Ball Joint Creak?

[cornercarver]

Hey gang!

Hearing a creak on the front end when turning the wheel... What do you think - ball joint?

https://youtu.be/zyzYj6J3l-0

I replaced the control arms two years and ~10k miles ago with Lemforder units. I’d be surprised if the BJ’s are gone already. Are E46 BJ’s greaseable?

[704sw]

Have the tie rods been replaced?

[cornercarver]

Nope.

[ZHPizza]

Holy crap that's loud. You should definitely be able to feel it on the offending part. Can you have someone turn the wheel while you touch a screwdriver to the strut mount? Then try other areas if that's not it?

I'd be hesitant to put a stethoscope on it and blow out your damn ear drums

[cornercarver]

Yeah, planning to do that but just haven’t had the time to get it on the lift. Maybe this weekend. And yes- it’s F-ing loud, which is why I thought it could be a ball joint; it seems to resonate through the frame.

[ZHPizza]

Yeah, planning to do that but just haven’t had the time to get it on the lift. Maybe this weekend. And yes- it’s F-ing loud, which is why I thought it could be a ball joint; it seems to resonate through the frame.Don't need to put it on the lift to check the bearing in the strut mount. Just do exactly what you did in the video but stick a screwdriver on the mount and see if you feel the popping.

[cornercarver]

I finally got around to checking this. (I’ve driven the car only once or twice in the last month... out of sight, out of mind.)

Definitely wasn’t the upper strut mount, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a ball joint. The sound was barely there this time, but it sounded like it could’ve been coming from the steering rack. Anyone ever heard of a rack creaking like this?

Power steering fluid was full, and it could probably use a flush, but it definitely wasn’t dry.

[GeorgeH]

My first thought was the strut mount, I'm surprised that is not it.

Does it do it with the wheels off the ground?

[cornercarver]

Didn’t try it with the wheels off the ground. I have a 4-post lift so I put it up and had my kid turn the wheel while I was listening underneath and on top. Put a ‘chassis ear’ - aka ‘screwdriver’ - to both strut towers and couldn’t hear anything.

[Will]

Maybe internal failure with the steering rack?

[cornercarver]

Had a chance to pull the inner tie rod boots tonight; plenty of grease where the inner tie rods connect to the rack. No dryness that would suggest a metal-on metal condition. The steering operates fine; nothing indicating the rack or pump is bad. Again - PS reservoir was full and no indications of a leak from either the rack nor the hoses.

Shot another video, this time without any help so I had to rig up a rope so I could be under the car and turn the wheel at the same time. Wanted to be able to turn the wheel with the car off, so I put two VCT tiles with a bit of grease between them under the tires so they would turn easily. (Trick I learned from racing and setting my own camber and alignments.):cool The video was just to show a friend how I did it, but without the engine noise of the first video it’s a bit clearer.

https://youtu.be/9CGhaHf_B9Q

[cornercarver]

Bringing this to closure; It turns out the creak was coming from the spherical rod ends on the anti-roll bar end links. They’re worn and need replacement. I think I’m going back to the OEM-style end links because the rod ends don’t hold up to the abuse of public roads.

Hard to believe such a loud noise was coming from the end links. Hope this info helps someone in the future...

[t.er]

Good to hear that you've solved it. It also confirms my thoughts that exposed spherical bearings should not be run on a street car, all the road grim and grit just wears them out quickly. I too plan on running OE-style adjustable endlinks, when it comes time.

[Will]

Bringing this to closure; It turns out the creak was coming from the spherical rod ends on the anti-roll bar end links. They’re worn and need replacement. I think I’m going back to the OEM-style end links because the rod ends don’t hold up to the abuse of public roads.

Hard to believe such a loud noise was coming from the end links. Hope this info helps someone in the future...

Glad you diagnosed it, and thanks for updating the thread.