creaking noise when turning few days after replacing front struts

[apollo18]

hey all i have a 14 acura rdx and a few days ago i replaced my front struts. i got the kyb front struts for my vehicle and i reused the coil. i had purchased new hardware such as mount and bearing from the honda dealer. I installed everything and the car drove fine and was good for the past few days

however today when i woke up to take it for a drive i could hear creaking as i pulled out the vehicle when i turned left or right. as i sit in the driver seat, it sounds like its coming from under the hood area and it only happens when i turn left or right

it is a bit colder today i would say and it did rain recently but as i drove for 20 mins today, the creaking was still there as i turned left or right. i assumed it would maybe go away with some driving

when i turn the steering wheel i dont feel any binding or anything hitting, it turns nicely. its just an annoying creaking noise. the strut hardware is all oem from acura and honda and it never made a noise for the first few days

could this be something about the tightness on the three nuts at the top of the strut mount or the main upper strut mount nut? i did not use an impact and tightened by hand.

even if i want to tighten the strut mount nut, i assume ill still have to hold it from the bottom with a vice as well or will it let me tighten it without holding it from the bottom too.

i was wondering if maybe its just break in noise and maybe could go away as well?

 

[D60]

I dunno, it really shouldn't do that. I always run the main strut nut down with a (3/8") impact. It bottoms so shouldn't be possible to overtighten beyond blatant thread damage.

I've dealt with older Hondas but never an Acura per se, so maybe there's a trick with these mounts.

Do you still have the old mounts/bearings to autopsy?

 

[apollo18]

I dunno, it really shouldn't do that. I always run the main strut nut down with a (3/8") impact. It bottoms so shouldn't be possible to overtighten beyond blatant thread damage.

I've dealt with older Hondas but never an Acura per se, so maybe there's a trick with these mounts.

Do you still have the old mounts/bearings to autopsy?

sadly all thrown out , the car drives well and i wonder if it will dissapear but still odd for it to show 3 - 4 days later

 

[Rand]

Sounds like strut bearing noise from your desc. why and what to do about it are more of a hands on problem.

 

[apollo18]

Sounds like strut bearing noise from your desc. why and what to do about it are more of a hands on problem.

thank you for the reply, oddly it sounds like its coming creaking from both sides, but then again its harder to isolate since both wheels turn no matter which side the steering wheel is moving. what also is odd is i got brand new bearings and mount and my old ones were sounding fine when they were removed.

 

[D60]

I asked about old because if there's no chance of warrantying or returning the parts, I'd seriously look into the possibility of drilling a small hole and injecting grease. There's little to lose and chances of damage are low if you drill in the right place

This is a bit diagnostic like injections into the lower back or a joint to see if pain levels are affected.

I did that on a Kia here:
Post in thread 'What are you working on today?' https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/what-are-you-working-on-today.331303/post-7145199

Problem is bearing mount designs can vary wildly.

@The Critic is drain bamaged enough to deal with a lot of import stuff. Ever heard of OP's scenario?

 

[1444buicking]

On a different car, my buddy had similar noise. The top bolts needed to be tightened.

 

[Doc8404]

thank you for the reply, oddly it sounds like its coming creaking from both sides, but then again its harder to isolate since both wheels turn no matter which side the steering wheel is moving. what also is odd is i got brand new bearings and mount and my old ones were sounding fine when they were removed.

Same thing happened on my Nissan Altima. It was a strut bearing.

 

[The Critic]

Spring might be popping. Check center nut for proper tightness and also condition of insulators.

 

[researcher]

Wasn't there a thread on BITOG where KYB had a bad design of top mounts? Something about a cheap plastic bearing.. That would explain the noise..Do a search should be able to find it.

 

[apollo18]

On a different car, my buddy had similar noise. The top bolts needed to be tightened.

i hope its that, i guess should have used my torque wrench in the first place

 

[apollo18]

Spring might be popping. Check center nut for proper tightness and also condition of insulators.

thank you very much, i had it pretty tight from before. i beleive for my vehicle its only about 22 foot lbs which seems easy to reach but will def check for play

 

[Escape08]

could be a loose bolt. Check that you have tightened everything

 

[zzyzzx]

I asked about old because if there's no chance of warrantying or returning the parts, I'd seriously look into the possibility of drilling a small hole and injecting grease. There's little to lose and chances of damage are low if you drill in the right place

This is a bit diagnostic like injections into the lower back or a joint to see if pain levels are affected.

I did that on a Kia here:
Post in thread 'What are you working on today?' https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/what-are-you-working-on-today.331303/post-7145199

Problem is bearing mount designs can vary wildly.

@The Critic is drain bamaged enough to deal with a lot of import stuff. Ever heard of OP's scenario?

Can't you normally just spray in stuff to lube the strut mount bearings?

 

[D60]

Can't you normally just spray in stuff to lube the strut mount bearings?

Maybe, I dunno if it'll get to where it needs to be. Worth a shot (pun?)

 

[Rand]

How were they torqued when installed? Maybe they loosened up?

 

[apollo18]

Can't you normally just spray in stuff to lube the strut mount bearings?

my apologies if im mistaken but the new mount and bearing dont really seem injectable. this is a pic of the acura mount and the acura bearing just looks like a circular piece of metal. these are the new acura parts i got and installed but i wonder if its somewhere on the top of the kyb strut?

 

[apollo18]

How were they torqued when installed? Maybe they loosened up?

truth be told, top mount nut was tightened by hand with a normal 6 inch ratchet. i did some digging and seems like the torque for top nut is about 22 foot lbs which seems low to me but i guess its fine. i prob tightened it to 30 ish with my hand. there is 3 nuts where the strut mount connects to the chassis and the torque for that is 32 foot lbs and i tightened it the same way

i understand importance of torquing and i guess this time ill go back and use a tq wrench but i was in assumption people just estimated these or impacted them on

 

[2010Civic]

I installed KYB quick struts on my 2010 Civic about 2 years ago and they make a creaking noise when turning but only when it's cold out. Like single digits or less. 100% goes away when above freezing.

 

[Bubblewhale]

I installed KYB quick struts on my 2010 Civic about 2 years ago and they make a creaking noise when turning but only when it's cold out. Like single digits or less. 100% goes away when above freezing.

It might be worth doing warranty replacement on them since they're lifetime.

I just replaced my front left strut on my Camry since it was having the same issue as you with creaking while turning under cold temperatures. Replaced with warranty replacement and noise went away.

hey all i have a 14 acura rdx and a few days ago i replaced my front struts. i got the kyb front struts for my vehicle and i reused the coil. i had purchased new hardware such as mount and bearing from the honda dealer. I installed everything and the car drove fine and was good for the past few days

however today when i woke up to take it for a drive i could hear creaking as i pulled out the vehicle when i turned left or right. as i sit in the driver seat, it sounds like its coming from under the hood area and it only happens when i turn left or right

it is a bit colder today i would say and it did rain recently but as i drove for 20 mins today, the creaking was still there as i turned left or right. i assumed it would maybe go away with some driving

when i turn the steering wheel i dont feel any binding or anything hitting, it turns nicely. its just an annoying creaking noise. the strut hardware is all oem from acura and honda and it never made a noise for the first few days

could this be something about the tightness on the three nuts at the top of the strut mount or the main upper strut mount nut? i did not use an impact and tightened by hand.

even if i want to tighten the strut mount nut, i assume ill still have to hold it from the bottom with a vice as well or will it let me tighten it without holding it from the bottom too.

i was wondering if maybe its just break in noise and maybe could go away as well?

Try tighten the top strut mount first to see if it's loose, usually the KYB quick strut mounts they come with are crap but sounds like you got the OEM strut mount that shouldn't be a big deal.