Intense Uzzi SLX Creaking Noise with Progressive 5th Element Shock

I am in the process of eliminating the creaking and squeaking noises
from my 2003 Intense Uzzi SLX. Since I have not completed this task,
and it seems that it may be ongoing, I thought I would post what I
have done so far. I found 4 sources for the creak that gets amplified
through the frame. The first two are common, and they were the bottom
bracket and the seat post. There are many posts about those problems.

My seatpost requires regular lubrication. Does anyone have experience
on whether carbon fiber or powder coated aluminum are better to
prevent creaking? I have an Easton powder coated aluminum post. I
emailed Easton to ask their advice, but never received a reply.

The third problem was the suspension pivot bearings. Intense told me
to lube the pivot bolts, and check the bearings while I was there. 4
of the 8 bearings were bad. The bike had 650 miles on it, and it had
been creaking for a while. (I rode a lot last winter, and washed my
bike too often I think.) The two main pivot bearings below the bottom
bracket were almost seized. BTW, the torque on the 4 link plate
bearings is 120 inch-pounds. The torque on the main pivot bearings is
70 inch-pounds, and there is a set screw on the main pivot that must
be lossened before removal & tightened after torquing. Intense said
to use blue locktite on all pivot bolts. The Intense warranty manager
said the lube is not important, but that they use Park Polylube 1000.
I used Magalube G with teflon. The last two pivots are near the rear
axle. Intense said the torque is not important on these because they
bottom out. I used 130 inch-pounds and blue locktite. I replaced 6
of the 8 bearings. The bearings near the rear axle were still good.

The link plate bearings (4) were Enduro 608 2RS MAX. I replaced with
KYK 608.2RS ($3.24 each). The main pivot bearings and the rear stay
(by wheel) bearings were Enduro 6000RS. I replaced the main pivot
bearings with SKF 6000 2RSJEM ($10.94 each).

Now the fourth problem. It was driving me crazy. It seemed that I
had fixed everything that moved, but there was a clue. The creak was
further into the travel now that the suspension bearings were
replaced. I spoke with the Intense warranty manager about the
Progressive 5th Element shock with titanium spring. He thought that
the shock may cause the creaking, but didn't have any good advice.
The shock has a defective bottom eyelet mount, so we were focusing
more on that. It didn't seem like an enlarged shock eyelet would
cause the creak, but I took the shock out and lubed the eyelets and
pins anyway. It didn't help. Eventually I thought about the spring
to shock interface. It is metal-to-metal. I didn't have the proper
tools to disassemble the shock, so I pried the spring away from the
spring perch on each end of the spring (not sure if perch is a correct
term on a bike) and squeezed some Magnalube between the spring and the
perches. It worked. I did a Homer Simpson Whoo HOO!

I am concerend that the spring fix is short term. I plan on making
some spacers or washers to go between the spring and the shock,
possibly out of UHMW material. Does anyone have any ideas?