Alright I am lost, I had an Steeda Adj. UCA installed the other day and now I have a clunk in the rear end. This occurs when there is a quick movement in the rear end such as a bump/ quick decel/ etc. it clunks, kinda like metal on metal. Everything is torqued tight so that is why I am stumped...

Has anyone else had this problem?

 

I did immediately after installing the Adj. UCA. The test drive revealed exactly the sound and conditions you described. Pulled back into the garage and checked that I had torqued every BOLT down just fine. I did, but I forgot to tighten down the jam NUT on the rod ends. Once I did that, clunk gone.

I also marked the nut to the arm shaft so I could easily see if it worked itself loose. It's been over 6 months of daily driving with no sign of it coming loose.

I hope that helps.
Best,
-j

 

Here, I found these pics to show what I'm talking about, in case it wasn't clear from the written account.

Here's a shot of the arm/bracket assembly before it went into the car. I had set the preliminary length, and completely forgot to tighten down the jam nut. Note that this was done on the front nut, but not on the rear.


Here's a shot of the arm/bracket installed before I put the pinion snubber on. Disregard the socket on the differential (that's how I was able to hold the flag nut in place to get a proper torque). Notice how the back nut isn't even close to the arm? BAD.


Hope that's even more helpful.
Best,
-j

 

The bolt under the seat is torqued, but I will check the jam nuts in the morning and paint pen the placement. I am going to try and find some Red loctite tomorrow and place it on the jam nuts, I'll post the outcome.

Thanks for the response.

 

Yep the shop tightened the jam nuts... but since it is impossible to impact them, they were "hand tight"....

I am glad to spend money on a part to get installed and after all I'm having to R&R it myself. I think I should of done it in the first place...

 

Hey GA,

Just to be clear, are you saying they were visually snugged up, or you were able to get in there and tighten them yourself (thus realizing that they were "no more than" hand tight)? Did you tighten them more, or did you leave it as the shop did?

I know what you mean about not being able to impact them, but you should be able to tighten them down fairly well. A dab of Loctite and they shouldn't be coming loose. Also, I'm assuming you also double checked the main bolts through both ends of the control arm as well as the two rear bolts that mount the bracket as well, yes? If not and you need torque specs, let me know.

Given the position the front one is in (nestled oh-so-sweetly in between the bracket), I had a devil of a time getting that one done. There's the outside chance that the shop might have just called it a day on that one (so it's important for you to check yourself). BTW, have you taken it to the shop and asked them to address the noise?

Best,
-j

 

On the first note the jam nut was visually tight (unfortunately), I was ready to take it off with the wrench and to my astonishment it was already loose!.... No loctite to be found on Any bolt. You might be right they just wanted that car out of their shop.

My car is still sitting in the air from the original post, work has been busy. There is not enough hours in the day unfortunately to drop the car off again anytime soon. I think I'm going to wait till this weekend to finish it up.


I will post the final results of the test drive with in the next few days.

 

BASTARDS!

Yeah, I'm about ready to lay down strong odds that this is the source of the noise.

As I recall (hard to tell, I think I've created a mental block of the episode), I had to try out a half dozen different wrenches on that nut before I could get one to clear the bracket enough to give it a little twist. Not all wrenches are shaped the same even when of the same size. I almost went to pick up a cheap wrench and grind down the sides, but the old man loaned me a few of his and one of them worked.

Hopefully you can just get in there with no issues. Keep us updated, and good luck.
Best,
-j

 

Have you checked into the "spacer"?

http://www.steeda.com/products/adjus...ontrol_arm.php

Stepped Spacer Details
This spacer is designed to fix the problem with the OEM upper link. At the attachment point for the upper link to the chassis mount Ford uses a 14mm bolt, but the opening in the mount is 16mm. This is not typically a problem with the OEM mount as it uses a soft hydra mount bushing to soften this. But once an aftermarket upper is installed with a urethane bushing can transmit this noise or clunk. This space can be installed with all aftermarket upper that still use a 14mm bolt. The stepped spacer takes up the slop and eliminates all noise from the upper. Note, it does work with aftermarket chassis mounts with smaller then 16mm bolt holes.

 

All you need to tighten the jam nuts is two wrenches. They don't have to be super tight.

I don't even bother with loctite on the upper anymore. I've adjusted it a lot and it's always tight when I go back. Get two big wrenches. I actually use a big crescent wrench to hold the adjustable shaft and a 1 1/8 inch wrench to tighten the nuts.