Broken thrust arm bushing: Can they cause alignment problems?

[Badshift]

Hi,

I just posted a problem of "clunking" under my hood when I brake or when I go over potholes. It appears from the replies that my control arm bushings may be broken. Will this cause alignment problems in my car? The alignment does not feel "tight" and "perfect" even though I had a 4 wheel alignment done by the BMW dealer. Intermittently, the car will track to the right instead of straight.

What do you think? Damn, this forum is helpful.

Thanks.

[632 Regal]

my thrust arm bushings were bad and I had the infamous clunk also. you think they gave you a 4 wheel alignment when in all probability they only adjusted the fronts, the rears would require offset bushings which they would have charged seperatly for the labor. change the thrust arms and then get an alignment and you should be good to go.

[DaveR 91 535ia, 71 02]

When a pothole tore out one of my thrust bushings there was no noticable effect on alignment. But when braking and coming to a stop you could hear and feel the wheel movement, with more like a thud sound. When I had a bad ball joint on a lower control arm it was more of a knocking/rattling sound when simultaneously braking and running over small holes/ridges.