Guys, I know this is a bit dated and there has been much discussion on this subject, but I also have the gosh awful creaking sound in my '02 C5, and it seems to be mainly in the rear section. It was perfectly fine and ran like a top with only 27 k on the odometer when i bought her in the summer of '08. Last winter I did a complete front and rear brake job and detailed each wheel well with simple green, then a protectant on the rubber parts, but I sprayed liberally so I'm sure it went everywhere. I did wipe it down before reassembly. From the first ride in the spring right up until the last ride a week ago and with only 3k miles more on the odo, the creaking and groaning were always present, only less so at speed as the tires are about shot and the noise nearly drowns the creaking out.

In a related post referenced by Timebender, the writer wrote:

"Just don't spray that silicone on the leaf spring mounts or you may get a major groan every time the car moves up or down........don't ask how I know"

I wonder if it's the protectant I sprayed on rather than worn bushings...? The car was silent until I did this. She's going up on blocks next weekend for the the winter so will pull wheels for new tires and will take the opportunity to inspect, repair and/or replace parts to get rid of this creak.

Assuming I got protectant on the leaf spring mounts, whats the fix? Silicone? Grease? A thorough cleaning? Or all of the above?? Perhaps I should do the bushings while she's up on blocks as a matter of course? They certainly are cheap enough and I can do the work myself.. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Just buy some new sway bar bushings and install them. They are cheap and easy to do.

 

If its the sway bars, the best thing I have found is Teflon plumbers tape. Not messy either. Not sure on the mounts as GM has several warnings about spraying stuff on the composite springs.

 

It's where your spring meets the metal arm.

If you spray some WD-40 (which is not the best lubricant) you will see the groan go away. You don't have to raise he car, just get underneath and shoot towards the end of each spring. I will drool down to the contact points and should work after the supension moves up and down a few times.

Once that is determined, you can put some grease on the contact points, although it's a job. The easy way is to find a better spray lubricant (long term) than WD40.

Let us know how it goes.

 

Thanks guys for the input. Sorry for the delay in responding.... traveling. Joshua, I will try that when i finally get home for good for the holidays. Will ask around and come up with a longer lasting lube. She will be up on jack stands with wheels/tires off for the winter (snow and salt is here, so i'm done 'till spring) so should be easy to get to. Considering she is 7 years old, should I replace the rear sway bar bushings while she's up in the air? The suspension will be free and hanging.

Thanks again all.

 

I was driving my '99 as DD and a lot of miles at that. Sway bar bushings only lasted me about 2 years a set, then they would start making the noise. I tried lubing them once and what a mistake that was...a lot of noise! Replaced them and noise gone till they were done again.

 

Thank you dgrant3830. Sounds like replacing the rear sway bar bushing (front too?) is the way to go. Will do this winter while she's up on stands. Perhaps a bit of lube on the spring ends would be a good thing too.... Will give an update when we're back on the road, but that won't be until April or so. Thanks again all.

 

They only take minutes to do. The fronts, you only need to jack it up a bit and again, easy. Rears, you don't even need to jack the car but doing so of course makes it easier.

 

Late again. But thank you again dgrant3830. Much appreciated. Will do rears and see what happens as the sound is definitely coming from the rear. With new tires, she should run like new.

Here's to Spring!

 

I've had decent success using a spray dry lube.

 

What about the sway bar bushings? mine and my freinds c6 after we lowered the cars did the same thing and we switch those out and fixed the issues.


Just a thought

 

You might want to check the sway bar bushings.

Oh, I see that was mentioned at the beginning of the thread.

Check the 4 rear crossmember bolts for tightness. I believe 81 ft lbs.

That eliminated my creaking when angling in to my driveway.

 

Mine is creaking like a old door after I had it aligned. I have the F45 suspension anyone know what size bushings I need? Seems like I can choose 23mm or 26mm.

 

Hello All. Back again.

Finally took my C5 off the jack stands after replacing the rear sway bar busings (I beleive they are 19mm's), new hankook evo v12's (305/30-19 rears, 275/35-18 fronts, and they ride like a dream... no rubbing, believe it or not) on repro c6 "twin spoke" competition gray wheels, and I didn't drive two feet when the car dropped 2 inches and the creak was still there! Arrgh!

I'm going to try mrm1149's and Joshua's suggestions to lube the spring ends with a dry lubricant. That makes sense as the sound seems to be coming directly from above each wheel location. Don't forget, this all started when I liberally sprayed a protectant in each wheel well two winters ago when rebuilding/detailing the brakes. Perhaps this protectant got into the spring ends and is creating the noise. The creaking didn't creep up on me... it was there from the get go after I did the brakes and never let up all last season. Any sort of a bump would cause the creak. Only perfectly smooth roads produce a quiet ride.

Any suggestion on the dry lube, mrm1149? I will try to do this weekend and let you all know what happened.

btw: if anyone is looking to replace their tires with non-runflats, I can throw my support behind the hankooks. The difference is like night and day. The car handles better and is much quieter on less-than-smooth roads, which we have a lot of here in New England after such a nasty winter. Of course, I now a have a AAA membership.

Here's to spring and the first ride of the season.

cheers!

 

I think I'm having the same problem. mine's only coming from the rear driver's side though. it has been much less of an issue in the last few days, but I can still hear it. it bugs me, and I really hate to give anyone a ride, makes the car seem crappy.

can someone post pics of what to look for? what to do? how about how to replace the sway bar bushings?

when messing with that stuff do you have to be careful of things under compression? assuming the wheels are off the car should be resting with the suspension completely decompressed back there, so it should be safe to disassemble stuff right?

 

I agree, I am embarrassed to give rides as it makes the car sound "cheap", and as you say, "crappy", and it's just not the case.

As far as the creaking, I am waiting to hear from the others, but I can tell you the rear sway bar busings are not that hard to do, but not as easy as some say. Got mine from Ecklers, polyurethane versions. The orignals were starting to rot and it's a good thing I swapped them, even if it didn't help the creak situation. Sorry no pics. But when you get the car up and get under there, it's fairly obvious what you have to do. My c5 is an '02, so 8 years later, the rubber bushings are dry and startin got become powery. If yours is newer, maybe not so much. Have you detailed the wheels with a silicone protectant like black magic? Maybe sprayed a little bit much through the spokes? Perhaps some made it to the spring and dripped down, causing the creak. Mine is on all four corners as did all four wheel wells.

The urethane businings (got 19mm per specs) are very stiff and I really had to work at getting them in and the clamp bolted down, but it's not too bad once the you get the lower nut and upper bolt started. I had to brace myself against the garage wall to give me leverage to push the clamp down. It will help bunches if you can raise the rear. My car was on jack stand for the winter so it was ready to go. (Didn't do the fronts as I was anxious to get the car out in the unusually warm weather) You should torque per spec. I think the lower nut was 70 ftlbs, the upper bolt, 49 ftlbs. I found a handy torque reference sheet elsewhere in the forum. Here is the link. Thanks to David Farmer for providing this info. and the forum member who posted it here. (sorry, can't remember your id)

http://www.davidfarmerstuff.com/

No worries on compression or something shooting out at you. The sway bar flops around once the busing clamps are released, which is a bit annoying, but once in place, it's not too bad. Don't do what I did and tighten the one clamp before installing the second... You need the wiggle room to align the holes on the second clamp. If not, and you try to force it, you will bend the clamp (don't ask how I know...

I'm hoping to hear from the others as to what type of dry lubricant to use on the spring ends. That seems like my best bet as the car was smooth and dead quiet (except for the rumble of the worn out run flats) until I went nuts with the protectant/silcone in each wheel well. Check back later and see what comes in.

Goodluck.

 

I did a little more research and found this:

Quote:
Originally Posted by jrprich
"Just don't spray that silicone on the leaf spring mounts or you may get a major groan every time the car moves up or down........don't ask how I know"

""I know how you new how... I sprayed the same and now it sounds like a night in a brothel""

Sounds like my car.... I'm sure I got spray protectant (which probably contains silicon) on the leaf spring mounts.... that's when this mess started. Anyone know what I can do to negate my bad? What lubricant, if any, should I use on these mounts?

Thanks.

 

Replaced front bushings with liberal amounts of supplied grease (prothane from Ecklers). Creak is gone. I think the rear creak was gone after I replaced the bushings but the fronts creaked so loud it sounded like no change.

Just be sure you measure your stabilizer before your order. Many different sizes are available for the C5. Mine were larger than stock due to the optional Z51 (?) suspension upgrade. It's great to have my smooth riding baby back! She is a joy to drive again. Had to fix the creak before I took my daughter's finacee for a ride!

Enjoy the season. grateful that the snow is gone.