So… someone smashed in the right front of my Honda Ridgeline about a year ago. Lot’s of body work and parts of the steering infrastructure replaced. In for service and they say that the right-front inside CV joint leaking grease. Insurance (Amica), no problem we’ll replace the axle. Had it done at the dealer, about 2 weeks ago. Since the, I have noticed a “creaking” noise from under the truck. Sounds like a metal on metal joint that should be lubricated but isn’t. Only noticeable at very low speeds, stopping or accelerating. Maybe there other times, but hard to tell. Sometimes almost seems like a “clunk”. FYI, I don’t think this is it, but they also did a front brake job at the same time. 75,000 miles. Your help is appreciated. Want to be fully armed when I head back in there. Thanks!
Did they use a new axle or a remanufactured one. You should get new, remans are NOT just as good.
@Meriwether There is also the possibility that your front sway bar bushings and links are the source of the noise.
Worn sway bar bushings make a creaking noise
worn sway bar bushings make a clunk noise
Other possibilities are control arm bushings and load bearing ball joints.
Ask your service advisor to have the best and most experienced front end guy look at the car.
First off, you must have good insurance for it to cover replacing the half shaft a year after an accident. Half shaft replacement is a common maintenance item. And problems resulting from this procedure are not uncommon here, esp if an offshore remanufactured half shaft is used. So that’s a possiblily, there is someting wrong with the part they used. Wrong dimension etc.
But from the symptom you describe, my guess is that it has nothing to do w/the half shaft. It just happens that you started to notice the creaking noise and it’s a coincidence that it started after the axel work.
There’s a couple of common sense things you can observe. Does the noise get louder or increase in frequency when the car moves faster? Can you make this noise w/the car parked in the driveway and just pushing the bumper up and down, trying each corner? Can you make the noise by turning the steering wheel, but with the car parked in the driveway?
I think the process of replacing the shaft disturbed some other suspension part (bushing or joint) that was marginal to begin with.
Thanks everyone for the input. It was a new axle but not sure whether if was a Honda part. The noise does not appear to correlate with the speed of the vehicle. I should have thought about bouncing the suspension a bit to see if I get the creak, thanks for the tip. I had just changed insurance a few months before the accident, really glad I did. I went with Amica, really amazing service. Thanks again everyone!
Notify your insurance agent and bring it back for fixin’.
Until your vehicle is back to the same condition it was in when you get hit, it’s the responsibility of the repair facility to get it fixed and the liable party’s insurance to pay the bill.