Noise at Rear Wheel on '71

[Bwmurph]

I have a '71, base motor, auto trans, pwr brakes, pwr steering and a/c. I've recently noticed a "clunk" that seems to come from the right rear wheel when I hit the brakes. It seems to come and go and seems to be worse when I hit the brakes a little harder. I thought I had it narrowed down to only happening AFTER I made a right hand turn, but I cannot be completely sure of this. If I ease into the brakes it doesn't seem to happen and it doesnt seem to happen when slowing from high speed (50 mph or more) It actually seems worse at lower speeds (40 mph or lower). Sometimes I THINK I can actually feel the car "slide" or "twist" when I hear the "clunk", but again, I may only be imagining this.

I put the car up on jackstands yesterday and inspected (to the best of my limited ability) the suspension, brakes, trailing arms, shocks, etc... I really didn't see anything that was loose or that jumped out at me that could be causing this. The worst thing I found was that my parking brake adjusting wheels are frozen and I can't adjust them. The parking brake has not worked since I bought the car 2 yrs ago (I ordered the parking brk hardware kit today). The only other thing I noticed were that some of the rubber bushings in the suspension are old and cracked, but nothing seems loose; I shook and pulled on everthing as hard as I could with no results.

Any ideas what's going on here ?

Any help will be appreciated, Thanks,

Bernie O.

 

[Whiteshadow89158]

Might be your bearings. disconnect the half shaft on one side and take off the wheel. and play with the spindle to see if theres any movement back and forth. I'd say if they haven't been replaced before then its definitely time now. $62 for both sides if you do the work yourself. You can also get a basic bushing kit from willcox for $142 if your going under there anyways. I would go with one process at a time because before you know it you'll be restoring the whole rear-end. Happens every time.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Try the rubber bushing at the front of the diff.

 

[Bwmurph]

Mikey / Whiteshadow,

Thanks for your input. I dont think it's the bearings (at least I hpe not), but lord knows I've been wrong about these things before !!

Rubber bushing at the differential never even entered my mind - that bears looking into.

I'll let you know if I find anything out.

Bernie O.

 

[chevy50]

Just my 2 cents worth,you might see if maybe the right rear brake caliper might be giving you some trouble.Maybe the pistons in the caliper could be hangin up because of corrosion in the cylinders,I know the sound you heard,I have had it happen to me on one of mine.It sounds like the brake engages late or releases late.One time I change the rear end oil and put in the additive for positive track rear ends from G.M.,and that seemed to helped also.I hopes this helps in some way.