Pworld925

Please help diagnose problem:

When going over bumps, even as small as street reflectors, a clunking/rattling noise comes from the rear driver side suspension. Car's ride height appears to be same in all corners, not sure if this rules out blown strut, but i do notice that tire wear is same on drivers side rear and passenger front (outside of tire facing street is worn bald). Possibly could be toe'd in or out too much? Just wondering where I should start and what to look for to help diagnose the problem?

BTW car is completely stock, daily driven 99' civic dx coupe.

thanks in advance.

jbpnoman

Ride height doesn't mean your strut isn't shot - it's a possibility. Your trailing arm bushing might also be shot. In fact, it could be any number of bushings in the rear that are shot.

Best thing to do is jack up the rear end, take off the wheel, and inspect all of your bushings as well as your strut. A blown strut or bushing is easy enough to spot.

slomofo

iTrader: (1)

Go to an alignment shop and ask for a four wheel alignment.

You need an alignment anyway, obviously, but they won't be able to perform the alignment if something is out of spec. There's a good chance that they'll come to you saying that they can't do the alignment and tell you exactly what's wrong, so you can go fix it yourself and come back to the alignment shop to have them finish it up. You kill two birds with one stone; get rid of the noise and fix your tire wear issue.


There's two things that the alignment shop won't check back there that could make the noise. These two things are sway bar end links/body bushings and the rear struts. You can check these two items yourself before running down to the alignment shop.

jbpnoman

I don't know about that, slo. Shops are out to make money. Every shop I've worked in or dealt with in VA and FL has always checked struts, bushings, and end links, and a few of them refuse to align a car with problems. Do those things affect the static alignment? No, but the average person doesn't know that. Can they affect dynamic alignment? Yes.

It takes 5 minutes to check these things with the wheel off, there's no reason for a shop not to check it, if for no other reason than to get money out of the owner. Rub the strut, feel for leaks. Visually inspect for leaks. Wiggle things around and listen for blown bushings. Visually inspect trailing arm, strut tower, and lower control arm bushings. Visually inspect tie rod ends. Pop the wheel off, OP, and see what you can see. If you see anything that looks like it might be bad, feel free to take a shot and post it up.

fragmare

This ^

Fix any worn bushings or struts you have BEFORE you get your alignment fixed. If you don't, you're just wasting time and money on an alignment because whatever is worn out back there is just going to cause it to go out of alignment again soon enough. Get the back tire(s) off and get down under there and take a good look around. I'm guessing you have a bushing back there that's clanking metal-to-metal, but it could also be a strut. You won't know until you see for yourself.

Pworld925

thanx for the help guys, took the wheel off and no signs of leakage/oil from strut or metal to metal contact with bushings. All bolts checked and nothing is loose...

Only thing i did find/see was what appeared to be shavings from upper strut mount area