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I had my torque rods replaced last summer to eliminate clunking in the rear end when taking up drive. The clunking was reduced, but has come back. Last week I loosened and retorqued the torque rods - with the weight on the suspension - and that didn't seem to help. Today, I got under the car and had an assistant move the transmission from reverse to drive while I felt around the suspension components to see what was shifting. The axle/differential moves (the axle spins a little which changes the angle of the differential relative to the ground) when the transmission is shifted and the only play I could find that would allow this was in the torque rods. The trailing arms were solid.
So, my question is how much play should there be in the torque rods? Is it possible that the mechanic put in faulty/incorrect bushings (by the way, the mechanic is several states away so I can't simply return to the shop)? Am I overlooking something? Do I need to apply additional torque to the torque rod bolts?
Any suggestions would be very helpful, I really don't want to rush out and replace parts that are fairly new, but then again I hate having my suspension clunking around.
One additional piece of info - I drove the wagon heavily loaded from SC to CO AFTER the torque rods were replaced. So, if a rear suspension component is particularly susceptible to damage from overloading that may be something I should focus on.
Thanks, sorry for the run-on post.
Tom
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