I was having some fun, "drifting" around on the gravels. Car's so light, it skims, doesn't even really leave tracks at all, and its nice, the counter steer is responsive....
But my back end hit a packed patch and I get a "BOOM CLANK"
Uho.
Stopped now, I slowly pull foreward. I get series(es) of three clicks "click click click" pause "click click click" It changes with speed. Its coming from the rear end. The one tire is flatter than I remember. The car shakes a little, even at very slow speeds. (less than idle in 1st)
Crawl back to gf's house. Ask her to come with me so she can drive and I can walk beside and see what I'm hearing. I put it in reverse and I get some siginificant resistance. Just before I'm about to stop trying, I get another loud "CLANK" and a little bit of a crunch sound(maybe, I don't remember.) and all the sounds go away while driving. Moving in reverse fixed whatever was catching.
I fill up the tire and jack up the rear end to take a peek. Everything LOOKS okay, but comparing the two sides... okay, here goes my discriptions, because I don't know what things are called.
The arm that runs from the hub foreward barely clears my right tire. I can't fit my fingers between it and the tire. On the left side, I can. My right stab link sits at about a 60 degree angle and my left sits about 90 degrees (I had jacked up both sides so neither rear tires were touching, so they should both be equal, no?)
It seems, just barely that the support that the stab link runs through is slightly bent.
I wiggle the tires hardcore in every direction, and they only seem to swivel slightly up/down.
The strut clearance is the same on both sides. Thats about all I could figure out at 10:30 in the dark on the cold gravel driveway using two trunk jacks with a poopy flashlight.
btw, its a 93 RS.
This is what I always feared, that on my old car, during a corner, something back there would bend seriously. I guess here it is.
My plan so far is just go to the junkers and pick up both sides. All of the rear suspension minues the struts and drums. Take all the arms that attatch it to the body and the hub.
What was the noises? I looked for parts the may have fallen off, but I found nothing. It was more substantial than plastic.
I drove it home going 40km/h on loose gravel for 4 km. No smells, no heat. Just tires that sit slightly funny. Like a REALLY bad alignment.
Thats my story. Car is retired untill I get that fixed.
Do you guys figure its safe to drive 15km into town to leave it at my Mazda dealership? I would like to do the work there in 20 minutes than here in 2 hours....
Thanks

Ryan