1981 Malibu four-door. Developed a real bad body squeak which I can hear when turning left or over a bumpy rod. It is coming from the rear. No sound when turning right.
I had the car on the hoist and the springs and shocks are okay as are the bushings on the suspension arms. After much wiggling it sounded like it was coming from a body mount on the driver's side, either the last or second to last position.
If it is a body mount how difficult is it to remove the bolt and put in a new pad? Are these parts available? I don't want to do them all if I don't need to as this car is a driver not a show car.
Oh yes I did clear out everything from the trunk in case the problem was there.
Thanks.

Hello
Another suggestion sounds like you have a bad bushing in either your upper or lower control arm! I would check them out and see if they will need to be replaced. If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I will be more than glad to help.
Thanks
Brad :D

If it is a body mount how difficult is it to remove the bolt and put in a new pad? Are these parts available? I don't want to do them all if I don't need to as this car is a driver not a show car.
The fact that you DRIVE the car is MORE reason to replace the body bushings if they've deteriorated.

The body bushings make a HUGE difference in the stiffness/structural integrity of the vehicle.

http://www.chevelles.com/techref/body_bushings.html

Brad you mention control arms. The problem is in the rear of the car. I had changed the front control arm bushings earlier this year. I have checked the trailing arm bushings and the area in general and am almost convinced it is a body mount.
As for it being a daily driver I agree on changing all the mounts. It is driven about 4000 miles per year. This island is not too big.
Thanks again for the input.

No Problem! Just thought I would throw that out there for you as a suggestion.
Take it easy!
Brad :D

Did some more looking under the car. Got it up on a hoist with the wheels hanging. Every bushing in the rear suspension is intact. Then we did a test drive with a buddy lying in the trunk. He pinpointed the area right about where we thought it was - the second to last body mount on the driver's side. Pried up the donut and a lot rusty particles were visible. Thought we would try to see if we could get the bolt out but were concerned about the captive nut being rusted as well. It was and broke free but we turned the bolt about a half turn and left it for the time being until a better idea came along.
Here is the good part. By turning the bolt we may have also turned the body mount and for some reason the squeak disappeared! And believe me I have since put the car through a bunch of hard left turns and over bumpy roads and it is silent. Can't say it is going to last but at least I have an idea where it is and a good bandaid solution. Incidentally all the other body mounts looked very good.
Thanks for the input!