Clunking in rear end

[JensenHealey]

So after installing the replacement crossmember in my friend's 2000 SE Sport I have a clunking noise in the rear end when I hit even the slightest bump. I looked under there and everything seems fine. I tried completely emptying the trunk of jack, spare, lug wrench and etc but no luck. Still clunks. It sort of sounds like it might be something at the top of the rear struts or shocks. Is there any common failure areas there that I should be looking for? The car has 145K on it and had been sitting a little while before I started working on it.

Thanks in advance for any info or advise

 

[germanfordguy]

Yup -- strut mounts -- very common

 

[RichR]

Check the Rear Endlinks and Sway bar bushings.

 

[giganto]

That explains some things. I replaced all the struts in my '96 Mystique myself a couple of years ago. Since it was my first time I just assumed the clunking was me putting something together wrong and waiting for some signs of wear to tell me what. Looks like I need to replace strut mounts whenever I do the struts from now on. I even found those bellows, and since the old ones had disintegrated, I even thought they might be rattling around. Some of them have failed already too. I had to replace some brake calipers and the ones from O'Reilly really rusted up. I guess it's time to prime them and paint them red. Has anyone done a braided stainless steel brake line upgrade? Might as well when everything is apart. Who stocks the bushings? I've seen "sport" ones to stiffen the ride, but I consider my Mystiques as "Grand Tourers" which is why I went with the Monroe struts. I don't want a stiff suspension; the roads around me are rough enough already.

 

[Detailpro116]

Lots of places for clunks to come from.

The most obvious is the top strut bushings. These should be changed when replacing struts and/or springs.

Sway bar links and bushings. At this age many bushings will be rotten or worn causing excessive play, the sway bar itself
or the bolts will move and make contact causing a clunk.

On my car, the cause of the clunk is my trailing arm bushings in the hub assembly. You can grab the trailing arm and twist it and watch the bushing flex with the bolt and hear and clunk clunk as it’s travel maxes out in either direction. It’s quite a bit of play and very loud and noticeable when going slow over a bumpy surface.

one other place to double check would be where the strut tab is supposed to sit on the subframe. If that is not seated correctly, this can cause a clunk as the strut can have play over bumps.

I installed new struts and springs in my SVT this spring and quickly found out what a PITA design the suspension is on these cars. I can replace all 4 struts on my Buick LeSabre in about an hour. SVT took me a whole day of fighting and frustration.