Leaf Springs Creaking & Groaning

dmitrysgarage · July 28, 2020

Haven't had a truck with leaf springs before, all my other ones had coil springs. Is it normal for them to groan and creak when entering a driveway at an angle? It's pretty loud, I literally see people turn around to look at what that sound is. Kind of annoying for a truck with 10k miles on it sound like a medieval carriage. Is there some corrective action that can be done to make it stop, i.e. lubrication or any modifications?

I can reproduce the sound just jumping up and down with my running boards extended. Either side of the truck.

Edited July 28, 2020 by dmitrysgarage

chadman · July 28, 2020

There has been an issue with some leaf bolts not up to torque specs, and needing to be tightened. I would check that first. If not, some white lithium grease will help you isolate where it may be coming from.

dmitrysgarage · July 28, 2020

1 hour ago, chadman said:

There has been an issue with some leaf bolts not up to torque specs, and needing to be tightened. I would check that first. If not, some white lithium grease will help you isolate where it may be coming from.

I can check the torque, any idea what it is? Should suspension be sprung when testing or should I throw her on a lift? Also any specific lube recommendations? Never worked with leaf springs. I have some red and tacky on hand.

EDIT:

I checked the U-bolts and at least two fasteners on each side were loose compared to the others. Torqued the loose ones up.

I also tried some gel grease that's rubber safe to see if it will penetrate into the bushes, but it really doesn't.

Has anyone managed to successfully grease these bushes? They seem sealed and the design around them doesn't really let you inject in and there's no grease fitting. Seems almost like... once they do this you either live with it or replace them. Doesn't seem like this truck has much in the way of any grease fittings.

Edited July 28, 2020 by dmitrysgarage

chadman · July 28, 2020

No grease fittings. I can look up the torque tomorrow, but what you did is fine. A common squeak point is where the leafs actually stack and the pads between them.

dmitrysgarage · July 28, 2020

6 minutes ago, chadman said:

No grease fittings. I can look up the torque tomorrow, but what you did is fine. A common squeak point is where the leafs actually stack and the pads between them.

Thanks! Yea I can go back and re-torque, plus may help someone else down the line.

I shot some grease into the leaf stacks themselves which *helped* but didn't completely eliminate. Too tired to drive around today to see if it just needs some exercise. Still sad about lack of grease fittings, I can puncture and inject the boot style ones, but these leaf spring ones, I can't see how to to inject anything into them.

I can inject some red and tacky into the stacks too with a grease gun, which will probably quiet down better than the gel grease.

Edited July 28, 2020 by dmitrysgarage

tinbad · July 28, 2020

I would recommend against injecting anything if your truck is still under warranty. Mine had the same creak on the driver side at 10k miles and when brought it in they said it was missing a bracket or something from the factory. It was some part because they had to order it. It did make it go away but of course after a couple months the passenger side started doing it. Bring it in, have them fix it. Another example of GM cost cutting and lack of quality control. Never mind the ancient suspension...

lapoolboy · July 28, 2020

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10165102-9999.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiLnaTA8u7qAhXwm-AKHZfxCu4QFjAAegQIBRAC&usg=AOvVaw2Q0k1qlZCC-tr2gVwAUIms

mookdoc6 · July 28, 2020

Never been in a truck with sold rear suspension I couldn't hear? Ancient? Yeah...the technology is tried and true over many,many generations not sure a rather "novel" complex independent suspension for "TRUCK Work" is the answer? I took my opposed Shock, Leaf and solid axle set up happily knowing about the only maintenance was spraying them out dabbing with Lithium grease and torquing up. Almost 120k they ride better than brand new?

dmitrysgarage · July 28, 2020

31 minutes ago, tinbad said:

I would recommend against injecting anything if your truck is still under warranty. Mine had the same creak on the driver side at 10k miles and when brought it in they said it was missing a bracket or something from the factory. It was some part because they had to order it. It did make it go away but of course after a couple months the passenger side started doing it. Bring it in, have them fix it. Another example of GM cost cutting and lack of quality control. Never mind the ancient suspension...

Injecting grease between leaf springs won't void warranty. However, if I can't make it stop squeaking I'll definitely have them look. I can't visually see what it would be missing, I'd be curious if you know what the part # was on the receipt?

29 minutes ago, lapoolboy said:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10165102-9999.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiLnaTA8u7qAhXwm-AKHZfxCu4QFjAAegQIBRAC&usg=AOvVaw2Q0k1qlZCC-tr2gVwAUIms

Interesting! I wonder if that's what tinbad was referring to. I definitely have the inserts in there, I can see them. However, I did have some loose bolts. Wonder if the inserts are ****ed now. I may just swing past the dealer and have them look. Plus I want them to enable the afterblow on the HVAC so i stop smelling mildew.

20 minutes ago, mookdoc6 said:

Never been in a truck with sold rear suspension I couldn't hear? Ancient? Yeah...the technology is tried and true over many,many generations not sure a rather "novel" complex independent suspension for "TRUCK Work" is the answer? I took my opposed Shock, Leaf and solid axle set up happily knowing about the only maintenance was spraying them out dabbing with Lithium grease and torquing up. Almost 120k they ride better than brand new?

Solid axle rear suspension doesn't require leaf springs. Obviously you don't want IRS on a full size truck. However, this is the only solid axle rear suspension full size truck I've owned with leaf springs and it's also the newest. All the others had coil springs including ones 12 years older. Clearly you don't know how solid axle suspension works.

Edited July 28, 2020 by dmitrysgarage

Dean Sterling · July 28, 2020

I replaced the pads last week that lapoolboy linked. So far so good, I had a bad squeak from any movement at all. Hopefully this fixes it for a while.

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Grumpy Bear · July 28, 2020

46 minutes ago, mookdoc6 said:

Never been in a truck with sold rear suspension I couldn't hear? Ancient? Yeah...the technology is tried and true over many,many generations not sure a rather "novel" complex independent suspension for "TRUCK Work" is the answer? I took my opposed Shock, Leaf and solid axle set up happily knowing about the only maintenance was spraying them out dabbing with Lithium grease and torquing up. Almost 120k they ride better than brand new?

Ditto. My make some noise on humid days. Deaver's. Noise comes from the front perch bushing.

dmitrysgarage · July 28, 2020

15 minutes ago, Dean Sterling said:

I replaced the pads last week that lapoolboy linked. So far so good, I had a bad squeak from any movement at all. Hopefully this fixes it for a while.

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Thanks for the feedback Dean, I'll see if I can get the dealer to do it. It's still under warranty so I'd rather not bother doing it myself and paying for the parts.

Edited July 28, 2020 by dmitrysgarage

tinbad · July 28, 2020

My point was using 1930’s suspension technology and still being unreliable. I’d buy the “tried and proven” if it wouldn’t make funny noises.

let me find the work order and see if I can get you the part #

dmitrysgarage · July 28, 2020

2 minutes ago, tinbad said:

let me find the work order and see if I can get you the part #

Thanks!

mookdoc6 · July 28, 2020

1 hour ago, dmitrysgarage said:

Injecting grease between leaf springs won't void warranty. However, if I can't make it stop squeaking I'll definitely have them look. I can't visually see what it would be missing, I'd be curious if you know what the part # was on the receipt?

Interesting! I wonder if that's what tinbad was referring to. I definitely have the inserts in there, I can see them. However, I did have some loose bolts. Wonder if the inserts are ****ed now. I may just swing past the dealer and have them look. Plus I want them to enable the afterblow on the HVAC so i stop smelling mildew.

Solid axle rear suspension doesn't require leaf springs. Obviously you don't want IRS on a full size truck. However, this is the only solid axle rear suspension full size truck I've owned with leaf springs and it's also the newest. All the others had coil springs including ones 12 years older. Clearly you don't know how solid axle suspension works.

Sorry, I thought we were talking about your solid rear axle with leafs? I didn't talk about the ones with coils did I? I am aware of the variety of rear end suspensions in vehicle mfg. Your going to have associated noise?

Objectionable noise is the question and how much? What I heard was not objectionable........Wait until it's 30 degrees out? Now it's crinkle time!

Edited July 28, 2020 by mookdoc6