OK, so I've had my 98.5 1.8TQM lowered on neuspeed sport springs and KYB shocks for over a year now, and I'm starting to get a hum coming from the passenger side rear wheel well. I did some investigating and that side is sitting almost an inch lower than the rest of the car. The control arm is rubbing on the wheel well, which in turn vibrates the entire car. I know that my control arms in the front need replaced, but how often do the rear bushings go bad? And would that cause it to sit that much lower? I didn't hit anything that would have bent my control arm, so i can't imagine that being the case. it seems to be getting worse, and from the stuff I've read when I searched the archives, the only thing that comes up for that noise is a wheel bearing. Any help you guys can offer would be much appreciated.

 

rear control arms/bushings can go bad and do need replacement. repeatedly backing up hard over bumps (speed bumps, end of driveways, etc...) while turning will cause more load on one side of your rear suspension. This does happen unfortunately, andlowering the caris not 100% to blame. It will happen on a stock suspension as well over time, it just takes longer.

 

Would that cause enough of a drop to make it rub though?

 

Not sure.
Loosen the lug bolts.
Jack up the car just forward of the rear wheel well on the problem side - you know the place to put the jack, right?
remove the wheel and do a visual inspection.
Make sure you don't have any broken or missing bolts, nothing is bent, etc.
Compare everything on the problem side with the good side and see if you can find anything different.

 

your car isnt lowered nearly enough to cause problems, sure it may increase wear on parts, but those parts were going to wear out and need replace anyway

 

A rotted out bushing will allow the control arm to move beyond its intended spec, possibly allowing the arm to touch the tire.