My rear end is noisy and performs poorly. I know a lot of that is associated with the nature of "the beam," but I know it was not this way from the factory. Other than tires, rear struts and springs (all of which are fine on my car) I'm not sure what else to consider. I havent heard of or seen anyone talk about replacing the link bushings or anything else. On smooth roads everything is ok, but going over even semi rough roads is starting to become really annoying. I've done the following things to isolate the problem:
Emptied truck
Secure spare/jack
Checked muffler/piping in rear for rattles
Struts/tires/brakes all new/newish

It seems like it's gotta be the beam. I'm not sure how serviceable it is though. Any ideas?

96 w/ 145k

 

strut mounts?
spring isolators?(not sure if they were used on these cars or not)
that stupid bushing in the middle of the beam?

 

^^ i have that problem with that stupid bushing. its pretty much rotting away. and it make a hidious sound. like a crunch sound.

 

I seem to remember there being an upgraded version available, but I may be thinking about a different chassis. maybe it was for the b14? or the a33?

 

Im confused, what do you mean it 'performs poorly'?

 

theres some bushing options for the lateral links but not for the link that keeps the beam centered (forgot what its called). not much you can do.

my solution: hammer it and drive slow.

 

Sloppy handeling in the rear. Doesn't feel stable. Seems to be excessive side to side movement and harshness. Loud clunking noise over moderately rough roads, seemingly impossible to pin point. This sound/sensation only comes from the rear end. Like I said, rear suspension and brake components have recently been replaced. It's hard to say when this harshness started happening, but it was probably a few months after the shock replacement (about 2 years ago.) I should also tell you that my rear left toe is out of spec by +.04 degrees. Doesnt sound like much, but as stated on the alignment before/after spec sheet, it is out spec. Specified range is -0.13 to 0.22 Mine is 0.26. Obviously I'm sort of stuck with that since there is no way to adjust alignment in the rear. tread wear in the rear seems fine.