This problem is making me crazy...

[Plucky]

My beautiful 2013 Xterra is completely finished, just what i want it to be. 1.5"-2" lift, M-205 diff, General heavy duty springs, Z-1 .7" lift shackles, 33" tires. The only seemingly insoluble problem is a really annoying grinding creak coming from the back. It only happens when the frame is twisted a bit, such as when I'm going over a curb at an angle. The direction of the twist does not seem to matter. I can live with creaks and squeaks, but the grinding sounds more serious than that.

In the last month I have:

1. Greased the springs
2 Added greaseable bolts to the shackles and the front of the springs
3 Checked the torque on all the bolts, including armor
4. Checked the body mounts- most are still soft and rubbery, the front and rear ones are a bit hard but tight and intact.
5. Greased the shock bolts- this may have helped a bit, but not near enough.

The only thing I haven't checked is the shocks themselves (Bilstein made for 1.5 in lift). Could it be the shocks themselves making this noise? These have 30,000 miles on them with some heavy wheeling. I would have no problem replacing them if they are potentially the cause.

Any advice or suggestions or things I missed checking will be appreciated. I hesitate to turn it over to my mechanic before I have gone through all the options!

 

[Plucky]

My beautiful 2013 Xterra is completely finished, just what i want it to be. 1.5"-2" lift, M-205 diff, General heavy duty springs, Z-1 .7" lift shackles, 33" tires. The only seemingly insoluble problem is a really annoying grinding creak coming from the back. It only happens when the frame is twisted a bit, such as when I'm going over a curb at an angle. The direction of the twist does not seem to matter. I can live with creaks and squeaks, but the grinding sounds more serious than that.

In the last month I have:

1. Greased the springs
2 Added greaseable bolts to the shackles and the front of the springs
3 Checked the torque on all the bolts, including armor
4. Checked the body mounts- most are still soft and rubbery, the front and rear ones are a bit hard but tight and intact.
5. Greased the shock bolts- this may have helped a bit, but not near enough.

The only thing I haven't checked is the shocks themselves (Bilstein made for 1.5 in lift). Could it be the shocks themselves making this noise? These have 30,000 miles on them with some heavy wheeling. I would have no problem replacing them if they are potentially the cause.

Any advice or suggestions or things I missed checking will be appreciated. I hesitate to turn it over to my mechanic before I have gone through all the options!

Should also mention that the stabilizer in the rear has been removed and that I recently installed Timbren bump stops.

 

[TerryD]

Did you torque your u-bolts with the weight on the axle?

 

[Plucky]

Did you torque your u-bolts with the weight on the axle?

I checked the torque in the driveway with weight on the axle. I don't know if the shop I was using to install the greaseable bolts removed and re-installed the u bolts when it was on the lift, but it was making the same noise before and after they did that. The greaseable bolts did end the gobbleawful squeaking problem I was having, but had no effect on the grinding/creaking. I'll re-check that, it seems like a reasonable possibility.

The noise seems to be localized around the shocks- They are not leaking and are working, but can shocks become 'creaky' without failing?

 

[TerryD]

The upper bushings need greased on the rear shocks. They run directly on the stud without a sleeve.

Could also be something caught in the outer shield of the shock.

 

[Plucky]

I checked the torque in the driveway with weight on the axle. I don't know if the shop I was using to install the greaseable bolts removed and re-installed the u bolts when it was on the lift, but it was making the same noise before and after they did that. The greaseable bolts did end the gobbleawful squeaking problem I was having, but had no effect on the grinding/creaking. I'll re-check that, it seems like a reasonable possibility.

The noise seems to be localized around the shocks- They are not leaking and are working, but can shocks become 'creaky' without failing?

Good ideas. I will remove the shocks this weekend and grease them, top and bottom. Any recommendation as to what grease will work best? I will also check the torque again on the u-bolts. Both sound very plausible as causes for the noise. Hopefully one or the other will work and I won't be embarrassed on the trail when I wheel it next weekend!

Thanks for your help. You have given me good advice many times in the past!

 

[TerryD]

I use the Green Grease synthetic stuff from the parts houses everywhere except u-joints and wheel bearings for highway vehicles. It hasn't let me down in 20+ years.

 

[Plucky]

Very good, I'll get some tonight. I'm gonna slay this dragon!

 

[Plucky]

Thought I should update this. I FINALLY found the source of the horrifying shriek. It wasn't the shocks (I replaced the Bilsteins with OME shocks), didn't affect the noise. Turns out it was the middle skid plate, The threaded hole in the cross member had stripped, when the weather was hot, it caused the plate to expand into the front skid plate, causing them to rub together when the frame torqued. Drilled out and re-threaded the hole in the cross member, shaved the skid plate down a bit and all is good. It still creaks a bit in other places, but it no longer sounds like the frame is going to split every time I go around a corner, or hit a speed bump at an angle!