just call me grossly

I replaced both front end sway bar drop links in my 03 today. I was hoping to eliminate a rattle that tended to turn up on hot days. After the replacement, the rattle got worse (more easily triggered). After poking around on various forums, I gathered that maybe I have torqued the bolts on the drop links incorrectly. Has anyone here done this before? Does anyone know the right amount of torque for the two bolts holding these links in place?

Sway bar link to sway bar: 37 ft-lb (50 Nm)
Strut assembly to wheel bearing carrier: 63 ft-lb (85 Nm)

Should have checked my Bently manual before asking.

... that shouldn't change a rattle in a factory droplink.
The rattle in a droplink is caused by a worn (and sealed)bearing.
My bet is that your rattle wasn't drpplink related in the first place.
To know if a drop link is worn to the point where it needs replacement, if you can freely move the ends with your fingers, they are worn.
If the ends feel hard and offer resistance to movement then they should be good to go.
Sometimes the rattle may be coming from a worn or incorrect swaybar bushing that allows too much play.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

I'm kind of a jackass when it comes to bolt tightening, never missing a chance to over or under torque

I'm sure that the link on the driver's side needed replacing since its rubber boot thing was torn open. Here it is next to the new part

[www.tapir.caltech.edu]

Still you're likely right that it wasn't the source of my rattle. My replacing these was kind of a shot in the dark. My local indy thought that they could be the cause. Since they were cheap and simple, I thought I'd give them a try. Is there a simple way to diagnose a bad swaybar bushing, by pushing around on the bar I mean? I also thought of removing the big underbody shield to try and get a look at the bushings. I've never looked at this part of the car before though, and I wonder if taking off the shield would reveal much.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2012 12:20PM by Steve (Berlin & LA). (view changes)

Those are the long aluminum arms at each corner. They use a bolt at each end. These things will feel fine, but changing them resolved my 986's rattles on two occasions, separated by a few years. Ambient temperature didn't make a difference, but the noise would show up after driving the car for maybe a half hour or so. Fortunately, they're cheaper than the transverse arms, and were about $185 each in maybe 2006.
Oh, and the sound was something like drumming one's fingertips on a Frisbee.

On the other hand, and against it being a trailing arm(s,) you say the noise got worse after changing the drop link pieces.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2012 01:13PM by Laz. (view changes)

It turns out that I did indeed grossly under-tighten one of the bolts. Pretty impressive when you consider that this is a 4-bolt job. After tightening things correctly, the rattle is completely gone. Should have done this years ago. I had the rattle so long, I might start to miss it.