2008 350Z HR – Creak/squeak when turning steering wheel AND when pushing down on driver-front suspension
I’m trying to track down a creaking/squeaking noise from the front of my 2008 350Z Base (VQ35HR), and I’m running out of things to check.
The noise is most noticeable when turning the steering wheel while the car is sitting on the ground with the suspension loaded.
Important detail: if I jack the front of the car up and let the wheels hang, I can turn the steering wheel and the creaking goes away. It seems to require the suspension to be loaded.
Things I’ve already done/checked:
• Replaced the front lower ball joints — no change. The steering creak was there before and after replacing them.
• Installed Öhlins Road & Track coilovers. The noise is still present.
• Öhlins damping is currently at their recommended/default setting.
• Torqued the sway-bar end links.
• The noise can be reproduced while the car is completely stationary.
• Bouncing the driver-front suspension while loaded does reproduce a different sound squeak, not the steering wheel creak. (If you have suggestions for that pls help)
At this point I’m considering:
• Compression/tension rod bushing
• Upper control-arm bushings/joints
• Sway-bar bushings
• Something binding/articulating in the Öhlins spring/top-mount area
• Inner/outer tie rod
• Steering rack mount/bushing
The compression-rod bushings are currently pretty high on my suspect list, and if they're bad I'm considering the Z1 Hybrid Monoball bushings, but I don't want to keep throwing parts at it without actually identifying the source.
Has anyone had a Z33 make a creak/squeak only when the suspension is loaded?
Any specific bushings/joints you guys would check first or a good way to isolate which component is making the noise?