[Shotimes] Rear Control Arm Squeek Diagnosed

[Robert Bruce]

$215 sounds about what I paid for a set of arms a few month ago.  Or you
could replace the OEM bushing.  I think that is the Moog #K8627.  Rock Auto
has them for $22/ea

Robert

-----Original Message-----
From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net
[mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Alan Fanning
Sent: Sunday, October 10, 2004 12:50 AM
To: SHOtimes
Subject: [Shotimes] Rear Control Arm Squeek Diagnosed


Some weeks back I posted that the '95 ATX SHO I had picked up for the wife
had a nasty metallic squeek upon compression or extension of the rear
suspension. Before I purchased the car, the PO had taken the car to an
alignment shop for diagnosis - the same one that had R&R'd the outer control
arm bushings a year or two ago for optimized rear alignment.

The alignment shop told the PO that the problem was with the inner bushings,
not the outers that they'd replaced.   I finally got some time this
afternoon to poke around underneath while the wife jumped up and down on the
rear bumper to generate the noise. The shop mechanics were lying, or stupid,
or both. I first isolated the problem to the driver side rear arm by
touching each arm as the suspension was compressed. The noise was
accompanied by a vibration that was more pronounced in that arm. To
determine which end of the arm was the problem, I first loosened the
outboard mounting bolt, at the knuckle. Subsequent to doing so, the noise no
longer occurred upon compression of the suspension. I then removed the inner
mounting bolt and the arm itself for more detailed inspection.

Inspection of the arm showed that the inner (OEM) bushings appear to be in
good condition. At the outer end, the OEM bushing had been replaced with a
pressed, thin-wall sleeve and eccentric plastic bushing. The eccentric
bushing increases the range of available motion for alignment. The bushing
was a bit the worse for wear and tear, with some signs of fractured material
on the outer hex portion used to rotate the bushing during alignment. It
also may have been binding up in the sleeve, but it's really hard to tell.
I tried to duplicate the squeeking sound by clamping the arm and bushing in
a vise, but was unsuccessful in getting it to squeel.

At this point, the path of least resistance seems to be to replace the one
eccentric bushing and see what happens. I may yet install the GM-style arms
but would rather not have to incur that cost right now.

For anyone that has read this far, and has purchased the GM arms, what did
you pay for shipping for 4 arms?  Gmpartsdirect.com shows S&H of ~ $9 each,
and ~ $36 for four arms.  I can see $9 for one but I can't believe it would
cost $36 to ship 4 arms unless it was overnight to the North Pole.  At ~ $45
ea  + S&H, a set of four is ~ $215 delivered. I had hoped they were a little
cheaper than this.

    Alan
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