Rear Suspension Problem

[StickShift84]

I have always noticed minor noises from my rear suspension (it is stock) but today it seems like the noise got a lot worse and is more noticeable more of the time. The car makes a creaking, rubbing, or maybe it is more like a clunk, hard to describe, type of noise when I hit bumps, let off the throttle, or cut the wheel to the left hard. It seems like the noise occurs more when the suspension is in rebound. The only thing I can think of it being is a bad shock, I can't see that the exhaust is rubbing anywhere and don't think it is that. Does anybody have any ideas?

Thanks in advance

 

[trinity_gt]

Hard to believe on an 01 but noises, especially under side-loads, like you describe might point to a blown bushing in one of the control arms (or the bushings in the ears of the diff housing where the UCAs attach.) The uppers are primarily responsible for lateral axle control as well as controlling wind-up so I'd probably start there.

Hard to see a shock causing "clunk" noises unless it was so badly baffed that the rear end was still bouncing up and down an hour after stopping. Might want to check the quad shocks though...

 

[StickShift84]

If it is what you are describing what should I be looking for when inspecting the suspension parts

 

[trinity_gt]

Well, you should wait to get some more feedback and ideas before ripping into it but...

It's quite difficult to see these things without actually taking them out of the car for inspection because the bushings are so well shielded from view by the metalwork. And the forces involved are so immense and the parts so robust that even if a bushing is bad, simply grabbing a control arm and twisting with your hand isn't likely to elicit much movement.

So if you find yourself taking the UCAs out, look for elongated holes, evidence of a bushing being crushed or stretched too far, the rubber separating from the insert and that kind of thing.

On my 02 I noticed when I was putting my spacers on that that the quad shocks had been rubbing a bit on the main shocks but I don't hear anything back there from it. Something to look at though.

Like I said, it's pretty hard to believe that the problem is bushings on such a new car (assuming it hasn't got a 500HP firebreather under the hood.)

BTW, as an aside, how do you like the blue MGW? Is yours a T45 or 3650? (PM me if you like to avoid derailing your thread...)

 

[StickShift84]

I just put the car on stands and I noticed that when I move the exhaust bracket there is a squeek, and it seems like where it is bolted to could be disconnecting from the frame, also where the upper control arm is mounted. Is this considered a torque box and could this be the noise I am hearing.

 

[StickShift84]

Actually I just noticed that the bracket holding the upper control arm on, the upper mount, the outside of the car portion of it is cracked in half, so this must be my problem, what should I do?

Help please

 

[trinity_gt]

Actually I just noticed that the bracket holding the upper control arm on, the upper mount, the outside of the car portion of it is cracked in half, so this must be my problem, what should I do?

Help please

Any chance of seeing a picture or two?

 

[StickShift84]

I can't get pictures right now but I wll try to a little later

 

[StickShift84]

pictures, I have never done this before so I hope it works. In the fourth picture the spot welds or the two little holes is another place on the bracket that looks like it is pulling off the frame.

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[trinity_gt]

Holy cow man, that's incredible. Judging by the rust on the fracture it looks like it's been like this for a little bit. If you look at image 2, it almost appears as if the torque box wasn't even spot welded correctly at the factory. One of the welds is half-on the bracket (just above the exhaust pipe) and the top weld missed completely. There may be others there but these two in particular don't look good.

Do you know the history of the car? Have you had it since new? Did you know anything about it before buying (e.g. it'd been in a wreck serious enough to knock the rear end hard, perhaps from the side, such as spinning in the rain and hitting a curb?) Do you "abuse" it at all by launching at a drag strip with slicks and clutch dumps at 4000RPM?

If I had to make an educated guess, I'd say the bracket was improperly welded from the factory and was thus able to flex and move. Over time, the flexing led to a fatigue fracture (sort of like bending a coathanger back and forth...)

The car needs serious attention. That torque box has to be replaced and the other inspected for sure. I'd take it to a dealer and have them get a Ford engineer out to look at it and assess what happened. If you haven't been beating the **** out of it there's no way that kind of failure should occur.

I'd certainly not drive the car any more than is necessary either. The rear end is essentially being located by only one of the upper links at the moment...I doubt the remaining structure on the broken side is offering much meaningful strength.

 

[wms004]

I have always noticed minor noises from my rear suspension (it is stock) but today it seems like the noise got a lot worse and is more noticeable more of the time. The car makes a creaking, rubbing, or maybe it is more like a clunk, hard to describe, type of noise when I hit bumps, let off the throttle, or cut the wheel to the left hard. It seems like the noise occurs more when the suspension is in rebound. The only thing I can think of it being is a bad shock, I can't see that the exhaust is rubbing anywhere and don't think it is that. Does anybody have any ideas?

Thanks in advance

The stock suspension itself is a problem.. good excuse to rip it all out and put quality stuff in its place. www.maximummotorsports.com

 

[trinity_gt]

The stock suspension itself is a problem.. good excuse to rip it all out and put quality stuff in its place. www.maximummotorsports.com

Yeah, the twistoflexibind design is hurtin' in many ways. The splayed upper arms require soft & squishy bushings everywhere because the uppers are travelling in different arcs, their ends moving closer together and drawing apart as the axle moves up and down and the bushings have to make up for this, which then results in poor lateral control. As well, the stubby uppers will force the axle to move fore & aft and toe differently as one side moves up and down, causing the whole car to jump sideways when one wheel drops into a sunken manhole cover. A panhard setup (like the new 05s or MMs kit for the Fox-era cars) would be about the best you could do with a live axle.

Having said that, there's no way a bracket should break like this. Even if the suspension is horse-&-buggy, it's been proven over 25 years of use to be at least safe and durable. Remember, many GM midsize vehicles used this same setup...my 1966 Chevelle SS (*sigh*) had the same deal and it was used right up until the last RWD platform, the Roadmaster/Caprice went bye-bye. It's not that bad for a daily driven car.

Something ain't right with Stickshift's car. Ford's gotta look see and help him out if the car hasn't been beaten or wrecked.

 

[StickShift84]

The history of the car is as follows, I have had the car since november and noticed minor noises shortly thereafter. I am assuming they were there the whole time and I did not notice them right away. This past winter however I slid and the front bumper hit an embankment sliding sideways doing very minor damage but that was all that was hit and the car was completely driveable witht the damage that occurred, no rear end impact. When I bought the car I ran a carfax and it came up clean, However I have come to the conmclusion that the car was in some form of an accident, the seams on the two front bumpers is slightly different and the way the GT emblem is mounted is different, which led me to believe minor damage. The way you are talking makes me think I should fix this problem and get rid of the car.

trinity gt, is there any way I can talk to you more directly to get my answers easier like aim.

I am taking the car to a structural repair shop tomorrow to try to find out what to do, I just hope it is not too bad or too expensive.

 

[trinity_gt]

The way you are talking makes me think I should fix this problem and get rid of the car.

trinity gt, is there any way I can talk to you more directly to get my answers easier like aim.

I am taking the car to a structural repair shop tomorrow to try to find out what to do, I just hope it is not too bad or too expensive.

Torque box repair is very doable and will result in a car just as sound and safe as factory original (uh...yeah.) There are kits available to complete replace the uppers for heavy drag use so a repair like this shouldn't be too hard. Once fixed, the thing will be good as new again. I wouldn't get rid of the car on the basis of this one thing unless there's a bunch of ****ling issues that have been going wrong with it. This is very fixable. It's just very odd in a factory car that hasn't been beaten or wrecked hard. When they're under there, have them look around for evidence of frame pulling, welding and/or crumpling and the like. It may not have been hit at all (good) and might just be a one in a million factory freak.

PMs is about all I can do if it helps.