It’s no secret that we find BA Falcons about as exciting as Home Brand fish fingers. Our dislike for them is documented heavily in several of our previous blog articles including these listed below.
Ford Falcon BA Vehicle Review
However, we have come across several common faults with them that we feel need to be documented here to help the average consumer to diagnose and repair the endless banging and clanging that goes on in the rear end of the BA Falcon.
Its not uncommon for the BA Falcon, the BF Falcon and even the Territory to be plagued with a shopping list of suspension noises that cause the rear end of this car to sound like an eighteen year olds bedhead the night of formal. Whilst some occasions call for the sound of Harvey Norman hardware breaking through gyprock the suspension of a vehicle is no such occasion.
The faults in the back end of the Falcon are many. Starting with the basic and most common, the spare wheel is held down with a rubber strap about as useful as Donald Trumps’ Public Relations Advisor. This strap does nothing and often gets left out. A lot of the carry on happening in the arse-end of your Falcon can be the spare wheel playing pinball in the boot of your car.
Next up is the rear shock absorbers. The shocks themselves aren’t normally the fault but rather the rubber eyelet at the top of the shock where it mounts to the body. These rubber mounts flog out and allow the metal eyelet to move a lot.
The next common cause for nosies in the back end is also the most expensive. The three diff mounting bushes often split. To replace this is a lot of work and we have covered this in the following article.
Ford Diff mounting Bushes
It needs to be noted, a lot of inferior options for these bushes are available online and no mechanic ever should have to warrant your eBay purchased diff bushes. If you buy a product made of blue tack and pencil shavings you can’t expect the mechanic who fits them to warrant it.
Next up in the common list of things banging and clanging is the sway bar link pins. The quickest way to diagnose this is to simply remove them and drive you car around the block. If your noise is gone thats your fault. These are a relatively cheap fix and easy enough to do. Do not just leave them off. They do have a purpose and are needed. leaving them off will dramatically change how the car handles. Your backyard mechanical knowledge will not outsmart Ford engineers who felt these were necessary.
The final item to check is the outer most bushes on all of the rear suspension arms. These are commonly called rose bushes. These are more difficult to diagnose but are commonly known to fail causing knocking noises in the back end. The best way to pinpoint this is to get a set of chasis ears and spend the time locating the exact joint at fault.
All the replacement parts needed for these common faults can be purchased from Pedders Suspension. We have found the quality of Pedders products exceeds factory units, cost a fraction of the price and the technical support we receive from Pedders is second to none. If you are local to Northern Beaches of Sydney ask for Paul at Pedders Suspension in Brookvale.
Browse more blogs on our website www.gdlauto.com.au
For Subaru performance parts and merchandise please visit www.gdlautosport.com.au
