06 Front suspension creak, grind ...

[scargoz]

I have a 2006 Grand Caravan SXT 3.8 with 20,000 miles. Not many.

I've had it to the dealer twice for a loud scary crunch or creak
that occurs over humps, and is easily found going over speed
bumps at the local parking lots.

They have replaced the sway bar end links, all 4, they look shiny
new under there, and have replaced the sway-bar bushings. This
took 1/2 day.

Second visit, they took it apart and lubed everything. This took
overnight.

The second visit was less than 200 miles from the first as
far as road time. It doesn't go far, and I'd like it to be fixed
before the warranty is up.

I'd like the noise to go away.

Thanks! Any ideas welcome. I'm in Leesburg VA, and bought the
van at the local dealer (Traded in the 2000).

Once this is gone, we can investigate the periodic rear end
area clunk.

[RickMN]

Well, if they replaced the bushings and the links, all that's left are the struts, strut mounts, ball joints, control arm bushings, and tie rod ends. That should keep them busy for a while. Although, none of those should have that kind of wear at 20M miles.

[scargoz]

I would like to avoid a few more visits to the
service department. It is not so fun, and we
don't have a spare vehicle (or time) to manage
more.

There was a post on a similar subject that mentioned
an automotive stethoscope. Quick googleing this shows
it is a sort of close-range item. I haven't been able
to make the car do the noise myself at the house,
maybe the help of a few friends will do it, or a looonger
version of the scope (but this looks like a really cool
tool, so I have to have one).

Thanks!

[RickMN]

Ran across this TSB regarding noise at front end. Easy to test to see if it's causing your problem; Squawking front end (http://free-auto-repair-advice.blogspot.com/2008/12/squawking-caravan-voyager-town-country.html)

[lcaughey]

Our van made a similiar noise. The 36,000 warranty went off in December. The other day I pulled out of the drive way and there was a knocking by the driver wheel. What it was is the coil spring was broken. The best my mechanic can determine is that the metal is bad. We having to pay $1674 to repair this and replace the other coil spring on the passenger side. I hope your van is under warranty. We have owned Dodges for over 20 years. There is no reason why this should have happened but I guess we will just have to eat the repair bill.