Rear suspension clunking - video

MINX · Postby **MINX** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 4:43 pm

Gradually getting worse over last 6mths
was out today, with roof up and a/c on because it was so hot - and sounded at times like i was towing a box trailer.
not sure how to describe or narrow down but the car basically sounds like an old beater, clunking in the running gear.
Sometimes happens when parking on change of direction at low speeds, and over larger bumps, speed bumps etc
Maybe something binding
setup the gopro to have a look- nothing too obvious to my eye
does it look like the rear sway is bound up on the mounting bush?
looks like it is going up and down but doesnt look like it is twisting through the bush at all.
any vague suggestions to my vague descriptions?

i guess i could disconnect rear sway and drive around to isolate that out

Old Dude · Postby **Old Dude** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 5:11 pm

What about the universals in the drive shaft Stu, maybe there nackered and thats where your getting your clunk :?:

Cheers
Dale

JBT · Postby **JBT** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 8:38 pm

Control arm bushes? :mrgreen:

Sway bar links, diff bearings, CVs, loose PPF.

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 11:29 pm

It took me years to find the rear suspension clunk in mine. You could only hear it with the roof up. Turned out to be in the roof frame. :roll:

The sound magically transmits down into the floor of the boot.

RJ45 · Postby **RJ45** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 11:56 pm

Is that gaping hole in the subframe just above the swaybar mount?

Also I see metal sticking out from the subframe behind the swaybar.
Can't tell from the vid; but is it possible the swaybar is making contact with the metal as you drive?
I see marks on the front of the bar, but that could just be from installation.

Has your 5 been rear ended?

ralt · Postby **ralt** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:03 am

Hi.
Do you run your car very low? The reason i ask is the extreme driveshaft angle and the bottom arm which should be parallel or almost to the ground for the car to handle successfully. Check your driveshafts, joints and rear wheel bearings.

MINX · Postby **MINX** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:14 am

"gaping hole" is supposed to be there - just looks dodgy because of lighting and leftover spray grease from long time ago.
No rear enders ever
Car not particularly low- just camera angle- lower control arm is about parallel with ground

RJ45 · Postby **RJ45** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 10:05 am

MINX wrote:"gaping hole" is supposed to be there - just looks dodgy because of lighting and leftover spray grease from long time ago.
No rear enders ever
Car not particularly low- just camera angle- lower control arm is about parallel with ground

Yeah in good lighting I see a round hole, as opposed to the dodgy mortar shell wound it looked like in the video.

I've had clunking from the rear before and it turned out to be a lower shock bolt problem;
The captive nut in one arm broke off the spot welds, then the bolt snapped.
Other side seemed OK as I could torque it up to 80-90Nm, but when I tried 100Nm the bolt just kept on spinning.

Might be worth checking them and all the rest, or go to a decent suspension shop.
Good luck.

MINX · Postby **MINX** » Wed Nov 21, 2012 2:53 pm

Clinking solved - fixed
Replaced these with these - i guess they dont last forever - maybe 2 years old i think - Lokiel may remember

No more clunks

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Wed Nov 21, 2012 7:23 pm

Sounds about right.

Glad you solved this "clunking issue" so that I'll know what to look for when it happens to me (which probably won't happen for a few years yet given that mine's not a DD).

I've read that guys replace them when they get "noisy" but never thought they'd make a clunking noise (which now makes perfect sense if the ball joint was so loose that the sway bar was essentially rattling about and clunking when jarred).

I wonder what is considered to be a reasonable lifetime for endlinks on a car that also sees 6-8 track days a year?

I actually have a spare set of
949 endlinks for when I need to replace mine since they can be impossible to get for long periods of time.

Kenstaki · Postby **Kenstaki** » Wed Feb 27, 2013 4:30 pm

Hi Minx,

Glad you solved your problem. I can't tell if that is damage or just dirt and grime around the ball joints.

Did you consider re-lubricating that ball joints? Perhaps you saw damage that's not visible in the pictures?

I'm having the same issue but have yet to inspect the end-links yet. Where did you purchase the new ones?

Cheers.

MINX · Postby **MINX** » Wed Feb 27, 2013 4:39 pm

No damage , just scratched and grubby.
They were worn out - simple as that. Too much play.
Answer here http://949racing.com/supermiata-miata-end-links.aspx