Hello everyone. I've heard the term "binding" when referring to upper control arms. Can you please describe what it is that I should be hearing if that is what is happening on my car? A silly question to some but, as some of you already know, I'm hearing noise that I believe is coming from the area of the UCA. Just want to know if I should go back to the stock bushing to eliminate the binding or if I need to do something else. I have next weekend set aside for getting rid of what is an annoying sound.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Cheers,
Jon

 

Binding isn't something you really hear, but you can feel it. What kind of noise do you hear? Are you using urethane bushing at all control arm points?

 

Unless you have an alignment problem, binding should not be an issue. Binding usually refers to exceeding the limit of free movement, or solid bearings going bad.

 

It was more of an issue with the old 4 link setup, on a lowered car with a lot of power the rear axle would wind up and over rotate a bit and hang up if the geometry was that bad, it would kind of pop back out of it after you lifted the throttle. Like something stuck and quickly let go.

 

Jon, did you get the stepper washers? Like I mentioned in the other thread, after installing those and re-tightening my lock nut I have NO noise from the UCA. I had been driving it for about a year with the noise.

Of course...I re-installed my LCAs and that introduced some new noises. I never had the UCA and LCAs on at the same time. Amazing how smooth a burnout test is now.

Be sure to let us know how things go!

 

Thanks for the quick replies and for clarifying the definition of binding. I'm going under the car this weekend to re-torque the LCA bolts. Since I won't have access to a lift for another two weeks, I can't quite reach the UCA. I don't believe the sound I am hearing is coming from the LCA's, in fact, I'm pretty sure it's coming from the UCA. I have the Steeda Stepped Spacers on the desk next to me. I'm hoping they will get rid of the clunk I am hearing when I am driving over rough/bumpy roads or when I stab at the throttle whilst sitting behind someone that insists on going slow.

One thing I was able to re-check today is the clearance between the panhard bar brace and the over-axle of the exhaust pipe on the left side. I surprised to see that I could only get my index finger in there. What is an appropriate gap for that area? The width of my index finger doesn't seem like it is enough.


I'll let you know what I find out.

 

Sounds close. But there should not be much relative motion between the exhaust pipe and the brace. Can you see any evidence of chafing between the two, If they are touching under extrem conditions it should be obvious. You could try grabbing the exhaust pipe and yank on it to see how much it can move as it is not solidly mounted.

http://www.bmrfabrication.com/05Must...alledLarge.jpg

 

I can squeeze the pipe and the brace together, not to the point where they are touching while the car is at rest. Who knows how much it actually moves while driving over rough/bumpy roads. There appears to be some marks on the underside of the exhaust pipe. Not sure if they are from what I have described or from something else. Just for fun, I zip-tied a piece of a mud flap from one of my trucks at work. Will test drive it on Monday and see if that makes any difference. If it does, I'm not leaving it on there, I'll order the CHE panhard bar brace. Over at their website, the made mention of their brace providing "significantly more exhaust clearance". Here is the link.

http://www.cheperformance.com/cartge...pid=158&cid=15

Jon

 

Jon

I see they have mounted the cross brace lower than the BMR. Is there enough room to put a 1/4" or 3/8" spacer in between where the brace attaches to the frame rail (2 bolts)? I looked under my stock one tonight. I have a good 1" clearance between the factory brace and the exh pipe (which is dimpled to make more room.)