All kindz of clunking noises after front sway bar replacement... HELP!!

[pedrito0906]

Hi all:

I don't know what happened, I just replaced the front sway bar and suddenly the car makes so much clunking noise that it looks it will tear appart, brake, gas, turn, stop... everything makes the car sound horribly.

I put the OE sway bar back and it makes the same noises,... also the car is very misaligned.

All the bolts are very tight with a torque wrench, so it's not a loose bolt.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[XR650R]

I don't know what to tell you, but someone might. Bump.

 

[DangerMouse]

Something obviously isn't correct. I assume you dropped the subframe?

I am going to guess endlinks but without being there it's hard to say.

I would loosen and readjust the subframe and double check the endlinks.

As far as alignment, I marked everything and got the subframe back as close as possible but my alignment was still a smidge off when I took it in for a check. I couldn't notice anything while driving but I had them do it anyway.

 

[pedrito0906]

I didn't drop the subframe, I made sure of that with a jack.
Now that I'm remembering, the rear torsion beam on the other hand... it slammed the floor when I unscrewed the two bolts of the struts.

But what is broken? I'm here in the mechanic to change tires and making him look if he finds anything, but the noises come from every part of the of the car.

I don't think the rear axle is broken, right??

 

[DangerMouse]

I didn't mean drop the subframe literally on the ground. I meant remove the subframe.

If you in fact dropped the rear beam on the ground, you could have damage to the rear brake lines.

I would have everything inspected.

 

[XR650R]

You said "very tight" with a torque wrench. I'm assuming you meant "torqued to spec according to the sway bar maker."

 

[pedrito0906]

No torque specs were in the instructions. I meant to say that so no one thinks it's a loose bolt.

 

[pedrito0906]

The brake lines are fine.

Now, I hear the noise the most when I starting to give gas and releasing the clutch or when I apply the brakes slightly... maybe something with the drive axle?

What happens if I lowered the subframe too lower? I know the drive axle is connected to it, but I could move it freely and nothing looked damaged.

Again thanks for the help with the brainstorming.

 

[XR650R]

No torque specs were in the instructions. I meant to say that so no one thinks it's a loose bolt.

Then something might be too tight. Maybe a lot of things. Torque it all to factory spec, then go from there.

Bushings and the like are sensitive.

 

[DangerMouse]

Yes check that the half shafts are properly seated, they can pop out.

 

[pedrito0906]

Ok, It's fixed... here is what I did, I hope this helps any other person in the future.

I didn't tight that much the bushings of the new sway bar, I left a gap of arount 1/8" in each side, I could move the bar with some effort but not as tight as I did before.

The other thing whas that apparenty the top two bolts holding the subframe weren't that tight because I didn't use the torque wrench because of the space. In the other ones I put around 80 lbs/ft

 

[XR650R]

Glad you got it figured out. Now, go drive the crap out of it!

 

[pedrito0906]

First impressions, the car wants to rotate more in every turn.