I have some idea where the source of this creaking sound is coming from but wanted to pass the story along to see if someone knows exactly what it is. The car is an 2004 1.8T Quattro.

I recently (1 month ago) installed the following new items:
1. All front control arms/tie rods/sway bar links/sway bushings (febi/bilstein)
2. Bilstein HD shocks
3. Stock upper strut mounts

Everything was torqued to spec., with the car on the ground. I've checked and rechecked every bolt just to make sure. At one point I even pulled the shock assemblies out of the car to check the bolt which connects the shock to the upper strut mount. That was the only bolt I couldn't get to when checking all of the torque values. I also checked to make sure the springs were properly seated in the lower and upper rubber grommets (not sure what else to call these). The control arms are tight and don't appear to be defective. Tie rods are tight as well.

The noise is a typical creaking noise that is heard when going over light oscillations in the road. Amplified during light braking. It wasn't there for the first 200 miles or so after the whole setup was installed. One trip through Long Islands' rough roads brought the sound out. Thats when I started to check all the bolts for proper torque and whatnot.

The only thing I didn't replace were the rubber grommets at either end of the springs, they looked fine to me. I took a look at the springs when the car is on the ground and it doesn't look like they're touching anything but the rubber grommets. The only thing that seemed a bit odd to me is that the lower portion of the spring is hanging over part of the lower spring support plate. Even so, the spring isn't touching the support plate.

I can also recreate the noise by moving the steering wheel a few degrees back and forth when the car is stopped. The creaking only happens a few degrees off center.

I'm not really sure how to diagnose the issue at this point. I've read some posts about using a lubricant on the rubber parts but I'm not sure where to start. Is it just a matter of letting the rubber parts "settle"? Should I try to rotate the springs/grommets a few degrees? Does it matter how the springs are rotated with respect to the strut?

Thanks for any help, I'm confused at this point (if you couldn't tell already)

 

Well despite my belief that it was the the spring perches it doesn't seem to be.

One more symptom. If the car is in park and you turn the wheel a few degrees to the left and then slowly rock the wheel about 5 degrees clockwise/counterclockwise the noise can be heard. I did this with the car off as well and the noise is definitely on the drivers side however I just can't seem to isolate where from.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

Mine creaks too, but with 188K on it, I feel like a bit of creaking is okay...sort of like my creaking 47 years or at least it feels that way every time I get to about 4 miles on my run. Anyway, I have always attributed it to the steering rack. Maybe yours is in the rack...

 

Lyle,

Could be the rack, thats the only thing I haven't changed up front!

 

After much searching I finally figured out the source of the front suspension creaking noise.

Although I'd installed all new Febi/Bilstein controls arms, that were stamped "Germany", it turns out the upper front drivers side control arm has a bad rubber bushing. Guess thats my bad luck...

In the end I diagnosed this as the case by grabbing the control arms with my hands while someone else pushed the car up and down to make the creaking noise. You could clearly feel that this control arm was the source of the noise. Once I get a the replacement, I'll try and take some closeup pictures of the bad arm. Looking at it while on the car, everything looks perfect, no metal-metal contact, no huge cracks in the rubber.

Has anyone ever encountered a control arm that goes bad about 2k miles after installation? I know if I torqued the down wrong then this could be the case, but I was very careful to put the car down on the ground before torquing the bolts...

 

I swapped out the Febi/Bilstein driver front upper control arm (only had a few k miles on it, damn it) with a fresh Meyle and the sound is gone.

Long story short, new controls arms can be defective from the factory.

Inspecting the old control arm you can't really see a thing wrong with it. I was going to take pictures but I don't think it will do any good. Something about the construction of the rubber bushing must mean it has multiple layers such that the outside can look good, but something on the inside is bad.

I hope the other 7 control arms don't fail early...

 

I attached a couple of images showing the bad control arm. It looks like the bolt which goes through the rubber end was somehow scraping the inside of the aluminum. I can't see how that is possible since I double, triple, and quadruple checked the torque with the car on the ground. That bolt was plenty loose when I first put the car down under it's own weight too.

Only thing I can think is that is somehow came loose during the first install and rode on the bolt long enough to carve those groove. I just don't see why it kept on creaking after I checked the tightness afterwards, at the point the arm should have been sandwiched between the mount tight enough to prevent any rotation. Oh well, doesn't matter now since the car is quiet...

Just hope it helps others in the future to diagnose the myriad of reasons the front end makes noise!

 

I have a 98 A4, less than 100K original miles, good car. I recently began to hear slight groaning and creaking, front driver side. It was not easy to hear, but it was there. Mechanic said front upper control arms had damaged bushings and replaced them- parts and labor $780. Two days later the noise is 10 times worse!!! Took it back, and was told that all control arms would have to be replaced due to being a "sealed part" because grease had dried up, but other control arm bushings looked ok so no need to replace if I could tolerate the noise. But if the noise is coming from where the new parts are. I am not exaggerating how much worse it is. Could the new parts be bad? I think I am getting ripped off.

 

Can you just replace the bushings or do you have to replace the whole control arm? What are Meyle part numbers?

Thanks!

 

I've replaced every control arm on my 05 3.2 and they still creak? My mechanic insisted and showed me they were OEM Bosch arms
I give up
I've gone through 3 sets of arms at 175k miles. I'll live with the creak. If my tire falls off I'll just drive it in to the lake
upper and lower control arms worst set up on a car. Put struts with springs and wishbone suspension. That's the best set up
Germans over engineer everything