Time for another "what to check" thread...

I've got a clunk from my rear suspension. Mostly when the back end of the car goes off a drop, like coming off the back side of a raised mainhole cover. Happens when only one side of the car hits the drop, either side though. Also happens when both wheels "drop". Doesn't seem to happen on compression.

I've tried tightening the swaybar end link bolts (the top ones) many, many times. The first time this noise reared it's head was after I stiffened up the rear swaybar by moving the end links to another hole on the swaybar. After tightening the end link bolts a few times, I got the noise to go away for a few weeks. But, it's back.

I've tried tightening the end links with no load on the swaybar - by jacking up one side of the car at a time, placing a bottle jack under the rear strut and lowering the car until I can pull the end link bolt out of the swaybar with no resistance. Is that the best orientation to have things in to get the endlinks tight?

What else should I check since I cannot seem to make the noise go away by just tightening the endlinks? The swaybar bushing seems like a likely cause, as I've had the bar on for almost three years and it's seen lots of sand and salt. Of course, I don't have replacement bushings handy right now...

I did check the tightness of the bolts holding the swaybar bushings to the subframe, a couple of them were a tiny bit loose, but the noise is still there.

The back of my mind dreads the idea that the subframe mounting bolts are loose - what's the possibility that that has happened?

I guess there's also the bolts holding the top of the struts in place.

My front endlinks needed to be replaced a few months back because they fell apart during my camber plate install, so it's possible that the endlinks themselves are about to blow up.

Wiggling things by hand (like the endlinks and swaybar) while the car is on the ground does not produce any noise, but it's next to impossible to get any leverage on anything while the car is on the ground, so that may be meaningless.

I think that rounds out the list of bolts / parts that have been messed with since my car came from the factory... but there's also all the other parts too.

Working on the car is a pain now that it's cold and gets dark early. And without a lift things are that much more difficult.

And I'm way out of warranty for so many reasons, and the dealership is three hours away, so suggestions to "take it to the dealer" will be ignored.

I feel like I should be enhancing my car maintenance abilities, and this should be something I can at least track down, if not solve on my own.

Oh yeah, no "clunk" noise was noticable while spending two days at speed around Watkins Glen, and no handling strangeness, either.

 

A list of things to try, apply correct torque values to everything including the axle carrier and trailing arm bushing, look at the end of your sway bar with the car elevated and the wheels unloaded to see if it is touching the trailing arm or brushing a spring coil, grab the exhaust canister and shift it all the way to the outside so the hanger contacts the body hanger and see if that sounds familiar, look for looseness in the exhaust cradle (if it’s still stock). Check for a source within the vehicle such as the roll bar side panel mount, boot latch, something behind the trim panel storage area, spare tire area, even the seat belts; sounds can appear to come from a different direction than the place of origin. Do you still have the original boot hatch door latch ring? The part has changed three times and is thicker now to prevent knocks and rattles.

 

So, the answer was... exhaust. k-huevo gets the prize!

The end of one of the hangers was making contact with the heat shield on sharp, one-sided bumps. Massaged the heat shield around a bit, and the noise is gone.

Since I was actually in an insulated garage (thanks, Thompson / TSR53), I also checked the tightness on all the suspension parts, and re-lubed the swaybar bushings.