rear-end creaking

('93 lumina 3.1L) I have begun to notice that the rear of my car is making a lot of noise: it sounds like creaking or groaning:) This is most easily noticed when I hit a bump or pothole in the road. Also, when I park for the night, as I'm getting out of the seat it slowly creaks. (I'm not big by any means, I only weigh about 140lbs.) My first thought would be rear struts going bad, however I replaced both of them earlier in the year. Is my car just getting old? it has 188K and still drives good, but it seems to have developed arthritis! Any clue as to why it's "aching"?

if your struts are new check out all of the bushings on the radius/trailing arms. spray some lube on all of them to see if it goes away? I hate problems like this. They're tough to find.

thanks. could you give me more info about what/where the radius/trailing arms are?

rear-end creaking

You don't need a mechanic. Call your doctor instead.

Anyway, the radius arms are the lateral (side-to-side) links which hold the position of the rear wheel spindle. The trailing arms are the longitudal (front-to-back) links which hold the fore/aft position of the spindle.

All of these links have rubber end bushings, all of which require periodic lubrication with an inert lubricant, such as silicone oil. Regular mineral oil will tend to degrade the rubber in a short time. If these bushings are dry, audible squeaking may be generated by the normal movement of the suspension.

Your car has the transverse mounted fiberglass leaf spring. On each end of this spring, there are rubber pads where it contacts the spindles. They wear out and cause the creaking/groaning noise you describe, a very common isue on older W-bodies with this design. GM now offers a repair kit for this (you used to have to replace the whole spring, $$$$) and I believe some aftermarket companies offer it too.

thank you all so much!

richtazz - Just for clarity, was the last year for the transverse spring 1994? I'm not sure...