I have an '03 Neon SE with 53k miles on it.

Some little old lady in Jacksonville, Florida owned it up to 42k miles and (likely) rarely serviced it like it should have been. (Rust all over it, interior was obviously disgusting before the dealer detailed it)

The thing is, now that I have had it for 10,000+ miles, it creaks like hell on the driver-side front area whenever I turn it or go over bumps.

I've done a ton of research and it seems to me like the control arm bushings are bad and the culprit. Not an expensive fix (probably $50-60 total for all 3 on that arm) but I read in my Haynes service manual that if the bushings look worn the whole arm should be replaced.

If the bushings look bad (which they absolutely do) and I'm creaking whenever the car's bouncing, should I really replace anything? And if so, should I replace the whole arm or just bushings?

Thanks for any responses,
-ubertalldude

 

same here on my 2004

 

Done any looking in to it, 04sled?

 

Creaking while turning is usually the outer tie rod ends. Creaking over bumps is lower control arm bushings (you can buy just the bushings). Replace what is worn unless something else is broken that warrants replacement.

 

could be sway bar bushings as well

 

not the sway bar I was under with a can of wd40 and sprayed it then went for a drive, still there, not the struts either was thinking of rhe control arm bushings I will check in to that this week end

 

Thanks, darthroush. I'll try replacing the tie-rod ends and see if it helps.

Also, I'm thinking that replacing the bushings is just a little out of my reach because of lack of tools, so I'm thinking of just getting a set of control arms from eBay and installing them instead of going through the apparent hell of replacing the bushings.

If anybody thinks this is less-than-advisable (buying from eBay/replacing whole control arms) let me know. I'm not too experienced in auto work but plenty proficient in mechanical work.

Thanks again for all your replies and especially your help darthroush

 

If you can get the control arms out, you just take them to a shop and have the old ones pressed out or you just burn them out with a torch (that's what I did). Cheaper than new arms and less expensive than paying someone to do it. Just remember, you'll need an alignment afterwards, so do everything at once.

*Usually* bad sway bar bushings cause a clunk over bumps.

 

You'll know the control arm bushings are bad because the control arm will literally be laying on the frame and the bushings will be popping all the way out of the arm. Pretty common with these vehicles.

The outer tie-rods are junk on these too.

 

My only problem with changing the bushings and keeping the old control arm is that I don't have any tools to do it with and don't know how long or hard it would be for me to press them in/out myself.

The other thing is, if it's out of my reach (which I'm thinking it is) I've found whole control arm sets (both driver and pass. side) with bushings in them and a new ball joint for $110-130 on eBay. I don't think the ball joints are included in the bushing sets I've seen, so $110 seems like a pretty good deal to me for new pre-installed bushings and a new ball joint.

Other than that, tie rod ends seem like they ought not be a problem for me, and those and the control arms seem to be the essence of my suspension problems.

Then of course take it to a tire place and get it aligned, right?

*EDIT* I think while I'm at it with this whole process I'll do the sway bar links/bushings, too. Might as well, right? $180 total doesn't seem too bad for maintenance on my front suspension, right?