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I've replaced every single bushing on my car with poly. My Sachs gas shocks/struts are less than 2 years old. Springs have just been replaced. And still I have a clunk. Actually, it's a clunk that was never there before the changes - I've developed a clunk from a brean new suspension!
Well, I believe I know what it is; maybe you can listen to the symptoms and think about it before I reveal my guess. When I go over a heavy bump - like a speed bump - as I come out of the bump, I get a metallic clunk/crunch from the rear passenger side. No other time does it happen.
I thought about it and thought about it. Since the sound wasn't there before I put all poly bushings on the rear, I thought maybe they were the problem. I loosened every connection in the rear, lubed with white grease, and re-torqued. Clunk still there.
Any ideas? Well, yesterday it struck me what the problem must be - the exhaust! Of course, I didn't do anything to it, but when I thought about the geometry changes between my old sagging sedan springs and the new wagon springs, I realized that for the rear end to be sitting an inch or so higher, the exhaust (attached to the body, and under the axle) must be an inch or so closer to the axle!
I'm just about 100% certain this is my clunk now, so my solution will be to replace my crusty exhaust with a new over-axle system from Volvo.
Just wanted to throw that out there for anyone considering a wagon spring swap into their sedan; it may result in this problem. I highly recommend the swap - the sedan rear springs are pathetic things - but be aware of what that new clunk might be, and how to fix it.
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'93 244: 'A' cam 4 deg. advanced, 25/22 sways, custom heim endlinks, poly bushings, and a lot more styling customization than I care to recount.
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