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Rear Suspension Noise Driving me Crazy HELP

94GrandPrixSE

94GrandPrixSE

New member
Replaced the struts about 8,000 miles ago hoping it would fix the problem, made no difference. The car is an 03 grand prix GT 99k miles. I have an audio clip but have yet to figure out how to attach it. Any help is appreciated thanks.
 


Could you be a bit more descriptive on the noise? Like, it only happens on bumps, or while turning, backing up, etc... Did you check everything else while you were doing the struts? Did you replace just the struts, or did you do the mounts as well?
 
could be as simple as the mufflers bouncing and hitting the car under body. when cold push them up see if you can duplicate the sound.
 
Sorry Struts and Mounts bought the quick struts from napa. Noise mainly on bumps makes no difference the way I turn. Yes I went over the entire rear suspension. Is there any way to add audio that may help its a pretty distinct clunk.
 
I checked the mufflers and everything checks out. I replaced one of the trailing arms this summer (it snapped in half). The other one is just the slightest bit bent how could that cause the noise I dont see anything that it could bump or cause any fuss.
 


I could be rubbing in certain areas. I worked on a girls car a while back and one of the lateral arms was bent and causing noise so I heated it up with a torch and bent it back lol
 
Yes everything felt solid besides the back left wheel bearing going out slowly. Tiny bit of play side to side. From what I can tell the noise is coming from the back left but ive had passengers tell me back right. I have been stumped on this one since ive owned the car.
 
I know this sounds retarded, but have one of your friends get in the trunk and take a quick drive. If it's coming from back there they should be able to hear it and give you an idea of what side it's coming from. I do not recommend doing this on a busy/dangerous road as if you get rear ended you could kill your buddy. I did this late at night in a large parking lot once to find a noise w/o having all the other idiots around. Worked like a champ.
 


Just thinking outloud here.

Are the lugs all tight?
Is the spare tire tightly screwed down in the well?
Is there something in the well besides the spare tire that is bouncing around (possibly under the spare tire?)
Are the rear strut bolts still tight?
Might be time to get under there with a rubber mallet and start smacking things to see if you can duplicate the noise. Since it only appears to happen when you hit a bump something is moving and causing the noise, so that rules out the wheel bearing unless it's about to fall apart.

Maybe try getting the entire rear up in the air and setting the knuckles on jack stands so you can put the normal static load on everything and then check the clearances of the suspension components. Maybe one will stand out as just close enough that an upward impact would cause it to hit something else.
 
hey i had a noise like that when i bought my car it ended up being the Ebrake cable bouncing aroung on the axle try zip tieing it and go for a lil drive
 


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