I have a '88 745 wagon. Yesterday I had the car jacked up to rotate the tires. When I was done I lowered it and left it in the garage for the night. When I drove off this morning ther is creaking and groaning coming form the left front. The noise occurs while cornering and when going over even small bumps. And with the car parked I can push down on the bumper and can hear the same creaking sound. I did nothing other than rotate the tires. Is it possible that taking the weight off the front shock/suspension by jacking up the car somehow "stretched" the shock to its limit and somehow damaged it? The noise is horrendous!

Thanks

Ball joint?
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1992 745, >500k km

Oldyeller got it right. It is indeed the lower ball joint. I've ordered replacement ball joints an decided I will have the front struts replaced too as they have never been replaced. It is apparently a 5-6 hour job and you need spring compressors etc plus it's easier to do it on a hoist. I don't have either.

I just replaced the front struts on my '88 745T. My first time doing front struts on any car.

The worst part was that someone had welded the gland nut on the top of my driver side strut tube because the strut tube had no threads left to thread the nut.

I grabbed tubes/springs from a junkyard '94 940 and inserted my Billy HDs in them before I put them on the car.

Pulling the strut tubes isn't a huge deal, and you don't need to compress the springs for that part. You just need to do it to get the strut in and out.

You'll want a good table vice and a pipe wrench to get the gland nut off.

I didn't think the job was that bad, granted, I did the job on a lift, with air tools.

Just bought a pair of Bilstein Touring struts. I may try & do this job myself but I need to rent/buy a pair of spring compressors once I get the strut tube/spring assembly out of the car. I don't have a lift or air tools so I'll be doing this in my garage with the car on stands. I may be looking for some more advice in a week or two when I have time to do the job.

easy way to tell is to spray wd40 or something on the strut piston where it leaves the strut tube. noise goes away, it's the seal. unless it leaks fluid, it's probably ok.

another thing could be the lower ball joint. if lubing the strut doesn't do it, then poke a small hole in the ball joint boot and spray away. of course, if the boot's split-it's easier. if spraying the ball joint makes the noise go away, replace the joint. good luck, chuck.

Turns out it was the balljoint after all. Changed both left & right, now its quiet again.
But both struts need replacing.....

Hi porkface (love the nickname!) I will try your suggestion and get back to you.
Thanks!

Hello,

I think those noise came from the bushes associated with swinging motion when you rock the car or while driving. And those are the sway bar bushes at the frame (not at the lower arm).

Had similar thing occurred to me (long time ago). Sprayed WD40 to cure the noise. I think silicone spray would be better suited for the purpose as it is more friendly to rubber. Nevertheless the noise had forever gone in my case.

IPD sells specially made lubricant for these bushes. See the link below:
http://www.ipdusa.com/products/7399/100788-aqualube-sway-bar-grease

Hope this helps,
Amarin.

Hello Amarin and thank you for the response. The puzzle for me is that there has rarely been a peep from this cars front end since I bought it new in 1989. This only started after I had it up on a jack for half an hour to rotate the tires. I do this twice a year when I put on and take off the snow tires and it never happened before. I have had several bushings and components replaced within the last two years. However I will try the silicone lubricant approach and see what I find.
Thanks again!