beaudry

So my rear suspension clunks pretty bad and seems to come mostly from the left side. I checked the lower pillow ***** on both sides and they seem to be fine (not 100% sure).

t has aftermarket trailing arms and toe links. The right trailing arm seems ‘looser’ than the left arm. The toe links seem solid.

I’m not familiar with how tight the lower arm bushings should be but they seem extremely loose. I’m guessing that’s my issue.

Edit: I tried to add a short video, but seem to be unable to.

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

Yup, aftermarker unsealed spherical bearings such as in afteemarket trailing arms and toe links last a fraction of the time as the factory sealed spherical bearings.

If they are free enough moving that with a bolt through the spherical ball they flop over under the weight of the bolt they are shot and will click or clunk from metal on metal contact.

beaudry

I haven't been able to upload a video of my LCA movement. But, I did find the following YouTube video that is very similar to what both of mine are doing. I have to assume this means I should replace them.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

If one pillow-ball is noisey, others are or will be soon. IMO it's best to replace them all together. It's not necessarily a hard job but an inexpensive Harbor Freight press makes it a lot easier.
And not a fan of those aftermarket toe-links or trailing arms either. Most are cheap, unsealed and don't do anything that the stock pieces don't do. They were usually used because someone couldn't be bothered with replacing the stock bushings at some point...and they come in all those keen anodized colors.

beaudry

So, I pulled off the trailing arms and the left side is definitely binding. I’ll see how much I can clean it up and remove any pitting, etc. But, I may just take some measurements and order a new heim joint from bakerprecision.com.

I also pulled off the LCA and I didn’t realize the inner ball joint is also basically a pillow ball. So, is it supposed to move as much as it does?

So far, I’m having trouble finding a definite cause to the thunking. The pillow ***** don’t rattle or seem to have excessive play, but they do move freely.

The inner lca bushings move a lot more than I thought they should, but since it seems there might be some design intent there I’m doubting myself.

I left the toe links and upper arms attached, I don’t see any play there. Everything seems to move freely.

Maybe the diff bushings are a problem. I might just change those anyway, since it seems to be highly recommended.

Anybody have any thoughts?

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

In my experience pillow *****/spherical bearings that move freely are shot and will clink or clunk under load.

As I said, my test is to put their long bolt in the center of tje bearing and hold it so bolt is horizontal to the ground. If bolt stays put the bearings are good, if the long end flops down- time for new bearings.

Ive put floppy bolt spherical bearings back in my race car and passed tech before that race, but they have always failed soon after.

beaudry

When I say the pillow ***** move freely, I mean that I can move them with my hand by applying some pressure (some more than others). I did the bolt through the pillow ball test and they hold up fine. I think they’re good, but I’ll keep any eye on them. I ordered new seals since I tore up mine trying to remove them.

I also ordered some new rod ends to remove any binding from the trailing arms and I ordered new lca inner bushing stoppers (fd01-28-461), since I read in some thread that they may be wear items (there was no play with the inner bushings).

I’ll be ordering at least some new diff bushings and may just get the whole super pro set.

Once that is done, I’ll button it all back together and see how it feels.

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

I was thinking more of the unsealed pillow *****/spherical bearings in the aftermarket toe links and trailing arms as your trouble spots. They dont usually last long.

beaudry

I ordered some spherical bearings locally for the trailing arms and I may order some for the toe links just for the peace of mind.

I also just finished installing the superpro diff bushings. That was kind of a pain, especially with the diff still mounted. Does anybody know the torque specs to mount the bracket to the subframe? To the diff housing?

I noticed one of the stock diff bushings was developing (or had developed) a tear in the rubber. I’m not sure if it was leaking, but it had more play than the other side. I’m guessing that was at least partially responsible for the clunk noise.

While I had the diff bracket out, I also replaced the fuel filter. It looks like one of the previous owners replaced it 05/15. Probably shortly after it arrived from Japan.

I’ll probably button up the suspension and take her for a short ride to see if that clunk is gone.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

Just did this job last spring. Wasn’t all that bad. Looks like 69-86 ft/lbs on those 4 nuts. Page F-27 in the FSM IIRC. Hard to impossible to use a real torque wrench with the diff in the car. I just used my official “two-grunt and 1 naughty word wrench”... with just a little anti-seize on the threads. They’re not going anywhere.
Scroll down in this thread and you’ll see a couple pictures of the Craftsman 1/2 drive flex-head ratchet (~ $30) that made getting those nuts off and and on MUCH easier.
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...1128159/page2/
Good call on the fuel filter too.
FWIW, my OEM diff bushings were both toast (see pic in link) but they did NOT clunk. I just knew because they had leaked oil and I had a little NVH coming thru.

Edit: looks like Photobucket messed with those pics. LMK if you want or need any and I’ll repost here.

beaudry

Thanks for getting me the torque specs. I actually found them before I went to bed last night. There is no way I’m getting a torque wrench anywhere near the top bolts, but I’ll be able to use one on the side bolts.

I was able to loosen the 4 diff bolts on top by attaching a wrench/ratchet to the bolts and using a breaker bar leveraged against the diff itself to break the bolt loose. I used a similar technique to tighten those bolts, but used blue loctite (you got me wondering if I should go back and use anti-seize instead). I couldn’t get those bolts to budge with just a wrench.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

I think you’re fine. Some would disagree with the anti seize instead of medium threadlocker....and I wouldn’t argue. But mine sill had a lot of OEM threadlock on there along with rust...so I went that route. Not sure but IIRC they’re flanged nuts anyway.

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

I did the poly diff bushings as well and it gave me a clunk/thump in the rear end going ovet bumps or road reflectors.
I guess what happens is the bump shakes the diff and without fluid damped mounts you can hear the diff shake through the subframe and unibody.

D:

in case you get a new noise and are trying to figure it out.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

^ I had searched and read some reports of noise with some poly mounts. I think mostly Pettit but maybe that was just because they were a popular source. Had my fingers crossed on the MS bushings and pleased. If you ever consider changing your’s out there wasn’t really a lot of perceivable difference on my car from OEM to the MS versions.

beaudry

Solved.
So, I figured out my clunking noise. The car came with some aftermarket coilovers and seems they were the source of the noise. All I needed to do was apply some silicon lubricant to the upper and lower seats (I found some YouTube video where a guy had the same issue).
I figured I’d update the thread since sometimes threads are left hanging.