I was driving my 93 Sol (d15b7) to work this morning and I noticed that there was this repetitive thumping coming from the back rear tire. As I drove faster the thumping got faster and louder also so I decided to get of the highway immediately and check for a possible flat. As I drove back home I also heard what sounded like slight clunking.

The tire pressure was fine and I couldn't really see anything wrong without jacking the car up. I got home from work after dark so I can't check until tomorrow.

I kind of want to get an idea what things to look for that could go wrong so that tomorrow I can inspect everything with the car jacked up.

Some other background info on the car that might help is that sometimes when I am taking of in first gear the car shudders as I release the clutch. It doesn't do this all the time and it does it more often when I have a passenger. I don't know if this is related but I figured it was worth mentioning.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

Remove the wheel. Remove the brake drum, and inspect all of the hardware. Also inspect your wheel studs for damage. Once you've done that, inspect every ball joint and bushing you can find. Look for cracking and leaking, and use a crow bar to push the bushings around and see how they flex.

 

Thanks I'll check those out right now and I will take pictures and post them soon.

 

Okay, so I inspected the whole area that was making noise. And yeah the bushing look like the can maybe use replacements but more importantly I was able to replicate the noise.

When I jack up the car and spin the tire I can hear the same rhythmic thumping and clunking that I was hearing before when I drove. Nothing else is moving besides the spinning tire and I held on to various parts of the suspension to try and isolate it.

I wanted to open up the brake drum and see what was going on inside but I wasn't able to open it up. I will try again soon as it is getting to hot to work outside (south Texas). I took a video of the noise. I'll check to see if you can hear it and if I can I will post it on YouTube and link it in my next post.

Any preliminary ideas as to what it could be?

 

Wheel bearing

 

Wheel bearings usually whine, not clunk. Your drum hardware is probably broken. If you can't get the drum off, go to your local hardware store and get a sledge hammer. Give it a couple whacks. It'll fall right off.

 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ETmXK4I...ature=youtu.be

Here is the video I wanted to post up. Its hard to hear at first but when I spin the tire for the second time it is a bit more obvious.

I guess I will inspect the brake drum components first and if those are good I'll move on to to wheel bearings?

 

It was the wheel bearings after all. Replaced the hub assembly and all is good.

 

good to hear man just had to do the same on my hatch