Trailing Arm Bush Failure?
 

Trailing Arm Bush Failure?
What are the sympthons?

MY search on the net reveals the following:-

"Trailing arm bushes will make the back end feel as if it is stepping out while hitting bumps round corners."

"Yes the training arm bushes links the suspension arm to the body. If it goes then the rear wheels move about when cornering and going over bumps. You can feel it when hitting bumps when going round corners and tyre wear increases significantly and unevenly."

"A loud knocking from the rear, some times combined with the feeling of rear wheel stearing would suggest trailing arm bushes ( they go about 60-80,000 miles)."

"Work done today on my e36 involved both rear tracking arm bushes, one had worn so badly, this was causing loud knocking, this was also causing the rear end to jump about when going over bumps or potholes. This seems to have also caused excessive wear on the tyres, glad I didnt have alignment checked for them to tell me the bushes had gone. "

"My '86 535i is getting a dull clunking noise from the rear end on
upshifts, esp. 1st to 2nd. At times I swear you can feel something
shift around back there. The Bentley manual is a little vauge on
troubleshooting the rear suspension.... after going through the
checklist it looked like the trailing arm bushings were suspect."

"I've got an intermittent clunking/creaking sound from the rear left
side of my UK 89 320i whenever I take off and shift between 1st and 3rd gear. I say intermittent because jacking the car up on that side seems to stop the problem for a few days only for it to recur. Replacing the rear shocks and mounts hasn't solved the problem (although the car handles much better). Any ideas what the problem may be? On my E36 this was the trailing arm bushings."

"Clunk Sound at Rear When Letting Off Gas Pedal.
I had a similar problem but when I was accelerating
from dead stop. It was the trailing arm bushing."

What do you guys think ......anybody change their trailing arm bush and if so why?

what about clunking sound.....esp when you slow down or come to an abrupt stop.

I have changed the subframe bushing....lots of improvement but i still get some clunking noe and then.

I have a similar problem and have been trouble shooting. The rear end of my '86 325es "clunks" over bumps in forward and reverse, at all speeds. I first suspected the upper shock mounts so I replaced them but it made no change. The subframe bushings were replaced already so they have been ruled out. I'm thinking the trailing arm bushings and differential mount are next to replace. Please let me know what works for you.

Okay, if you searched the topic, you probably came across a thread I put out a few weeks ago. I had the clunking and the squirly cornering... and concensus was either sub-frame or control arms... or both.

How much $$$ or how involved were the sub-frame bushings you two did? I am debating on putting 'er up on stands and see if I can take a few days and do both. What'da think?

It indeed sounds like the trailing arm bushings. I need to do mine soon. In the rear, I can see that there is about 3 degrees of negative camber caused by the lowering springs and the increased stress ont he bushings. When i go around a corner hard, i can feel the rear end loosen up a little bit, then catch unpredictably sometimes. I've looked into what's involced and it's a major job. At the same time, I plan on repaling the subframe bushings as well. From what i can tell, this involves removing the shocks, brakes, springs, then unbolting the trailing arms from the car and having what's left of the old bushings pressed out and have the new opnes pressed in. I have also read that you have a selection of bushings that you can use to either increase or decrease the amount of negative camber you want on the rear wheels. Right now, I cant say if the existing neg. camber is helping my car's handling, but i do know that is is a real PITA to get the car aligned. I am even thinking of ditching the stock E30 mounts and going with a Ground Control setup that replaces the solid mounts with fully adjustable mounts. These mounts allow you to adjust camber and caster. However in the rear, I dont think this would be advantageous unless you also went to a coil-over setup, as the inboard springs already sorta regulate the camber angle. Then there is always the option of trying to put an E36 style rear end in there. I cant imagine it being too difficult if you are handy with a welder.

All right Jared... I see a technical article coming.... :)

Has anyone got a $ from a shop to do it "professionally"?