Front End Creeks

Hey There! I've got a 93 olds cutlass supreme sl with the 3.1L v6. As i'm driving and going over bumbs, i hear some creeking noises. i thought maybe its the control arm bushings, but i found that when i turn the wheel it'll also creek, but more so when i turn to the left, that's making me think its a tie rod end. I was just wondering if its something to worry about, or if not, if theres something i can do to just make it all quiet again. Just looking for what i need to look for and how to check it. thanks!

could also just be your sway bar bushings.
To check if your tie rods are bad just jack up a wheel and see if it has any play in the tie rod.
Also with the car off, if you turn the steering wheel back and forth realy quick and you hear a "clunking" noise, chances are one or both are bad.

Its also best to replace them in pairs. You'll also need an alignment. :2cents:

well i ended up getting an inspection. turns out the be exactly what i thought, control arm bushing on the right side....the bushing aren't that expensive compared to the control arm. I'm planning on replacing it myself. Just curious, how big of a job is it? Is this something i could get done in the driveway with the front end on jack stands? Any info would be great, and i dont feel like paying for labor, Im pretty good with cars. just curious about the actual labor in this one...new territory for me :biggrin:

its not to difficult just need to be safe!

-Once on jack stands and the wheels off, remove the stabilizer bar where its conected to the control arm.
-You'll need to remove the lower ball joint and tie rod from the control arm, with the proper fork tool.
-Now you should be ready to remove the control arm to frame bolts/nuts.

- For the install, attach control arm but dont tighten all teh way yet.
- Now install the ball joint to control arm , install the nut.
- Now tighten the lower control arm to fram bolts/nuts to 52-56 ft lbs (70-75 Nm)
- For your '93, tighten the lower ball joint nut to 63 ft lbs (85 Nm). Then tighten to align the next slot in the nut for the cotter pin. Dont tighten more than 60º to align with the cotter pin hole, and install a new pin.
- Lastly the stabilizer shaft to lower control arm bracket , tighten to 35 ft lbs (48 Nm).

I think thats it, other then torqing your lug nuts to 100 ft lbs(136 Nm)

Hope that helps!

ps- it is best to replace these in pairs. As the old ones will wear faster and your new will also wear faster.
pss- if you stabilizer bar bushings look bad/loose/worn might replace those since its available.

Sounds great! Thanks a lot I really appreciate it. I'll get around to repairing it sometime soon. hopefully. Thanks again!

Just an update, i replaced both bushings on both sides....the old ones were good, so it waste a good waste of time and money, I found out the creek is from the ball joint, I had it replaced at a shop, only to realize they never put grease into the ball joint, like they should have...I'm 99.9% sure there in lies the problems and noises

:uhoh: that would cause a problem. have you greased them ?

i tried to grease them, but i can't seem to get to the hole where the fitting will fit, also i can clearly see damage to it already, as well as stripped threads, i really just dont trust it, so i'm going to replace it again! this time myself, so it'll be done right