Clunking from rear strut?

[bigdaddydlc]

On my 93 ATX I am getting a very annoying clunk sound from the rear of the car. I suspect it is from the rear strut. I know I have seen a thread on this issue but can't seem to find it now. Any body have some input for me?

 

[NP SHO]

A few questions for you...

How many miles are on the car?

How much rust (if any) is present on the underside of the car?

Is the suspension still totally stock?



The clunking sound could be attributed to a bad strut, bad strut mount, etc. If the suspension is still totally original, my best advice would be to replace it all. Struts, mounts, springs, endlinks, tie rod ends, bushings... the works. It's going to be quite an investment upfront, but do it once and do it right. If it's all still original, be prepared to spend time getting the old crap off. I'm in NY (in the rust belt) and I've got 3 full weekends into my suspension and I'm ALMOST done. Beware of the pinch bolts that clamp the spindle to the strut. Breaking one of those is a ***** and usually requires being drilled out and replaced with a grade 8 nut & bolt. (I speak from experience) Overall, take your time, replace it all and then forget about having to do it again. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or need guidance while you're doing it. Like I said, I'm almost done with my 95 so it's all still pretty fresh in my mind. Good luck bro, and welcome to the forum!

 

[bigdaddydlc]

Thanks Dan. Good info. At this time I am not ready to dump a bunch of money into the car. It is for my 15 year old son who will get his license in July. The clunk appears when hitting bumps only. It will be a few weeks before I can get it in the garage and take a good look underneath. The car has 135k on it. No rust that I have noticed yet.

 

[NP SHO]

Are they original struts/springs? Most likely the strut mount but I would check everything over.

 

[mrecoolgar]

Upper stut mount.

 

[rubydist]

I agree w/ the above - way more likely to be the strut mount than the strut itself.

 

[bigdaddydlc]

Thanks to all of you for your input. As soon as I can I will pull her in the garage and take a good look at the strut mount. Anything done this job before and have any input for me to make it go easier? Dave from Puyallup, Washington.

 

[NP SHO]

Thanks to all of you for your input. As soon as I can I will pull her in the garage and take a good look at the strut mount. Anything done this job before and have any input for me to make it go easier? Dave from Puyallup, Washington.

Start spraying everything down with wd40 or the likes about a week prior to diving into the job. Definitely make sure you spray the spindle-to-strut pinch bolts, endlinks, etc. with generous amounts of the penetrating oil. You'll thank yourself later. If there are any bolts/nuts that give you a hard time, heat is going to be your friend.

To get to the top nuts on the struts, the easiest thing to do is remove the back seat and package tray. The back seat is pretty self explanatory. The rear package tray is held on by the rear seat belt retractors. There are going to be 2 different size torx bolts that hold each of the retractors in place. I believe they are T40 and T50 but I'm not positive. Once you pull that rear package tray out you'll be able to access the three top nuts on the top of each of the struts. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

 

[SHOGUN88]

Start spraying everything down with wd40 or the likes about a week prior to diving into the job. Definitely make sure you spray the spindle-to-strut pinch bolts, endlinks, etc. with generous amounts of the penetrating oil. You'll thank yourself later. If there are any bolts/nuts that give you a hard time, heat is going to be your friend.

To get to the top nuts on the struts, the easiest thing to do is remove the back seat and package tray. The back seat is pretty self explanatory. The rear package tray is held on by the rear seat belt retractors. There are going to be 2 different size torx bolts that hold each of the retractors in place. I believe they are T40 and T50 but I'm not positive. Once you pull that rear package tray out you'll be able to access the three top nuts on the top of each of the struts. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

You don't have to take the package tray off, ive done it without much difficulty but you will be climbing into the trunk.

 

[Art5]

I actually have noise from the back too and my struts are 2 weeks old. Pretty much all of my rear suspension was rebuilt.

 

[94opalmtx]

I have the clunking noise too, except mine clunks anytime at low speeds. Can the strut mount be tightened until I get around to installing new quick struts?

 

[NP SHO]

I actually have noise from the back too and my struts are 2 weeks old. Pretty much all of my rear suspension was rebuilt.

Hey Art, did you ever figure out what the noise was? I'm all done with my suspension upgrade and I'm having a **** of a time tracing an occasional clunk in the rear when hitting a bump. I've tightened the crap out of everything I can think of and it's still driving me crazy from time to time.