my right rear quater panel... there is an nastey screeching sound... like a bushing on a pickup that hasn't been greased in a long time. i'm wondering if it IS a bushing problem? and would a bad bushing be covered by warrenty?

it started up about a month... maybe a month and half ago. stuck on the lift at a freind's shop and found nothing wrong by visual inspection *didn't want to do anything to void warrenty so we only "looked"*.

seems to get worse with the more weight thats added in the cargo area. took out all the cargo stuff *spare tire, chains, jumper cables, oil cone, oil check towel, ect...* about 35-40lbs in total. noise is still there but very light and it takes harder corninger and harsher bumps to get it to be rediculously noticeable. WITH cargo, it's noticeable on everything i do, even hitting a small pebble on the road and i get it *riding on stock steelie rims and stock tires and it still picks it up.*

i've got an appointment to take it in to the dealership tomorrow at 8am. i was wondering if anyone else is on the same plane with me thinking it's a bad bushing possibly or if it's something else. also, again, is this covered by warrenty?

 

Sounds like a wheel bearing going bad on you. What'd the dealer say when you carried it in anyway?

 

Is it the suspension moving that squeeks or the wheel turning that squeeks? If it is the vertical motion even when stopped and you bounce on the rear cargo area with the hatch open then it could be the shock shaft way up under the top shock tube. If it is from the wheel turning then you may have some dust in the drum brake or something else like worn out shoes or a dragging parking brake. Check for heat on the drum after a short drive or jack it up and spin the tire and check for drag.

 

it's only when i hit bumps as little as rough road cracks and when cornering. it's doing it on the vertical motion which leads me to elieve it's got something to do with the suspension.

i would almost believe the top part of the shock becuase from the inside it sounds like it's coming from inside, not outside of the wheel well.



i took it to the dealership, droped it off from open to close *8am to 6pm, and yes they worked on it throughout the entire time...*. they thought it was vibration between some interior panels and put some insulation in... ofcourse, not the problem and still make sthe noise. ontop of that, i will NEVER take my car back to that dealship ever again... for starters, they left my paneling popped out, my carpeting was all f*cked up and lastly... ALL the suport bolts that hold the rear seat suport bar AND the bolts holding the back-rests on were loose... no, not just a finger tighten job, they were flopping around in place.


right now i'm in th middle of taking my rear paneling off for the time being to have a good look as to what it's doing. tomorrow i will jack the right side up a bit, remove the wheel and see if the shok had gotten dirty and check all joints and bushings aswell.

 

Not to sound crazy or anything but have you checked the weather seals in the rear hatch and the doors. Could just be the seals rubbing in the jams when the body flexes. You should also silicon spray lube the bushings in the rear suspension U beam and check for rubbing on the emergency cables and the insides of the tires for rubbing as well as tightness of the wheel lugs. There was a report of a poor weld in the front passenger side windshield frame area that needed re-welding. Hopefully it is not inside your gas tank! Check the spare tire and the jack under the driver seat. Easiest way to find it should be to have someone in the back of the car listening as you drive around. The most likely places are going to be the suspension and anything connected to it leading to a fixed point on the chassis. Could even be the rear springs rubbing in the support cups. Shake the rear side to side as well as up and down. Lastly check for something that was welded for cracks in the spring support support and shock mount areas - anything that is rusty or has metal dust near it including the seams between the rear quarter and the bumper. Oh and DUH the muffler, pipe joints and hangers.

 

i was JUST out there checking. i did just about everything i could think of aside from taking the strut off and taking the spring out. i noticed some dirt *dusty dirt with some fine sand gravel probably from the sand trucks durring the colders days* inside the spring cupping points and cleaned what i could without taking the spring out. there was a conciderable amount, not it's somewhat cleaner.

i've been checking from day one, when it started, for any knd of weld cracks... that was the first thing that came to mind. but i'm thinking dirty spring cupping points is to blaim cause it started about a month and a half ago and that was SKY HIGH point for the dirt and solvant trucks to be out on the roads. i plan on going to my buddies house this comming weekend so i'll through the rear up on some stand and clean out both sides of all the dirt/sand. ealier when i put my right side rear tire back on and lowered it off the jack i noticed a rediculously large amount of that noise i've been hearing. ofcourse this noise is normaly present when lowering the car back down but this was, like i said, a rediculous amount...

 

Spray some WD40 up into the shock and hit the torque tube pivots and the spring base cups. Only thing worse than sand and gravel from the road getting into the underside is having it stick to your shoes and tracked into the car floor carpets and the house - stupid stuff is everywhere! One of my car buddies drives his car over a lawn sprinkler to wash off the underside.

 

now thats a great idea...

they do sell attachments for pressure washer that sprays upwards to clean underneath cars and trucks

 

X2! I know what I am getting soon.

 

currently looking for a pressure washer at the moment. the local car wash place has a pretty crapy one so i'm checking around other places so i can clean that crap out.

 

If you have spring coils rubbing together it will cause this sound. And it will get worse with the more weight you add the the rear of the vehicle.

 

Sounds like you need to unbolt the shocks and drop the rear wheels until the springs come out of the cups and then clean them good.

 

*update* ok, so after doing a wash, going to the dealer and having them screw up on their job by giving me back a car in hazardous condition *left all rear belts loosely fitted, if i had gotten into a car wreck with a passenger in the back, they would have died. this also includes both seat belt housings inside the quarter panels.*. come to find that this sound is from my own doing... there wasn't hardly any dirt in the spring buckets, there was some winter road sand but nothing really bad. that i washed out anyway. no cracks in any spot welds... no nothing. everything is in perfect condition...

what the ACTUAL problem was... was the bolts that are on the upper part of the bottom cargo interior panels were tightened too tight which had pulled the panels closer to the sheet metal and pinching down just hard enough for it to rub and make that horrible noise.

what made me find out? after doing all my interior paint work, i had put all the panels back in and took the xb for a good air out drive. the right side, after actually going away and having the left side do it and then magically go away on it's own, had actually started back up again... so i got to thinking about what all i did... and i remembered that i made sure that EVERY bolt was good and tight. just went out and loosened the hex bolts and then just did a light tightening turn and took it for a test run. TAADAA no more horrid noise.

so for you all that might end up doing anything with a sound system in the back of your xb, don't tighten those hex bolts down too tight without putting some sort of foam tape around the bolt hole on the sheet metal or else you're going to drive your self crazy trying to find the source of the noise.

 

UPDATE! once again...

NOOOWWW i've found what the problem is. the clamping points where the rear seats come up and clamp down to the sides. there is a plastic covering around those metal hooking points. after you fold down your seats so many times, it eventualy will eat through the thin layer of plastic and start to rub metal on metal.

took an old towel i had, cut a couple pieces off, wrapped them around the worn parts and then just folded the seat backings back up and i haven't had a noise for about a month now.

was in my back seat talking on my phone *inside the house was too damn loud* and i had grabbed on one of the seat backings and the noise came out clearly. i started pushing and pulling the seat backing and it would continuously make the noise. put the chunks of cloth in there and it's been quite ever since.