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Hey guys just signed up, hope someone can help me out, im currently a 2nd yr app at subaru and have never come accross this before and its doing my head in.

A mate of mine is complaining of a creaking noise coming from the LHF of his car when in reverse full lock. I have spent a good few hours under the car lubing up all ball joints, bushes, engine mounts, tie rod's, drive shafts pretty much everything down the, and to confirm no its not the cv's/drive shafts they are in perfect condition no boots split or anything. Now he said this only started happening after the car was repaired from being smashed from the LHF but i am unsure of how bad the accident was.....

I am coming to the conclusion that it could be the steering rack but dont want him to go out and get a whole new steering rack setup if its not that. Ill say again that this ONLY happens when reversing full lock to the right.

If anyone could help out it would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Does it creak in time with the wheel rotating? If so.. Wheel bearings or loose hub nut.

Dave

Only in reverse eh?............Just tell him not to go back.

SuBaRiNo wrote:Does it creak in time with the wheel rotating? If so.. Wheel bearings or loose hub nut.

Dave

yes but only under load, doesnt do it when raised, i thought wheel bearing noise was constant no matter which way the wheel is turning not to mention it only happens full lock, wouldn't a wheel bearing make the noise all the time?

Brendan1990 wrote:yes but only under load, doesnt do it when raised, i thought wheel bearing noise was constant no matter which way the wheel is turning not to mention it only happens full lock, wouldn't a wheel bearing make the noise all the time?

Not necessarily.

I was thinking chipped reverse gear - but a) how do you damage that in an accident and b) it would make a noise all the time if it still worked...

If its been in an accident you'll have to check everything out. Tightening bushes won't fix an issue if the bushes are already damaged. The forces of the front end at full lock are different to what would be experienced by the various components when moving in a forward direction.

It could also be your mate's awareness of the accident repair. Have you heard it yourself and is it there every time he reverses at full lock? And is it in one direction only or both?

Cheers

Bennie

Yeah i have hurd it myself, tried lubing/ tightening bushes and doesn't stop, only happens in reverse full lock to the right.

The tyre isn't rubbing on the body is it?

Wheel nut torque itself? Has a panel shop had the hub off, they do a god job at pulling things apart to get their job done, may miss the finer details of 180Nm if these series still has 'em that tight.

Check that the brake caliper is straight.. remove the wheel, put back on 2 wheel nuts and then check the alignment of the caliper.

Just guessing here

But is there a steering "bump stop" somewhere that needs a bit of grease on it?

My money is on the wheel bearing need to be retensioned.

RSR 555 wrote:Check that the brake caliper is straight.. remove the wheel, put back on 2 wheel nuts and then check the alignment of the caliper.

Or a retaining nut is missing causing the calliper to flick out and bit the inside of the rim when reversing... I couldn't explain why it would only be at full lock though

coupe wrote:My money is on the wheel bearing need to be retensioned.

I don't think the later model subarus tension the bearings like the MY's and L's did with the driveshaft and castle nut arrangement...

Cheers

Bennie