On those original struts, they don't bottom or top out at all. Excellent ride quality. Could be that they are just dried out from the inside. Car was from NorthEast so I had to deal with all types of weather. Now car is in Nevada and have to deal with the heat.
Took car to local garage and they said it was the rear control arms (just forward of the stamped steel trailing arms) that was making the noise. Got a quote of $308 for parts and labor. Said that the springs had to be compressed to install new arms. I'm just going to keep spraying with WD40 now that I know what to look for.
