Re: [DML] Trailing Arm Bolt Concerns

[mark@xxxx]

I have just over 21,000 miles on #10901. I've had it a couple months. 
I noticed a clunk in the rear and knew I should check the TA bolts. 
Sure enough, just by looking at the rear right bolt, I could see that 
the shims weren't lined up anymore, and I could move them with a 
screw driver. It was also apparent from looking at the nut that there 
was a lot less threads showing on the right than on the left. The 
left looked still tight. I turned the bolt head and watched as my 
trailing arm moved up and down due to the bend in the bolt. I 
tightened up the bolt to spec, and ordered replacements right away. I 
also ordered the bushings. (all from PJ Grady...thanks guys!)

As soon as I got my parts, I pulled out the old bolt and noticed that 
it DEFINITELY bent. I did have to use a hammer to get it out. The new 
bolt went it great and had a lock-nut with it too. I put on the 
lowering springs from PJ Grady (thanks again guys!) and took the car 
to get it aligned.

The alignment went great. The front toe-in was a tiny bit off, but 
everything else was perfectly in spec. I will replace the other TA 
bolt even though it was still tight just to be on the safe side.

My suspension feels MUCH better and almost all rear clunking is gone. 
ALMOST...hmmm....axles? I need to do some further investigation...

Moral of the story....ALWAYS CHECK YOU TA BOLTS! And you may as well 
just replace them with the new stuff regardless and make sure you get 
lock-nuts. It's VERY CHEAP INSURANCE considering how important those 
little bolts are! Your life is worth a few bucks and 30 minutes of 
your time.

Mark
#10901 (getting better and better by the day)

--- In dmcnews@xxxx, "at88mph" <at88mph@xxxx> wrote:
> Toby,
> 
> 
> Could you also give us some details such as mileage and conditions 
these
> cars were in? I've wondered for awhile now how mileage affects the
> trailing arm bolts. What I mean by this is, would you be more 
likely to
> have this