Creaking sound over speed bumps

Hello all,

I’ve noticed a creaking sound coming from the left front wheel when I go over a couple of particularly large speed bumps. I have had a lot of problems with the suspension in this car, and have replaced the front struts, the front right control arm, and the sway bar links and bushings. My best guess is that this noise is coming from the front left control arm, as it has not been replaced, although my current mechanic says that the front left control arm is fine. Also, it has been under 10 F here the past few days, so this could also just be a result of the cold weather.

Video of the noise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xeFqKfTgR0

Thanks!
-Josh

I wouldn;t touch it unless it remains when the weather warms up. Stuff shrinks & moves in cold weather, especially the rubber bushings & plastic parts.

Sounds good to me! So, no risk of catastrophic failure?

I’d bet on it. Cold weather creaks are normal. Cars are so full of elastomeric bushings & seals, as well as plasstic parts, that creaking is not at all unusual in bone-cold weather. The worst that might happen is a seal in a atrut might let go and leak, or something like that, but nothing that’ll present any immediate safety concerns. Seals that let go in cold weather are often on their way out anyway.

Not to worry.

My car squeaks a bit too going over speedbumps. If this concerns you, no harm to ask your mechanic to do a visual inspection of the suspension system. Your mechanic should be able to rule-out any major problems.

I don’t know what year your Altima is but you might want to have the front lower ball joints inspected. It sounds like a dry ball joint. And you don’t want a ball joint to come apart while taking a cloverleaf at 40 MPH.

Tester

It’s a 2001 with 125k miles - too bad, since the Altima was significantly improved in 2002.

Spray all the control-arm bushings and sway-bar mounts with silicone lubricant…These creaks and squeeks are part of the package you get with “greaseless” “Sealed For Life” front ends…