Petra's cousin
Well-known member
In April I pulled and replaced the struts/shocks/springs/strut mount assemblies on our 2011 TDI Sportwagen. Installed were Koni yellow struts, Golf R springs and new Audi TT strut mounts and bearings.
Drove the car for ~2000 miles (highway road trip to Moab and back), then shortly after I got back I started to hear a creaking sound from the passenger strut area. It is most noticeable at low speeds (road noise might be covering it up at neighbourhood speeds) and I definitely hear it when I dry steer in reverse to back my car into my driveway. It sounds something like a groaning or creaking and when I sit in the passenger seat its louder. When I'm in the passenger seat I'm not sure if its coming from the floorboards or higher up (i.e. strut mount vs. sway bar mount). I've tried snugging up the nut inside the strut mount but its not moving, at least with my ghetto deep 22mm socket with vice grips and 1/4 drive 11mm socket through the 22mm socket. I don't think I've heard any clunking yet.
Thoughts on next steps to trouble shoot (I haven't had a chance to pull the wheel yet and crawl underneath) - if it was the strut mount what is the failure mode? When I spun the upper mount nut without holding the shaft, I could create a similar creaking sound. Conversely, if it was the sway bar mounts, why would it creak when I'm trying to steer at low speeds?
Thanks,
John
Drove the car for ~2000 miles (highway road trip to Moab and back), then shortly after I got back I started to hear a creaking sound from the passenger strut area. It is most noticeable at low speeds (road noise might be covering it up at neighbourhood speeds) and I definitely hear it when I dry steer in reverse to back my car into my driveway. It sounds something like a groaning or creaking and when I sit in the passenger seat its louder. When I'm in the passenger seat I'm not sure if its coming from the floorboards or higher up (i.e. strut mount vs. sway bar mount). I've tried snugging up the nut inside the strut mount but its not moving, at least with my ghetto deep 22mm socket with vice grips and 1/4 drive 11mm socket through the 22mm socket. I don't think I've heard any clunking yet.
Thoughts on next steps to trouble shoot (I haven't had a chance to pull the wheel yet and crawl underneath) - if it was the strut mount what is the failure mode? When I spun the upper mount nut without holding the shaft, I could create a similar creaking sound. Conversely, if it was the sway bar mounts, why would it creak when I'm trying to steer at low speeds?
Thanks,
John