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Rear suspension surprise


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I had the 71 SS out a couple weeks ago for a short drive. Part way through I could hear a strange squeak/chirp noise but the car seemed OK. I thought maybe exhaust hangar or something but could not replicate the noise when parked. I discovered the power steering pulley was a little loose and fixed that thinking that’s what made the noise. I took the car out again on Thursday for a short run and I could hear the squeak/chirp again coming from under the car during driving. When I left for home the rear end was all over the place. I took it easy getting home. I finally had time to pull the wheel off today and take a look. The upper bushing on the passenger side of the rear end is gone. I’ve never had that happen before and really had very little warning. I’ll get it into the shop and get all new rear bushings replaced.IMG_1117.thumb.jpeg.f940314ea3c863e952b90eea7865b685.jpeg

 

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2 minutes ago, cny first gen 71 said:

Oh yea that's definitely gone, probably should check the lower ones too. The top ones are a little bit of a pain to get to bolts. Good thing is not much rust so shouldn't be awful to do.

Yes, I’ll get all rear bushings checked and replace what is necessary.

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Glad you found it Aaron. 

Years ago a friend's brother  had us check his car when he launched it. A 1970 SS454 4speed Chevelle. Was complaining that the rear felt like it was all over the place. We found that a lower control arm bolt had fallen out and the others were loose. Fun days! 

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1 minute ago, Searsman said:

Glad you found it before a , road trip , ...

I’m glad it didn’t happen during my trip to Utah in June.

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Not long after purchasing my 70 (about 6 years ago) I noticed a little movement in the rear end when taking my foot off the gas. It didn’t happen every time, but enough to get my attention. There was no noise, but I could feel it. It turned out I had several bushings worn as well. Not to the extent of yours, but enough to notice. I had them all replaced.

 

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I had a front upper control arm bushing completely let go while driving back in 2000. Luckily I was in a neighborhood close to my house when it let go. 

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I discovered a sway bar link completely missing last year before the EM during my pre trip inspection. Weird how those things just happen all of a sudden. 

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My right upper control arm was completely messed up and had to replace it. Luckily I know a guy 15 minutes from home that had one for me!

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