https://youtube.com/shorts/32FsuJ9-iCU?feature=share

I am experiencing a bad creaking sound in the front of my car when I break or accelerate from a stop or going on uneven surfaces at slow speeds

I bought this car knowing the front struts were bad which I ended up replacing with a brand new strut assembly for the right and left front struts. That has definitely helped with the sound but there is still this creaking sound. I posted a youtube short of what I experience, it is heard throughout major of the video.

Any help on what it actually is? There is too many people saying stuff on other forums and websites saying stuff like bearing, lower control arm, ball joint, sway bar, tie rod, all types of links, etc.

Can anyone give any confident input, from experience? I appreciate the help and the video of the sound is linked!!

 

Did you ever find out what this is? I think it is possibly the same thing that I have but I am at the very beginning. I had a local shop take a look and they are not certain at all but they thought strut mount so I am searching for strut assemblies and finding nothing reasonable but an FCS assembly on rock auto that I then cannot truly tell if it is compatible for a G37X coupe or not.

Mind sharing what strut assembly you used and if you ever found the cause of this sound?

Thanks!
Z

 

Did either of you replace the stock suspension gaskets?

 

So I took it to a reputable shop in my city and after an inspection they showed me how my front lower control arm is extremely worn out and the play in it. They said it is the ball joint but it is non-serviceable and requires a new control arm since the control comes with a built in ball joint. I plan on getting both of my front ones changed but they are so expensive let alone the labor for it. I hope to get it done this summer. The strut assembly that I bought was for the sedan AWD. The mechanic got it off of some cheaper part website. I posted the video of the sound in my first reply, I recorded it in my car.

 

Yeah the assembly I bought came with them new.

 

Thanks for the update. I've been trying to pin this down without just making guesses and replacing parts but pretty sure that's where I'm headed. I have not replaced the gasket yet. I have an AWD Coupe. It's a bit frustrating to find limited parts and different parts for the various trims on this car. And I'm with you on the cost of some of these parts. Rockauto doesn't have an LCA for the Coupe AWD specifically that I see and OEM (even OEM parts sites) are 250-300 not including nuts and bolts. So its not fun to replace these without truly knowing that is the issue. I'll be replacing them myself but still.

I used a stethoscope and strongest sound seemed to come from the ball joint on the lower control arm. I used a grease gun with needle attachment and put in quite a bit. Made no difference. Could have been sound just reverberating and I heard it best at the ball joint. Really not sure but have not been able to identify the source.

Tomorrow I am going to disconnect the stabilizer bar and then shake it down to make sure it is unrelated to that. I have the OEM bar but the bushings possibly need lubricated/replaced as the car is high mileage. It would make sense if it was these bushings but I doubt I am that lucky. While it could be related to the coil/shock assembly if I just hit bumps it does not make the noise like one would expect when these are failing. And I've sprayed nearly everything with WD40 just to see if I can find the source. Nothing has helped so far. But when the weight of the front end shifts like it does at slow speed when turning (under 20mph) I can really hear it then. Or if I just bounce on a front head light to get the car rocking I can hear it then. Easy to duplicate but very difficult to identify.

If its not the bar bushings I'm expecting the LCA to be the culprit but a gasket is a much cheaper starting point.