I've had this chatter that i have coming from the rear passenger side. Today I was swapping the diff with a new (used) one.. once i had it off of the front diff member i noticed this:

 

Passenger side bracket is pushed up into the bushing and front member

 

 

pushed right up against the stopper on top

 

 

This is the drivers side. You can see the even spacing between the bracket, member/bushing, and the stopper on top

 

 

Looks like the previous owner ran into something pretty hard... What do you think has happened here and what do i need to replace? To me it almost looks as if that entire bolt got pushed right up into the car.. that would mean the threads inside there are hosed and the bolt is probably stripped in there pretty bad. What do you guys think?

An ASE-certified mechanic used this bracket to hoist the car. It is not designed to carry vertical load. With any luck, it can be fixed by disassembling and bending the bracket back into shape.

i have to try breaking that bolt out tomorrow, but looking at the FSM that bolt has a pretty long shoulder and the threads are only at the end which i assume bolts into the body of the car.

 

It looks like the bolt got pushed straight up with the bracket too though, right?

An ASE-certified mechanic used this bracket to hoist the car. It is not designed to carry vertical load. With any luck, it can be fixed by disassembling and bending the bracket back into shape.

 

What, did you do it? That kind of statement adds nothing to the topic. Someone probably did as you describe. But the rest is out of context. Although, I would be more apt to believe someone rested the car on a jack stand there. All hoists I have seen have rubber pads designed not to bend over the metal.

Edited May 18, 200916 yr by Qman

I see that we agree, in principle, on how this could come about.

Once they were past the pinch weld on the rocker they looked no further.

 

Atleast they got past bending the pinch weld - you need to look at the positive.

 

At the risk of upsetting another group of folks I've seen a lot of tire places lift in the wrong place. Cars that I work on and do the maintenance on.

 

One of the many reasons I got a 4 post lift. It's not always the best but there isn't the inconvenience of getting under the car to look at jack points 4 times on each car. That's more trips under the car than would be needed for lets say an oil change.

 

In short it comes down to laziness in my opinion. Not training, not the lift, the unwillingness to be particular about one's work. They figure no one will ever know or be able to trace it back to them. Would be a heck of a topic for one of those consumer guys on the news. Take a car to different garages and see who lifts it properly.

What, did you do it? That kind of statement adds nothing to the topic. Someone probably did as you describe. But the rest is out of context. Although, I would be more apt to believe someone rested the car on a jack stand there. All hoists I have seen have rubber pads designed not to bend over the metal.

 

Gee I thought it added a little humor to the thread.

Gee I thought it added a little humor to the thread.

 

It did...

 

 

to anyone who is not a certified mechanic.

well, actually, i'm pretty sure he ran over something

 

you can see that whole side is covered in some type of tar or something and also there's a pretty massive dent in the fuel tank on that side as well.

 

In any case, when that outrigger gets any play in it from the differential engaging, it bumps up against the bracket since it's all smashed together.

My 1995 Impreza has a tar-like coating on the bottom from the factory. Probably sound deadening. Looks like in some places, it was applied before the paint and in others, after. Not sure about newer models.

FWIW, there's a TSB warning against using that location as a jacking point.

The "tar" is undercoating. One side has it, the other doesn't. To me, that indicates a possible body repair at some time in the past. Or maybe just a sloppy application at the factory.

 

In the second photo, the metal on one edge of the bracket is smeared. Looks like the car went over a rock or something.

 

If you can bend the bracket so it doesn't touch the arm, the noise you hear will probably stop.

well it doesn't really look like the factory underbody coating, but it's definately a possibility that it was sprayed after.. possibly some repair work.

 

it's so heavy on there there were drops that solidified. it's all over that side of the car, on the handbrake cables, fuel tank, ugh..

Looks like undercoating to me. Go Rusty Jones!

this is pretty common from what i understand. just bend it away and everything should be fine.

 

someone changing a tire could have used it as a jacking point. to the uneducated eye it looks like it should be one.