mikeyboy.com

previously i wrote about my suspension in the back of the focus making a clunk. i forgot, however, to update with the ultimate resolution to this clunking conundrum.

after eliminating various other sources of noise (the improperly-secured jack being a big culprit) i noticed the noise persisted, and it seemed to occur consistently every time the rear suspension moved up or down.

this led me back to thinking it was something with the suspension, so i started to investigate deeper. first up: removing the shock absorber on the passenger side rear (where i could hear the most noise coming from). as i began to remove it, i noticed immediately that there might be issues: it was really tough getting the bottom-end bolt out of the trailing arm.

at first i suspected that the shock mounting bushing was frozen onto the bolt, thereby applying a moment on the shock every time the suspension compressed, causing the shock body to slam against the shock piston cover. turns out i was half right.

the bolt and bushing were not frozen; but rather, the washer on the bolt, which was designed to help [the bushing] rotate freely on the bolt, was corrupted with rust to the point that it could not rotate. i cleaned up the bolt, washer, and bushing and applied anti-seize to all surfaces.

upon reinstalling the shock and torquing to specification, a test drive proved that the shock body was no longer making the clunking sound. i brought it home, re-checked the torque on all fasteners and cleaned up my tools.

the takeaway: salty winters change everything. it’s probably a good idea every spring to give everything a once-over and make sure if it’s designed to move: it still moves.