as the title says... is it possible that "internal" bushings are squeaking.

I don't have a lift but sprayed the siht out of the area with silicone but no relief. Can I access the top of the shock from inside the Outback?

Any suggestions as the squeak is driving my wife (and follows to me) crazy!

Edited July 31, 20169 yr by brus brother

Sure it's the shock and not one of the other suspension bushings? Lots of parts back there that can squeak.

Sure it's the shock and not one of the other suspension bushings? Lots of parts back there that can squeak.

My same thought, more likely a squeaky/creaky bushing, not the strut. Had this very same happen on daughter's car. Replaced the control arm with built in bushings on the front of the car, fixed the problem. I think a rear control arm, or something else with bushings in the back is giving you trouble.

I had to the same issue on my 2006 OB R. I got under the car while a second person pushed up and down on the rear of the car. Turned out to be the BUSHING-TRAILING LINK,REAR, as the part is called in the online catalog. The trick is getting the old bushing pressed out and the new one in. Getting the old one out wasn't hard (rented a tool for it at Autozone). I pressed in the new one with my vice. Not easy. Next time I'll put the bushing in the freezer first.

 

Warning: the locking nuts on the bushing bolts were almost impossible to get off, even after plenty of PB Blaster. I had to cut into one of nuts to free it. The guy at the dealer parts dept. said the mechanics always put a torch to the nuts before attempting to remove them. So order some extras.

 

This was a time-consuming (but cheap) repair. I'd change the corresponding bushing on each side of the car, even if its twin isn't sqeeking now.

checked again. silicone sprayed all bushings and it still appears to be coming from the top of the rear shock. Is there any easy way to access that mounting area for silicone spraying to at least verify the source. Are there any bushings internal to the shock that could squeak?

never did shocks before. 

You should be able to access it from behind the plastic panel inside the cargo area. Don't know specifics for that on that year, but usually there's an access panel of some kind that pops off.