Steering Creaking Noise

[Nolan Gunn]

I have a 1999 Subaru Legacy Outback.
It has rack and pinion power steering.
My issue is that it creaks just like a rusty door hinge when you turn the wheel. It ONLY happens at low speeds and in parking lots. But when it’s above 20ish mph it has no noise.

My first diagnosis was the Tie-rods. My right side had some play from side to side due to a bad inner tie rod, so i decided to replace all the tie rods (inner and outer) to see if that would help.

After replacement and alignment the sound persists and I’m thinking it’s either the:
-Steering Rack (though the noise isn’t in a specific spot when you turn the wheel back and forth)
-Ball Joints (though there’s no play up and down on the wheel when i checked them)

Anyways, If anyone has had experience with this, let me know! I’d be very appreciative.
-Nolan

Topic

[Andrew Phillips]

Check for bad stabilizer bar bushings and strut mounts. Creaky/crunchy sounds are usually rubber parts. High-pitched squeals and squeaks are usually metal parts.

[Mike]

On the Subaru Forester the steering shaft has two exposed metal U joints between the firewall and the rack. Don’t know if your Legacy is similar. If it is, try spraying a bit of lubricant on the joints. I know a Forester owner who got rid of steering noise by doing this.

[zero]

If the noise is inside the vehicle, take a look at the steering column coupler. It’s not exposed to the weather and generally when they fail you get a pulsation feel from the first few cranks of the steering wheel when cold.

If it’s coming from the tire area, take a closer look at the ball joints. Whether the joint has play or not has zero bearing on them squeaking. What has likely happened is the grease dries out, and inside the ball joint you get contact between the 2 halves. For like $5 you can pick up a mechanic stethoscope at a discount tool store, get someone to turn the steering wheel while you’re laying underneath probing around. You can tell when you hit the right spot.

It is also plausible that it’s coming from the upper strut mount(s). They actually have a bearing mechanism in them that allows the strut to rotate, allowing the wheels to turn. A strut mount failure such as this usually results in binding or stiff steering.

In conclusion, look closer at the ball joints.

[Nolan Gunn]

So I sprayed all the U-Joints with lubricant, and nothing seems to have changed.

Also, i know for a fact that the strut mount rubber is making a rubbing noise, but the squeaking is coming from somewhere lower. So I’m guessing the ball joints or stabilizer bushings. Ill get that stethoscope to find out which.

Thanks everyone for your input!

[Author]

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