In my quest to search for the mysterious clunking noise in my rear suspension, I replaced all the lower rear control arm bushings with poly (the rubber ones were deformed and I THOUGHT they were the cause of the clunking noise). However, that didn't fix the problem, and the sound is still there.

Has anyone replaced the rear upper control arm (it's the one that rear camber kits replace) because of worn bushings? How does a worn upper control arm sound like?

It feels pretty solid to me and the bushings still look OK.

 

i dont think your upper control arms are a problem if they visually look good. theyll still work fine if they even look bad on the outside.

id look elsewhere to find the clunk, like swaybar binding or exhaust rattling around.

 

Just a thought, mine was a loose bolt connecting the passenger side rear lca to the chassis. Dunno why it was loose, but tightening it a bit solved my clunking problems. It was possibly also a loose endlink (lol I might've been buzzed while I was working on the rear that day).

 

If your upper control arm is shot - then you'd have a bad case of positive camber I think.......

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If your upper control arm is shot - then you'd have a bad case of positive camber I think.......</TD></TR></TABLE>

I did a trailing arm swap a few months ago, and did an alignment and actually ended up with near zero camber after lowering it 2". Maybe the bushings are worn

Also, I've removed the sway and drove around for a week, clunk noise is still there Couldn't be exhaust rattle, I had a buddy sit in my gutted hatch while I drove over some bumpy streets, and he could hear it from both sides of the car.

Thanks for the suggestions anyways! I'll just keep trying to track down the clunk.

 

oh yeah! check the spare and the jack? Maybe they are loose. People suggest that pretty often.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Noob4life &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">oh yeah! check the spare and the jack? Maybe they are loose. People suggest that pretty often. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I already gutted the interior (and everything else) from the driver seat back to troubleshoot this clunk

It's gotta be something in the suspension. So far, I've tried the following in no particular order:

- Check rear bumper clips
- Check sideskirt clips
- Tried different exhaust hangers to give more clearance
- Exhaust pipe -&gt; Sway bar clearance (I know it hits, but I can differentiate that sound with the clunking)
- Replace all six rear lower control arm bushings to Prothane (with the metal shells)
- Replaced rubber spring isolators
- Tightened top strut mount nuts
- Lubed up the strut mount bushings
- Checked the brake pads, slider pins
- Removed rear interior panels
- Removed spare tire
- Removed sway bar for a week (it's back on now)
- Torqued all suspension bolts with the suspension loaded
- Check rear hatch
- Replaced big rear trailing arm bushing

I've sorta narrowed it down to the upper control arm, compensator arm, and the coilovers (they are 5 months old now, no oil leakage).

 

Umm, just a thought, but perhaps the license plate?