Creaking noise from front suspension - fixed

[vw.man]

I've suffered for the last 4 years on and off with this wretched creaking noise from the front of my Toledo. It's done it since it had 16k miles on it. It's really bad on speed bumps, but crops up on most bumps - pot holes, etc. It's weather / temperature dependent - I can go through the whole summer with no noise at all, but as soon as the temperature drops below 15°, the creaking starts. Weirdly, if the temperature gets close to zero, the creaking stops again. It also stops in rain.

There are several posts in various forums about this issue, and it seems to affect various VAG cars. Lots of suggestions as to the fix - ARB bushes, engine mounts, drop links etc. but nothing concrete. I replaced the drop links as it was a cheap fix, but this made no difference. I replaced the ARB bushes with genuine ones; no change. I took the ARB bushes out and coated them liberally in red rubber grease - again no joy. Still convinced it had to be arb-related, last week I disconnected the drop links and drove the car over my local speed bump and the noise was gone.

I've bought some Powerflex bushes and I've just fitted them. Deep joy - the noise is no more!

Hopefully this will be of use to anyone else with the same problem. I'll post this over on Briskoda too as I think there are more Rapid users.

Cheers,

Martyn

 

[5YLH3T]

Thanks Martyn,

I have the same issue on my Toledo. No noise during summer but when on cold wet days I do hear a noise going over bumps but seems to disappear when it’s dry/warm weather.

Would you suggest I remove drop links and install power flex bushes? Where did you order the power flex bush from?

Thanks!
Sy

 

[vw.man]

Hi Sy

I only disconnected the drop links temporarily to isolate the ARB, and so prove or disprove that the problem was definitely related to the ARB bushes. So no, don't remove the drop links.

The Powerflex bushes were direct from Powerflex - £42.60 delivered for the 18mm ones. I haven't driven the car very far but the noise has definitely gone.

 

[Cupra306Form]

My former car - Octavia VRS suffered from this. In fact the car groaned every time I got in or out. I thought it was hinting I might weigh a bit more than expected.

 

[deadlious]

I've got the same noise for several years. I was about to replace the shock absorbers and springs, but this gives me food for thought. I might try this first as a cheaper alternative. Thanks! I'll post here once I do it and what are the results.

 

[Tell]

My Altea did it once, but that was a broken spring. Any new creaking when you get in should send alarm bells ringing. A Punto put the broken spring into the wheel deflating it instantly. Pass on the model's spring.

 

[deadlious]

yep, after changing the bushes last autumn, all the noise is gone. Thanks again!

 

[DAZ46]

@deadlious @vw.man Is it the Front Wishbone Front Bush that you replaced that's sorted the sqeaking?

Powerflex - Performance Polyurethane Bushes

www.powerflex.co.uk

 

[vw.man]

Hi Daz

It's the two anti roll bar bushes. No. 13 in the attached screenshot.

 

[DAZ46]

Hi Daz

It's the two anti roll bar bushes. No. 13 in the attached screenshot. View attachment 54407

Thank you I'll give that a go replacing with powerflex bushes and hopefully sorts it I've had the creaking for years now and was told there was nothing wrong by a dealership multiple times

 

[RUM4MO]

A lot of the creaking on these cars from all VAG marques comes from the top mounting which is rubber "4" and it sits in an inverted cup formed in the body - it is not bolted or fixed to the body, it is just gravity that keeps it located in the inverted cups, the only thing that stops it escaping from its location if for instance, you inverted the car, is the large cup washer at the top "7" - in normal use there is always a gap between that and the body.

The next typical area that causes noises are the lower arm rear bonded bushes, when they elongate and/or tear you get noises.

I've owned and run a 2002 VW Polo from new to 13 years 109,000miles and it took an MOT inspection advisory to alert me to a worn ARB mounting bush - that car had earlier version of front suspension so didn't suffer from top mounts being noisy and had different lower arm mountings, also owned and ran (for a period) a 2009 Ibiza from maybe 6 years to 10 years old and it never ended up with much in the way of noises other than the top mounts, also a 2015 Polo from new and still got it, all its noises came from the lower arms rear bonded mounted and the top mounting. I'd reckon that if you could raise the car body at the front up a bit you could spray talc powder down onto the rubber top mountings and that would fix that source of noise.

Another thing I've read for years on these forums is, ARB drop links only last a year or so - I've only ever needed to replace ARB drop links on the 2002 Polo when it was 5 or 6 years old - and only because at that period in time VW also used the Skoda source for the Polo drop links and the metal, like most other Skoda "used originally" suspension parts - were made from some nasty type of metal - but I'm happy to confirm that things have now changed - my problem when working on that Polo so early in its life was rust/corrosion !

 

[Tell]

I went on a two week holiday across Europe, Slovenia with a broken coil but we don't talk about that. Altea. They must have been so well engineered. My useless North London Seat garage, now closed down, a mechanic diagnosed that from driving around in it, listening to it and putting it up on a ramp after agreeing it had something wrong with it. Creaked when you got in it. Little embarrassing that I did 1,500 or something on a broken coil spring. Least this wasn't that.