Noise After Replacing Rear Upper Control Arms (Track Arms)

[dragonflyoh]

I have a 2003 Boxster with 55K miles and had a clunking sound from the right rear area of the car. The clunk only occurred at low speeds over bumps in the road. I replaced the Rear Upper Control Arms (Track Arms) with the adjustable type control arms and the clunk has been replaced with a noise much louder than the clunk and almost a rattle and it comes from the back of the car. I cannot pin it down to left or right. When either tire strikes a bump the noise occurs. It happens with the top up or down, with everything removed from the rear compartment, all of the panels, padding, etc. I cannot get any noise by pushing down on the bumper. I jacked up the car and all of the panels are secure. Shaking the wheels gets the same silent treatment. There is a marked stiffness in the ride with the new arms. My wife noticed it and she also noted the new louder rattle/clunk sound. Said something about she thought the ride was a nice improvement but for $250 the noise would have been eliminated. Any ideas of where to go from here would be appreciated.

[Elucidus]

What kind of bushings are in the adjustable arms?

[dragonflyoh]

They are Anti-Dust Pillow Ball Bushings. The particulars are at:http://www.hardrace.com/precise.asp#2

Hope that helps.

[Elucidus]

1) check torque of all components changed

2) make sure to grease anything that may need to be greased. (on Corvettes, sway bar bushings need polyurethane grease between the metal and bushing or you'll get a pop/clunk as the suspension flexes)

3) It may simply be that that design is noisy. It's a bit more solid than your average rubber or poly bushing.

[dragonflyoh]

Everything was torqued to factory specs, which is 118 ft lbs. All of the lubrications are current. I haven't heard any complaints from others that have installed the replacement arms of them causing noise problems.

[mee]

I didn't have noise in my rear track rods before I replaced them. I replaced them with race ones from ERP ($$$). No noise in probably 3 years. Very solid parts. In any case, the Hardrace stuff (I've seen before on eBay) looks scary. I would not trust my life with them (welded ends, etc.). I'm not saying they are dangerous, but I have bent/broken a lot more serious/beefy/better-made parts. This is a seriously critical suspension component.

One thing to also check is the control arm ball joint. That is a possible source of play. When I put in my ERP track rods, a lot of the factory rubber/isolation was gone, so a lot more vibration was transmitted. It would make sense that the aftermarket track rods would make whatever is causing the noise to be a lot more pronounced/louder since it is transmitting more vibration.

[dragonflyoh]

Thanks for the information. I asked about the hardrace arms and nobody has reported any problems with the arms. I am looking at the more vibration being transmitted and am looking at either replacing or rebuilding the control arms. I need to get some time to look into which is the better option.