rear end clunk in 1936 buick

[Guest Jeff_Miller]

It is time to tackle another winter project and I'm eyeing up trying to resolve the nasty sounding clunks that I experience when taking a turn at speed.

I looked at the shock bushings where they attach to the axle and they are defiantly toast but is this the only real suspect?

The shackles that hold the leaf springs haven't been touched in many years and are covered with old grease. I'm certain they won't be fun to try to take apart after all these years so I'm wondering if it is worth doing while I'm replacing the shock bushings. I'm certain things would work better but I don't think they are a likely source of the clunking.

The other issue with the leaf springs is that clearly much of the leather is now gone. One friend has suggested that the leaf springs might themselves be making the noise because there isn't any leather left between the leafs. I looked at them and I don't see this as a likely scenario because it looks to me like the leafs are mechanically fastened and shouldn't be sliding a lot. Is this something to look into as a solution to the clunking?

Jeff

[Mark Shaw]

Jeff,

Do the easy things first; fix the shocks to see if the trouble goes away. Years of road grime and lack of fresh lube may also cause shackle pins to wear out and eventually cause the clunking you hear and feel. It seems that you need to clean & lube your shackles anyway.