mrmatto
Autocross Champion
- Location
- Jacksonville, FL
- Car(s)
- 2024 GTI DSG
2015 non-DCC w/ 67,000 miles. I have several noises coming from the suspension that have been getting worse over the last month or so. Maybe it's the cold weather, multiple autocross events, or both. But AFAIK, there shouldn't be noises.
When the car is cold or has been siting a while:
I have visually inspected all of the bushings and nothing looks obviously fried, but I'm no expert. Wheel bearings are OK as far as I can tell. No noises when I grab any of the corners and shake up-down or left-right. I put a wrench on every single suspension nut or bolt I could access and nothing was loose. Spraying all of the bushings with silicone lube seemed to temporarily stop some of the creaking but only for a couple days. And confirmed everything in the hatch is tight and/or damped with something soft.
So, here's my plan: I'm going to have my dampers, strut mounts, strut bearings, and front endlinks replaced -- I wanted to do this project independent of the noises anyways. Then I guess I'm just going to tell the shop what noises I have and tell them to inspect everything else and replace what looks worn. My budget for this suspension refresh project is about to go
Any other troubleshooting steps I should do in the meantime to maybe narrow down the causes?
When the car is cold or has been siting a while:
- Knocking noise coming from the front end, likely front right. It's a low-frequency thump that happens over slightly uneven road. Sounds like something is loose but it goes away after a couple minutes of driving.
- Any bumps or suspension compression while turning right (no so much when turning left) I hear a squeak or creak. Goes away after a few minutes of driving. This one just cropped up in the last 2 weeks.
- Going over a sharp speed bump, even slowly, gives me a slight "knock-knock" in the rear. Doesn't happen every time.
- Pulling into a steep driveway at an angle is the noisiest. I hear creaking/squeaking from the front, maybe some popping, and a creak from the rear as the car straightens out.
- Knocking in the rear. Loosening and re-tightening sway bar endlinks fixed it.
I have visually inspected all of the bushings and nothing looks obviously fried, but I'm no expert. Wheel bearings are OK as far as I can tell. No noises when I grab any of the corners and shake up-down or left-right. I put a wrench on every single suspension nut or bolt I could access and nothing was loose. Spraying all of the bushings with silicone lube seemed to temporarily stop some of the creaking but only for a couple days. And confirmed everything in the hatch is tight and/or damped with something soft.
So, here's my plan: I'm going to have my dampers, strut mounts, strut bearings, and front endlinks replaced -- I wanted to do this project independent of the noises anyways. Then I guess I'm just going to tell the shop what noises I have and tell them to inspect everything else and replace what looks worn. My budget for this suspension refresh project is about to go
Any other troubleshooting steps I should do in the meantime to maybe narrow down the causes?
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