So, I finally got that dreaded clunking noise coming from the rear end of the car. However, I'm still skeptical that the old bushings are the culprit.

I’m only experiencing the clunking noise when I press the breaks, and I can only hear it coming from the right rear side of the car; no where else. After inspecting the car I found that I do need to replace the break pads, but they aren’t too bad yet. I installed 4 brembo crossdrilled rotors and hawkhps break pads about 4k miles ago.

Just curious as to what you guys might think the problem is. MY next best guess is the CV joint? Luckily, I got in on the GB for the Delrin 18 piece full bushings kit before I heard any noises, so those are lying around.

 

It's probably the trailing arm bushing....

And unless you track your car, you should NOT be going through brake pads in 4k miles. Especially rears!

 

^ the man

 

It's not the bushing it's most likely the pillow *****... but while you're at it, replacing the bushings is a wise choice...

 

I replaced my trailing arms and I still have the clunking ?

I have been auto-xing the car recently so I might have screwed something else up in back but its quite annoying.

 

This related thread is good reading on this subject:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/anyone-else-still-running-original-bushings-pillow-balls-612981/

Dave

 

Well i have the clunking and it can be felt most whilst braking as well, i placed it up on a ramp and if i try and twist the wheel side to side i can feel it, if i twist the wheel up and down i cant, but then again if i get sombody to hold a spanner on the toe links whils i twist i cant hear it at all so im figuring its the toe links.

 

Dont go replacing things until youve checked the little compartment in the trunk with the spare tire tools. Thats where my clunk was coming from.

 

The outer toe link PB's were the 1st to go for me. They are the only ones I've had to replace so far (54K miles).

Dave

 

Replacing the trailing arms won't fix the clunk if it's the pillow ball bushings the trailing arms bolt to.

 

i had the same problem. bushings was the answer for me.

 

mine clunked as well, bought some pillowballs for the rear put them on yesterday and now i am clunk free!

 

I have a similar noise. The car's an '83 and it has set up for the last 8 months while I was at "the Beach". If I don't replace these right away and I only drive this vehicle on Saturday, will my wheels fall off and my radio not play any longer?

 

got the clunk. so what, the trailing arms have bushings up front and pillow ***** at the spindles?

 

pillow ***** are bushings

for some reason everyone refers to the bushings as pillow ***** and vice versa...

 

ok that's been confusing me lol

 

Replaced all 6 on mine (41K) and all rear clunks are gone + handling is improved...

 

$$$$$

 

Well:
Pillow ***** = Ball (Sphere) with a hole in it for a Bolt 2 Axis Of Rotational movement
Bushing = Cylynder with a hole in it for a Bolt 2 Severly Restricted Axis of Translational Movement



Blue = Pillow Ball
Green = Bushing

The reason the clinking happens is because the pillow ball unlike the bushing have to have a lot less "suspension" material to cushion impact because it moves on multiple axees, so it wears out quicker... the bushings don't help as the rubber gets old it allows for more play in the suspension making the bushings wear out quicker as a side effect... but not usually the other way around....

 

In my humble opinion, no one has any business complaining about ANY noises, squeaks, or clunks on a 12+ year old car w/ original suspension. Everyone SHOULD change ALL the bushings, pillow *****, tie rods, and if you wanna do it right, even the control arms. All these are wear items, and it's inevitable that you'll need to spruce up the entire suspension sooner or later. Any noises short of that are - IMO - expected

~Ramy

 

^ lies! j/k

+15 that it's your pillowballs.

 

nice crawings dcrosby

 

Lets get CLUNKED!

 

Agreed. It's not even the money factor (~$350 for a full set of 6 pillowballs and 12 dust shields and $20 for the Harbor Freight bushing tool), but it's just the fact that you already have your entire rear suspension setup exposed, why not go the extra mile on replacing the rest of the pillowballs in there?