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Old 01-13-2009, 12:14 PM   #6
RandallNeighbour
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 7,243
Your car is certainly old enough to have a worn wheel bearing or a worn control arm.

To check wheel bearings, jack up the front of the car and have someone hold the steering wheel firmly while you move the front wheels left and right and up and down to see if there's any play in the wheel bearing. Then spin it and see if it makes any kind of grinding or clicking noise.

To check control arms, it will probably take a mechanic's eye. Creaking sounds when making sharp turns or when going over a speed bump or entering/exiting a garage or steep driveway entrance are a dead give away too.

Your car is ten years old. Regardless of mileage, the gaskets in the control arms (of which there are three on each corner) will degrade over time and start cracking or go rubbery and loose on the car and will require replacement. Same goes for wheel bearings... I've read on this board that bearings have gone out on cars with just 30k on them.

Or, it's just something simple like your tires digging into the pavement or not digging in as they should. Without seeing the car we're all just guessing here... but it's fun, no?
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