Problems with rear endlinks, again?

Check the outer upper edges of the welded-on side arms (up in front where they meet the middle section). That's where mine used to start having contact issues every time the bushings would start to wear.

 

I have not seen bushings get wore out before except when they did not get greased up enough and they tore. Not on MS3, but on an old VW>

 

I greased mine regularly and thoroughly. I think they mostly wore out (more or less "oval-ed") from the brackets bending back and forth (the same forces that eventually break them).

I haven't had an issue with bushing wear since switching to Hotchkis billet brackets/bushings...

 

I will get my billet brackets within the week here. Will be interesting to see 8 years of use on the regular Hotchkis bushings and brackets they used to have standard too. Broken brackets can cause bushing issues. But I do not recall any MS3 ever having a bushing issue with a functioning bracket and lube.

 

I blow through end links quite often too. I've tried a ton of different brands and they've all eventually started clunked after a while. I was hoping Moog end links would solve my problems but they only lasted 6K before they were noisy. OEM's have been the longest lasting in my experience. I went almost 40K on my original end links on the stiffest setting on a JBR bar without any noise whatsoever. I did some searching and I found these good win racing links. I like the design quite a bit anyone have any experience with these?

http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazd...GDUS4ACJ6BmVgTIVVdpOihF38AwysaGYaoRoC7Sbw_wcB

 

I'm on my original end links, 95k miles, but stock RSB. I get clunks in the rear from time to time, but every time I take the end links off, they feel perfect. It's always something else for me including:

1) Shock top mounts. The OEM ones kinda suck, and mine loosened up when I ran really stiff shocks for a short amount of time. I would take the shocks out and inspect the top mount for looseness (grab the "ears" and try twisting it as if to snap the tip of the rod off the shock). Also don't forget those foam insulator things, they do actually make a slight difference in transmitted noise into the cabin.
2) Bad shocks
3) Jack loosening up in jack compartment - constant problem for me. I actually need to bend those tab things that hold the middle of the jack in place back towards the center at this point because my jack is so loose at this point. Easy way to tell if this is your problem....fold the seats down, take everything out of the back, and open the jack compartment door. Most bumps, it'll make a metallic sound, but hit the right one and it'll make a clunk that when muffled by the compartment door, seats up, etc...will sound like any other suspension clunk.

That's all I can think of for now. My spare tire and that shit has actually never been an issue which is nice.

 

'Preciate it. All of my suspension was replaced with brand-new stuff when I did the Swifts/Konis/Bilsteins. I checked the jack, too. Wish it were something simple and easy, LOL

 

Those are AWR endlinks that I mentioned on page 1.

 

Yeah, they look nice, kind of like the Tri-Point ones. I'm not sure how DD-friendly they are, though, in terms of noise, if they require extra/special maintenance, etc. Thoughts?

 

I realized that after I searched for AWR links. I might just have to try them out.

 

They were on my short list too. But the shop that was helping me out with endlinks said they're not designed for DD, and by that I mean that noise was not a design consideration at all. The shop has a great reputation in our area and does a ton of racing/track support, specializes in suspension stuff, etc., so I took their word for it.

Nevertheless, I'd love to hear your impressions if you do go that route.

 

Exactlt my thoughts.
You could potentially do a teflon lined version that would be clunk resistant.

 

I decide against AWR and bought OEM instead. The AWR's look a bit too aggressive for daily driving. I also never noticed that the OEM's German made FoMoCo. No wonder they last me so long, German Ford stuff is pretty high build quality.