306 rear beam bearings failing?

[-Mike-]

Hi all,

Just spoken to another mechanic friend and he said the clunking from the rear of my car is the rear beam bearings failing? I thought it would be bushes or something, my current mechanic said it was nothing?

Anyone shed some light on it that knows french cars? Lopez?

Thanks

 

[Lopéz]

Bearings normally gives negative camber and creaking noises. Clunking tends to be the rubber bushes that sandwich between the body and the beam - they look like square blocks with 2 bolts sticking out from either side.

 

[The_Dark_Side]

Bearings normally gives negative camber and creaking noises. Clunking tends to be the rubber bushes that sandwich between the body and the beam - they look like square blocks with 2 bolts sticking out from either side.

have you ever heard of anyone overhauling a torsion rear axle?
it looks like a bad job to take on to be honest.

 

[Lopéz]

Theres a guy on 205GTidrivers forum who performs it as a service (for a fee)

It's a thankless task, you need to hammer out the shafts, press the shafts out of the hubs, replace all the bearings, repack with grease, press the new shafts into the hub (any wear on the shafts and they MUST be renewed) and reassemble - you must renew EVERY component or it won't last more than a year or so.

It's a horrible, grotty, awkward job.

Luckily, the rubber bushes are easy - you just undo them, wedge the beam downwards, prise them out and replace.

 

[The_Dark_Side]

Theres a guy on 205GTidrivers forum who performs it as a service (for a fee)

It's a thankless task, you need to hammer out the shafts, press the shafts out of the hubs, replace all the bearings, repack with grease, press the new shafts into the hub (any wear on the shafts and they MUST be renewed) and reassemble - you must renew EVERY component or it won't last more than a year or so.

It's a horrible, grotty, awkward job.

Luckily, the rubber bushes are easy - you just undo them, wedge the beam downwards, prise them out and replace.

i've always thought it was the type of job to turn down.
i was under the impression the sound of the car crashing and thudding over bumps was the torsion rod had failed or at least had lost some of it's elasticity.
are you saying it's more than likely the rear mounting rubbers?

 

[Lopéz]

are you saying it's more than likely the rear mounting rubbers?

Normally - or the bolts holding the ARB to the endplate have sheared and it's flapping about (happens LOADS more than people think!)

 

[The_Dark_Side]

Normally - or the bolts holding the ARB to the endplate have sheared and it's flapping about (happens LOADS more than people think!)

i'm shuddering just thinking what a pug dealer would charge to overhaul the axle.
anyhoo cheers for the info.

 

[Lopéz]

That's a healthy axle. The yellow is the stub axle shaft itself, the blue part is the beam tube. The red bits are the inner and outer bearings that keep it all at the right angles. When the bearings give in the wheels are allowed to camber, and in bad cases, the end of the axle shaft starts boring through the actual beam tube itself..... not good......

 

[-Mike-]

Someone commented the other day that my wheels have a slight camber but it does clunk as well so I'm confused as to what it is. I just don't want to get ripped off by either of the two people I know

 

[Lopéz]

To be honest, if the wheels are cambering noticably then the bushes are likely well past their best. Change the bushes first, they are easy and cheap. If it doesn't solve the noise, then you can think about exchanging or refurbishing the beam.

 

[-Mike-]

This is a job that pro mechanic mike can do? I'm not sure which bushes I need in the gsf catalogue but assumably I will be able to see if I jack her up? Thanks for the help lopez, as always

 

[Nathan]

without doubt its the main beam axle mounts and/or bushes. Get the lot from GSF for under 50 notes. You will notice the handling afterwards will feel amazing. Rear shot beams on 306's are VERY rare as they are still newish compared to the older 205's.