed them with some grease for the time being which greatly reduced the noise, but that's obviously not a long term solution. But it'll hold me over for another week or so until I get new ones in.
Thanks!
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Jetta TDI [Daily] , Audi A8L [Sold], '12 STI [Sold], '06 E55 [Sold], '05 S500, '15 GLA250
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Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 259
Likes: 17
Jetta TDI [Daily] , Audi A8L [Sold], '12 STI [Sold], '06 E55 [Sold], '05 S500, '15 GLA250
Following up on this -- finally "rebuilt" them this weekend.
In the meantime, I had unfrozen them and I'd lube them up every other month to keep them reasonably well articulated. But I feel much better knowing they're replaced.
In the meantime, I had unfrozen them and I'd lube them up every other month to keep them reasonably well articulated. But I feel much better knowing they're replaced.
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