Creaking body mounts...

Taki · June 16, 2003

Has anybody experienced this before? I have had my truck for over a year, and for the last 9 months ive had this problem...i have traced it down to the body mounts...and I have posted before, but now that I know exactly what the problem is, I post again....

The creaking occurs when braking and when the body mounts are dry...if i spray them down with water, the creaking will go away...but they dry out and creak again...

I have even removed a body mount bolt and the rubber isolator that comes off when you remove the bolt, and driven around for a couple minutes, and it still creaks badly...and I have them tightened to 60 ft-lbs which I believe is the required torque...

I do not have tube steps that mount at the body mount bolts (I have WAAG bars, they attach to the frame directly), so thats not the problem...

I have taken the truck to the dealer since its under warranty, but they, of course, "cannot duplicate problem..."

I would appreciate any ideas on how to fix this....

seadoons · June 16, 2003

Interesting you say this...my truck has the same problem, but it doesn't do it all the time. I actually haven't heard it for a while now, but it comes from where the drivers foot area is, and its a creaking noise. I also have nerf bars, but mine are westin. It's probably from the bars where they connect to the body mounts. It can be annoying, but I have just decided to turn up the radio. All the time. Everytime.

smimi10 · June 16, 2003

Has anybody experienced this before? I have had my truck for over a year, and for the last 9 months ive had this problem...i have traced it down to the body mounts...and I have posted before, but now that I know exactly what the problem is, I post again....

The creaking occurs when braking and when the body mounts are dry...if i spray them down with water, the creaking will go away...but they dry out and creak again...

My Suburban (2000) sounds like a covered wagon most of the time with creaking sounds. What got my attention in your post was getting the body mounts wet. When it rains around here, or my truck gets wet, the noise goes away. I took it to the dealer once under warranty for this, and they said they tightened the torsion bar, or somesuch. Heck, they probably just sprayed the body mounts with silicone lube or something. Maybe I should try that.

Mike

seadoons · June 16, 2003

My Suburban (2000) sounds like a covered wagon most of the time with creaking sounds. What got my attention in your post was getting the body mounts wet. When it rains around here, or my truck gets wet, the noise goes away.

Interesting you mention this too...mine does the same noise that you describe, but it is the weather strippings. Whenever I took mine in for it, they lubricated them, but only the side of the strippings that actually touches the door. Didn't work. I know for a fact that the weather strips are making the noise because I pulled them off one day and the noise went away. The trick is to lubricate under them, where they attach to the truck. The reason the noise goes away when it is raining is because water is able to get underneath them. Good luck.

smimi10 · June 17, 2003

Interesting you mention this too...mine does the same noise that you describe, but it is the weather strippings.

Wow. I never would have thought about that. I will have to investigate further. Boy, if I could fix this, I would be a hero at my house.

seadoons · June 17, 2003

Something to note, you can try different types of lubricants on them. If you want to just try something easy and cheap, buy silicone grease. It comes in a spray paint looking can. GM recommends this dielectric grease. That s**t cost me $14 for a tube the size of a thing of lipstick. Absolute rip-off.

Taki · June 18, 2003

Thanks to all for posting - I will have to investigate my weatherstrippings a little more...

I havent fixed the problem yet, but if i find a cure (i like the covered wagon comment by the way) i will post the fix...

seadoons · June 18, 2003

Yeah good call on describing it sounding like a covered wagon. It is annoying as hell!!! If that is your problem, you will feel like you are driving a brand new car after you fix it.

lovette · June 18, 2003

Mine creaked after I had step bars installed. I installed some thick rubber washers at all the mounting points (and replaced all the bolts, nuts, and metal washers with stainless). No more creaking.

tbyrne · June 18, 2003

My 2002 Suburban has the same problem (very annoying). Noise comes from the driver's foot area and it seems to happen more when it's cold outside.

Tom

2002 8.1 Silverado HD - Comp Cam, TOGs headers, Volant induction, Direct Hits ignition, 6" lift 18" wheels/tires + more

2002 8.1 Suburban -Intercooled Whipple supercharger, TOGs headers, Volant induction, 22" wheels/tires + more - 14.54 @ 92.43

AZ-Z71 · June 18, 2003

Here is something, when I put the body lift on my truck you had to remove all the mounts and put new ones in with longer bolts. Before we bolted it up my friend suggested we lubricate the mounts with bearing grease to prevent them from squeeking. It proved to be worth it and they do not make a peep. We took regular bearing grease he had and applied some to the top and bottom of the spacer using our fingers. Works great.

Taki · June 19, 2003

Can somebody post a picture of a dissasembled body mount? I am trying to determine how difficult it is to remove the rubber mount between the body and frame...I am assuming that the body must be lifted off the frame to remove the rubber mount...

Thanks again...

2001 HD · June 19, 2003

My 2001 HD does it from time to time and what I found is the limiting straps near the rear cab mount is causing it, at least on mine. Spray it with a little lithium grease and it goes away for a while until it gets washed away. Check it out.

sirlan · June 19, 2003

I have a similar problem but it's the vents between the cab and bed. There's one on each side and it creaks usually when I'm braking but sometimes when I go over speedbumps. The dealer lubricated them once but the noise came back within a week. It's very annoying but I haven't come up with a fix for it yet.

seadoons · June 20, 2003

Gosh DANG!!!!! It sounds like a lot of us are experienceing the same noises. Overall, I really feel that these trucks are soundly built. Mine does these three things:

1. The weatherstrips make a creaking noise, sounds like a covered wagon.

2. One of my cab vents makes noises, very noisy.

3. Creaking from underneath the truck under drivers foot area.

I have the folling solutions:

1. Spray BOTH SIDES of the weather strip with STP silicone spray. Like I said earlier, it is a spray paint looking can that you can buy at Wal-Mart. I just did this tonight and now they are SILENT!!! We'll see how long it lasts. When I talk about the weather strips, I am refering to the strip that starts under the front fender, runs along the windshield, and along the top side of the truck against the roof.

2. Cab vent: I pulled the back seat out tonight to get to it, seems as though maybe one of the plastic tabs that holds it is is broken, therefore it is loose and rattles. I am thinking duct tape?!?

3. I haven't investigated this creaking at all. I haven't heard it at all, and I am thinking it is because it is so freakin hot outside. I would have to point to the nerf bars as the cause of this problem. Probably should put some rubber washers on there to kill the noise.

Good luck to all. Fixing the weather strippings really made me feel good.