2004 Ion 2 sedan front suspension squawk

[Tethys]

Anyone else with a similar year and model Ion having this problem too?

I've had my car for nearly 15 months and when the outside temp is below 40 or 45 degrees F, I hear what sounds like a dying pterodactyl when I drive over speed bumps, up parking garage ramps or any other pavement change that forces my front wheels up. The colder it becomes, the worse the noise is. When it's warmer out, the noise vanishes. It matters not whether I roll over 'em at 5 mph or 10 or 15. I've been to two retailers, one 7x, the other once (it damaged the body during Thanksgiving '04 week so I won't go back there), but to no avail.

I think it's the front struts, which Saturn has adamantly refused to replace. They've swapped out the front stabilizer bar bushing and grommets twice now so I'm on my third set. Another reason I think the struts are bad is I am seeing what I believe is premature tire wear on my front Affinitys. The car only has a smidge over 20,000 miles on it (yeah, I know, I drive too much) but I don't recall the Affinitys on my '96 SL2 wearing this fast.

Any help any one can provide (other than returning to the second retailer), would be appreciated!

Tethys

[kilcher]

There have been several threads on this and a lot of people who have experienced this, myself included.

[ARKITECT]

ive been experiencing the same problem the last few weeks with the NY snowstorm and i had asked my firend and he said he thinks its bad struts as well. my inspection expires next month and i need to take it an anyway so ill let you know what they say when i bring it in

[Maritime Storm]

It's a combo of 2 things; 1. the bushings are bad again, there's a new part for them which is better, but apparently not complete fix and 2. the toe is likely out, get an alignment, the ION is alignment sensitive for some reason.

[Tethys]

Thanks, kilcher, ARKITECT and Maritime Storm for your replies. I had begun to think I was the sole Saturn owner on this system with this malady.

Arkitect, let me know what your retailer tells ya after the inspection and Maritime, I'll check into this new part and get an alignment. Thanks again, I hope this helps!