Worn rear track arm bushings - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

ASpec818 · 09-12-2011, 10:47 PM

My rear suspension has been making a ton of rattling noises while going over uneven pavement on the road. After reading the message boards, it all points to the rear track arm bushings. I was planning on getting the core replacements through ****************************************.com but I was wondering if these worn bushings require immediate attention? I don't plan on replacing these for a few months if all is good. In the meantime, will the worn bushings affect and possibly break other things? Or is this simply just a noisy nuisance?

thstone · 09-13-2011, 09:31 PM

Mostly a noisy nuisance for the short term. It will affect cornering performance to some degree but since its in the rear the effect will be lessened. Worst case is the bushing fails completely and you get metal-to-metal contact and ruin the control arm.

How worn are the bushings? Can you move the control arm around by hand? Is the bushing visibly worn/torn/broken? If all looks well and you can't move it around too much by hand then you're probably ok for a month or so. If its pretty bad already, then sooner would be better.

Appleguy · 09-14-2011, 07:58 AM

sorry to hi jack the thread, but I'm in the same boat as the OP. Right rear side is clanking around when i go over small bumps in the road. Should I replace BOTH side rear track arms or only the side clanking?

Cheers

ASpec818 · 09-14-2011, 08:05 AM

I read you might as well replace both since they usually fail around the same time.

Here's a short clip of the annoying knocking in the back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm1FWfC0e90

thstone · 09-14-2011, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Appleguy

sorry to hi jack the thread, but I'm in the same boat as the OP. Right rear side is clanking around when i go over small bumps in the road. Should I replace BOTH side rear track arms or only the side clanking?Cheers

You really only "have" to repair the one that is clanking, but most people do both sides just to avoid having to do it all again for the other side sometime later.

Wret · 09-14-2011, 08:51 AM

I was looking at this last week. Apparently the rattle can be corrected without replacing the bushing.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic/20681-boxster-control-arm-repair/

jakekit · 09-14-2011, 10:42 AM

For those that have experienced this themselves. Does it get worse as the car warms up? When my car is cold from overnight it's much quieter. After driving for a bit my return trip is always much noisier. Also, I can't tell, but I may be hearing a similar noise from my front suspension. Any thoughts?

Note that I have done my sway bar endlinks already.

coolbreeze551 · 10-08-2011, 10:21 AM

I have the same problem with the front right control arm. Steering shakes a little when driving highway speeds and makes a grinding noise when I come to a stop. Wanted to do both left and right but the adjustable control arms are $800 each.... At that price I will wait for the other to fail before a drop another $800. I ordered some droplinks for each side as well and everything gets put in next week. Just in time for the snow to fall... Will post again if this fixes the noise

Appleguy · 10-09-2011, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thstone

You really only "have" to repair the one that is clanking, but most people do both sides just to avoid having to do it all again for the other side sometime later.

So I ended up in replacing both track arms (purchased from Pelican) last weekend. It's a pretty easy job to do. I removed the body pan underneath then trans which made the job a ton more easy.

It's amazing how much more quiet and tighter the suspension is with the new arms.

Cheers

Mark

coolbreeze551 · 10-10-2011, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Appleguy

So I ended up in replacing both track arms (purchased from Pelican) last weekend. It's a pretty easy job to do. I removed the body pan underneath then trans which made the job a ton more easy.

It's amazing how much more quiet and tighter the suspension is with the new arms.

Cheers

Mark

Was the $800 for each arm worth it?

Appleguy · 10-10-2011, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolbreeze551

Was the $800 for each arm worth it?

$800 for each arm?!?!?

Not sure where you got that price from, but they were only about $200 per arm. And yes, it was worth the cost.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/smart/more_info.cgi?pn=986-331-043-07-M80&catalog_description=Control%20Arm%20Link%20%28Trac k%20Arm%29%2C%20Rear%20Suspension%2C%20Left%20or%2 0Right%20%28sold%20individually%29%2C%20Boxster%2F Boxster%20S%20%28%31%39%39%37%2D%30%34%29%20