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My car is busted....

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

Sounds like you bent the Trailing Arm and at least one of the Lateral Links on that side. AS to the noise that went away with a Clunk...hard to say. It might have been something with the strut and spring got wiggy when you did the damage and the sring reseated itself when you backed up...just guessing.

It is extremely doubtful that you damaged the subframe or spindles/rotors. You may want to take a close look at the struts and springs though. It's possible that the sway bar bent, but most likely the bent Lateral Link is causing the sway bar end link to be sitting at a weird angle. All of that stuff can be a serious PITA to remove, but mechanically it's not complicated at all.

It's a perfect time to prepare for a set of new polyurethane bushings.

I'm a whore. Don't judge me.

I don't know what "drifting" on gravel is, but that doesn't sound like recommended method of driving. Clearly your car is not a prepared rally vehicle, so why treat it like one? I hope you learned a lesson.

Luckily it doesn't sound too bad. Just some bent suspension parts. Good luck with that.

Yes, I realize I was abusing the vehicle.

Now I'm gonna have to pay to fix it.

Lesson be learned.

Not good enough Ryan. Go out, go out now and lick the battery posts. I think you were just looking for another reason to return to Ryan Heaven. Good luck

Awhile ago I had too much weight in my old 323, and snapped the lateral link. The one that connects the back of the spindle to the underneath frame of the car. Basically over 20mph, it would make the whole car shake. And would make clicking sounds. Those links can easily snapped with enough pressure.

Not sure what all the noise was, but the passenger trailing arm was popped right off hte bushing and grinding against the hub. Popped it back over, but it still needs replacing. The sway bar may be a little bit bent, but I'm not going to worry about that at this point Lateral links seem fine.

hmmm sounds like the next project on the site should be super-reinforced lat arms and trailing arms to complete a nice durable suspension that can take lots of abuse

Thats just the thing. I'm debating adding some... reinforcement, now that I know how to weld
This was even less abuse than doing an unintentional sliding on pavement. Someone must have wiped out on asphalt, I bet their rear suspension wasn't messed up.... Not bent at least. I now understand why RWD cars are much better for drifting The rear tires are already spinning, not gripping. You don't want to make the transfer from static to kinetic friction while moving laterally...

why not just add a miata double wishbone independent rear suspension back there? and a rear differential while you are at it? oh and a miata double wishbone front suspension and a nice tranny tunnel? Maybe some miata HVAC stuff too? See what I am getting at here? Oh and then maybe take a trip to V8 miata.com and check out their kits to fit your new suspension?

that right there would be an awesome MX-3 right there...

But that would mess with my school budget

If I had a coule thousand lying around, sure I'd go for a V8 (maybe rotary? how about diesel?)Miata with an MX on top. I could aslo judge whether or not I'd bang Palin, I could pump toxic gasses into my intake, bypass the coolant lines that run thorugh my TB, slam a huge anime sticker on my hood, put some probe header(s) on it, get a UDP, adjust my fuel screw, swap to an auto, ask about belt driven turbos (this one was mine)....

and I might just buy a VTEC sticker.


Yes, I'm losing it. Forgive me.

sorry to hear the about the unfortunate incident, hope you learned your lesson.

Everyone is reprimanding me

That wasn't really the point.

I am formulating a more rigid lateral link and trailing arm solution. I think it will be my next project after the bushings are dealt with.