Rep Power: 312

hey guys, my front end has been creaking and moaning a lot lately and i decided to look, and try and figure out what it is. I have narrowed it down to 2 things, either my cai is rubbing on my battery mount (which i'm checking on my next day off) and also I looked underneath the fender and saw that #8 in the pic is completely worn out and on my passenger side, whenever jump on the door sill I can hear the shock sweak (I'm 200lbs) so i'm pretty sure thats blown to, but what the hell is #8?

 
Rep Power: 424

The bumpstop/dust boot

 
Rep Power: 312

k, now i know what it is, but is it a must to have them? would it cause that noise?...etc.

 
Rep Power: 331

before my tein ss, i tore 3 of those, that is most likely NOT the source of your noises though.

 
Rep Power: 312

it sounds more like a rattle, when i put the car into gear, the rattle get a lot worse, but it also get's really bad when i'm turning a lot in a parkin lot and all....i took my p/s pump off and looped the lines, so i'm wondering if i should drain the rack and put new\more fluid in

 
Rep Power: 360

the bumpstop prevents you from bottoming out and screwing stuff up iirc

 
Rep Power: 424

Its a must to have a bumpstop if you value your struts. Its not a must to have a dust boot. Shouldnt make any sort of mechanical sounding noise.
Check your CVs.

 
Rep Power: 312

edit: saw boilermaker's post i dont think it's my cvs cuz it does it when the car is sitting still and i can hear it with the hood up, it's nowhere near those....

 
Rep Power: 0

i was told it could be the bearing.. i'm thinking getting the 01 upper mount + bearing for my 02 sedan ex... (i have a tein basic right now).. is there other thing i need to get to make the 01 upper mount fit in my car along with the basic?

 
Rep Power: 380

um... you can hear it with the car stoped and the engine on?

if that is the case then it doens't sound like it could be coming form any part of the suspension to me. does the sound change as engine RPM's do? does it make noise only when you turn the steering wheel... ect ect ect.. the more specific as to when it makes the noise the more likely we will be able to find out what makes it.

 
Rep Power: 312

it does it mostly when the engine is cold and at low rpms cuz the front ends vibrates more, it's definately coming from the driver side. Most of the time when it makes thes noise i'm parking or pulling out, meaning, i'm going slow and turning the whell all the way over....I'm thinkin that when i took out my power sterring there might not be enough fluid in the rack....any ideas on that?

 
Rep Power: 380

Does it only happen when the car is moving, or does it make the sound when you are stoped and turning the wheel? Also, does it make the sound if the engine is off?

 
Rep Power: 312

both, when i'm going through a parking lot with a lot of turning such as parking, avoiding speed bumps, going down different aisles, etc. I'm not so sure that it's somthing in the suspension, just in the steering part. I do think there is something wrong with my suspension, cuz the damn thing hits so easy, i'll get one other person in the car, crawl over a speed bump and the passenger side hits...hard. The rattling\moaning noise i'm talkin about is only happening when everything is cold, the engine rumbles more, so whatever is making this noise, makes it more.

 
Rep Power: 0

when the dust cover of the struts get broken its good to replace it... since if u get sand or mud in there u fk up the strut...

 
Rep Power: 424

There's a cleaner seal ring built into the strut, a little sand won't hurt anything, the strut takes care of it.