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iTrader: (1)

Hey guys...so i have had a minor clunk in the passenger side rear for about 6 months now. Does it when the wheel drops at slow speed into holes and lately have noticed it when turning to the left on uneven pavement like ripples or other rough surfaces.

It is not the Bilstein shock as both those in the rear were just replaced to rule that out. Tophats were swapped out for known good ones with no visible wear at all. All bushings and ball joints were checked out. No movement was detected and the boots are all intact and in good shape. Car has 78K on it. I do have a full ES bushing set that can go on but holding off on that until I get the clutch repaired in the car as it is starting to slip ( original clutch ).

The only thing I found and what i want to inquire about is the following....the passenger side axle has side to side movement of the stub going into the rear diff. NOT play of the axle going into the stub but the stub going into the diff. There is no leakage whatsoever and the LSD fluid has been changed religiously every 10K with the factory Diaqueen LSd fluid. Yes it is full. ( I checked ) The original owner of the car ( i bought it in 2006 with 4500 miles on it ) had Robispec re-arrange the LSD plates to the correct order at 1500 miles on the car ( so i was told ).

Anyways the play is enough that if you push quickly it will give a clunk. It moves about 1/16 of an inch. the drivers side has much less play but it is there..it doesnt clunk when pushed though.

I read in one of the rear diff threads in this forum or the other regarding diff mustache bushings that the side plates can get worn and then the bearings go bad. Would this clunk be indicative of that issue? Has anyone had the side bearings or the side plate go out? Did it give a clunk in the period of time before failing completely?

If anyone has had the TRE upgrade with the beefed up side plates, please PM me with info as to why John came up with the stronger side plates and the symptoms of what was failing. I would appreciate it :-)

BTW there is no whine or other strange noise from the rear ( just the clunk ). All bushings were tested with a large crowbar. Same for the ball joints. No play. And there is no play in the wheel bearing. Everything is solid.

I am beginning to suspect that the clunk other people have might be traced to this issue as well. If any one has a clunk in the rear, please get under there and pull on the axle hub to see if there is side play. I need someone who has no clunk to check as well to see if they have play. If they do then there must be something else going on I have missed or overlooked

I appreciate your looking ....

Milburn

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iTrader: (1)

bump to top for replies

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iTrader: (1)

Ok so I traced the clunk to the lower ball joint on the rear passenger trailing arm. Actually had to pry with a 4x4 with the suspension mostly dissassembled.

Definitely the ball joint. The play I found on the stubs going into the rear end is apparently the same on all EVO 8 9 . A local shop weighed in on this with their experience. So no issue on the stubs

So now that is figured out, I need to know if the ball joint is replaceable or if I have to get a whole trailing arm from Mitsu. Actaully I would want 2, to replace the lowers on both sides

any one know this? Got a part number for the ball joint? Orderable from where?

Anyone pressed this out? difficulty? how about pressing the new one in ?

LMk

Thx for looking and replies in advance

charlie.tunah

iTrader: (7)

Im not sure if your terminology is right. But Im having the same symptoms. And traced it down to here

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...m-clunk-2.html

Mitsuparts sells the spherical bushings in rear LCA. All the other bushings are available from Works, Whiteline, and Energy possibly others. Ive bought an energy kit and some misc works bushings that didnt come in the kit and went ahead and justified the purchase of a HF shop press instead of having to take to a shop. Shouldnt be too hard.

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iTrader: (1)

Charlie...thanks for the post... I had a local shop familiar with EVo's test and confirm it this week that all the bushings on the arms are good..spherical or poly ( yes i have Superpro and ES ones except the spherical ones and they do not have any play..tested that :-)). The play is actually that lower ball joint...it moves about 1/8 inch, you can feel it under compression and droop... and hear the clunk ... so it is shot.

I appreciate the advice though. I have a shop locally that can do any pressing as well. Be aware the HF presses can be a bit flimsy to work with. And you will need a full collar set to press bushing s in/out. IIRC ES tells you the size of the collar to use on some of the bushings..

Thanks again and bump for answer to the following question....is the ball joint on the rear trailing arm replaceable ? Has anyone done this? If so where did you get the parts ?

Lastly are the boots for the rear trailing arm ball joint replaceable ? Has anyone done this ? Where did you get the parts? Reason im asking is if I buy used parts the boots may need replacing.. Any info would help here....


Thanks for looking and helping out...

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iTrader: (1)

Part numbers from Mitsubishiparts. net for the rear suspension ball joint boot covers.

top boot(need 2)
MR455070

bottom boot(need 2)
4110A055

snap rings(need 4 if you don't want to reuse them)
MR403013

given to me by ajstephenacci a fellow EVoM member.

Thanks AJ !!

So CT9A rear ball joint boots are available OEM. Just a heads up everyone