Later model front struts KYB 334405-COM
Just thought before I go and fork out the $300 odd dollars to have some front struts delivered maybe someone here has some that they accidently ordered the wrong part number and need to get rid of??
My front struts are beginning to creak and it's making me saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad 
Cheers
Simmo
creaking!?!?!
OK - !
1) pop the rubber cover off the top of the strut and (look in engine bay at top of strut tower) and check the grease condition on the pillow bearing - if this is dry whack some more wheel bearing grade grease in and try again.
you can check for movement here by putting your foot hard on the brakes and attempting to drive forward - have another person touch the top of the bearing and feel for movement as the car rocks forward.
also with vehicle running but in park, turn the steering wheel lock to lock and again feel for movement (other than rotation)
2) check all mount bolts are tight!!
3) jack up that side to let the hub hand down fully - spray the spring with silicon spray or wd40 and then put weight back onto the wheel - go for a drive, if this fixes it you'll need to give your springs a paint before you put them back in
creaking.....
My spring were making noise on one side. The noise was from the top front (by looking under the guard ) where the end of the spring was slightly touching the coil under. I did cut a poly pipe lengthways and put it in the middle (jack the car first)....fixed. I didn't think of painting the spring, did you get the same pb...Bob ? Some lubricant do work but goes away quickly...
Happy io
Yeah I poped the caps and
Yeah I poped the caps and checked the grease, they were soo greasy haha! I could also see ball bearings!!? But when I took the struts out to put the new king springs in they had very little compression left and were definetly towards the end of their life (maybe 80-90% through) but I did jack it up and WD-40 it today after I had to get a new battery (damn old 7 year old battery karked it :P) and they still creak basically only out of my driveway and in but don't notice (due to DOOF DOOF bass and BRUM BRUM exhaust noises while driving) any creaks while travelling.
Definetly going to order new struts because been putting it off for way to long! Springs been in for at least 6 months I am suprised they only started making noise nowadays! There is an increaing amount of lean/front end roll when cornering that has only increased noticeably since the creaking. The springs have been fine and I dare say it's the struts (all indicators point towards) and after doing all the steps Bob said to do still creaak
More or less "dead" struts then tired. Well past their lifecycle
The struts don't support the weight of the vehicle, the springs do - the purpose of the strut is to dampen or control the oscillation of the springs.
The struts as you said that control the oscilliation (or in my layman terms "lean") are currelty offering no form of control which has given it a noticeable amount more lean, body roll and front end diving when braking. Yes the springs support the weight of the vehicle but my struts arn't tired... they are dead!! they had miniscule resistance in them when the new springs where fitted over months ago.
So case and point, tired struts do cause lean, amoung other many noticable handling differences!! Read more below:
http://www.kyb.com/vehicle/effects.php
Yeah the rubbers
Yeah the rubbers are definetly cracked twice on the driver side rubber and one crack on the passenger side. I saw on here somewhere you can buy replacements for them but from memory weren't an over the counter/regular stock item (What IO part actually is :P
Please keep us posted!
Sway bar rubbers
If it's the ones I'm thinking of, I went genuine and got them the next day for something like $11 each side... The nolathane ones and pedders ones were going to need some mods to fit... I did a post about it about a year ago from memory...
EDIT:
Here is the post:
http://www.pajerio.com/forum/knocking-sound-some-us-seem-have#comment-12899
And a few posts after that are the install pics.
front sway bar rubbers!??
If it's the ones I'm thinking of, I went genuine and got them the next day for something like $11 each side... The nolathane ones and pedders ones were going to need some mods to fit... I did a post about it about a year ago from memory...
Was that genuine through Mitsubishi Natsterrr?? $11 a side is well within my budget :P Struts coming fortnights time and I will drop past mitsu dealer / whatever shop you say you may have brought them from?? I think your post was the one I remember seeing! Where they a pain to fit orr?
What I assume bob is talking about is the same thing as seen in the below picture, which is the rubbers that have cracked a little on mine. (photo from google, on the right EDIT: it was your picture I posted this before reading your post! ha)
EDIT: Also my sway bar links LOOk fine and I assume they are ok but would it be a safe bet to replace them same time I do the rubbers??
Yeah
Yeah just from the parts counter at the local dealer (ordered them over the phone the day before so they could be sent to the dealer from the warehouse).
They were easy enough to fit. From memory, you want the car on the ground, not jacked up at all... Well, you should never work under a car supported by a jack anyway, but both sides need to be level when you do it.
Sway bar links are hard to tell from looking at them. Even after replacing mine the old ones are just a little looser than the new ones, which was apparently enough to cause the clunking noise over nearly every bump I hit.
Re the picture:
Wow, yeah I thought that fence in the background looked familiar! I've always wondered about where Google images come from too... Me apparently! :)
struts / sway pars and other stuff
Hi Guys,
YES - dead struts cause immediate leaning when you hook into a corner or hit the brakes, I found that my struts lost all compression resistance and caused dipping under brakes and leaning when cornering - new struts totally fixed this issue.
sway bar bushes are about $11 each - I bought some from Ireland at $9 each and $2.10 postage for the pair.
Sway bar links are also deceptive as noted above - they can feel fine but are shagged - your rack end ball joint is the same, feels fine without load but under load is no good.
Syndicate
noisy front strut
The creaking noise may come from the spring.....
Happy io
My io is now SOLD Thankshttp://pajerio.com/forum/claudes-io-2002-zr-built-thread-onlyhappy-io