DaleMX Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Ouch, after the bang and watching the parts scatter in the mirror, these are all I was able to find on the road. http://www.circuitflex.com/Bang.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8dats Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 holy crap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 wtf? did your break your rear control arm mount? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaleMX Posted September 17, 2005 Author Share Posted September 17, 2005 I'm not sure as it was getting dark so I just had it towed home and went out to the local sports bar. I'll jack it up in the AM and review the damage. I think it's just the diff mount broke, but the rear of the car was going all over the road after the event so it could be the control arm mount too. Once I took it out of gear it coasted straight. Damn good thing I didn't take it to NC like I had originally planed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Yeah, that looks like the control arm bushing. Maybe he tore the whole front diff crossmember apart???!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaleMX Posted September 17, 2005 Author Share Posted September 17, 2005 Looks like I might be lucky. It's the drivers side front control arm bushing alright. Looks like the bolt came off and the parts I saw flying were the washers, bolt and bushing. Everything else looks intact. Yeah, that looks like the control arm bushing. Maybe he tore the whole front diff crossmember apart???!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 I think you better look a little closer. The control arm is held front to back by the bushings. Your bolt in the front could very well have come loose, but in order for the whole bushing to come out like that I think your crossmember had to come loose, or the control arm had to slide back about 3 inches. It really shouldn't be able to slide because it's held in place by the rear control arm bushing. There are 4 bolts which go through the crossmember and up into the frame. I'd take a real close look at the crossmember itself and the frame there. Other areas to check are the control arm itself, the diff mount, the rear uprights, basically I think you need to go through the whole rear suspension. With the way the control arm is held on I still have no clue how your bushing ended up in the middle of the road... take some pics! EDIT--Thinking a bit more maybe somehow the bushing came out of the front end of the crossmember. That'd be pretty weird, but I suppose that less weird than the above scenario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaleMX Posted September 17, 2005 Author Share Posted September 17, 2005 Thanks for the advice, based on that I am going to remove the crossmember and control arms to do a full bushing replacement and a diff mount check. I'll snap a pic tomorrow of the underside before I start the removal. While I'm at it I guess I'll take it down for the count and do the rear coilovers and CV's that are waiting in the basement. Then I'll fix the heater. I've got the bushing kit, but have to order the spindle pins and whatever else is broken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted September 18, 2005 Share Posted September 18, 2005 From the looks of the pictures, that bolt wasn't torn out, it fell out. Maybe time to retorque all your suspension and chassis bolts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaleMX Posted September 19, 2005 Author Share Posted September 19, 2005 Pop N Wood, Jon, thanks for all the good advice! You guy's hit the nail on the head. I checked the bolts securing the diff mount and all were in place and tight, so I just went ahead and replaced the front bushings only. When I went to remove the passenger side bushing I found it to be so loose that I could turn the bolt with my hand! I had removed the swaybar a while back and had noticed that the bolts to the bushings seemed really close, I thought it was by design. Well it’s not by design it by the prior owner not getting it put together correctly. Oh well, it’s fixed now. It was a quick 20 minute job to do so I decided to just get it back on the road for now and enjoy driving it in this beautiful weather while I may. FWIW the back bushings are tight. Here’s some pics. http://www.circuitflex.com/ControlMountGone.jpg http://www.circuitflex.com/ControlMountReplaced.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 Freakin weird. I guess it's good news though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.