I was out for a little cruise in the neighborhood and not far from home, as I approached an intersection for a major thoroughfare, I heard/felt a “pop” from the suspension. Alarmed, I pulled into a gas station to take a quick look-see. Nothing obvious was visible so I headed back home for a more thorough inspection, hearing another “pop” as I exited the gas station. Arriving at home I checked the front suspension points and found nothing loose or unusual. When I got down under the car to examine the rear suspension, I saw the driver-side radius rod missing a nut where it attaches to the frame. It is bolted to the frame bracket with a 5/8” grade 8 bolt. Upon closer inspection I saw that it was hanging on the bolt with only a couple of threads visible. Had it slid all the way off the bolt, the driver-side of my rear axle would have been located only by the coil-over shock, which wouldn’t do much to mitigate its fore/aft movement. Phew!!! That could have been a major catastrophe. Imagine cruising a major 4-lane thoroughfare when your rear axle decides to do the steering. I beat it up to the hardware store and purchased a pair of 5/8” – 11 nyloc nuts (one for each side). Why I didn’t use nylocs when I built it I don’t know. Moral of the story: doing a nut check once every Spring may not be enough. Be careful out there boys ‘n girls.
(PS - On the finished car the rear RR attachment points are not visible due to the 5" channel.)
(PS - On the finished car the rear RR attachment points are not visible due to the 5" channel.)
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