[Cascade253]

Looking for help diagnosing an issue. In the past week I've gotten a really loud clank/clunk from my passenger side rear, started immediately with no progression. Happens when I go over rough road, going over speed bumps, or make turns, especially when pulling into a parking space. I've yanked on all of the suspension arms and end links but none are loose, I've check the torque on the subframe bolts and they were to spec (have whiteline bushings), wheels are torqued. I have already replaced the upper shock mounts with the Monroe replacements but that did not seem to fix it. I can get the clunk to happen if I bounce on the rear end to cycle the suspension but can't pinpoint where it's coming from. Anyone have any ideas? Car has 70k miles on sport suspension. Blown shock maybe? I would expect to see shock fluid though.

[Wolf 335]

Sounds like the upper mounts, but you replaced those already.

You may need to get under the car and listen while someone else bounces the rear end.

Just double check the upper mounts.

[Cascade253]

Update on the clunking... I replaced the lower shock mount on that side with the monroe replacement as well, upon taking the shock out and the lower mount there was a bit of rusty buildup on the shaft portion that passes through the mount. I scraped/wire brushed it clean before reinstalling it in the newly installed mount with some synthetic grease. The old mount did seem really tired and worn and it took a bit more force to get the shock back in the top mount hole with the suspension fully drooped with the new mount. I installed and tightened down on the inside mount once the car was back on the ground. I'm not sure if I did that for the drivers side as well when I replaced the top mounts, but I'm not getting clunking from that side.

During a brief test drive going over speed bumps that would cause the clunk and driving to work the next day everything was silent and I had thought the issue was fixed. Then on the way home it returned and now a day later almost seems to be worse than what it was before especially when I go over the speed bumps.

Just so I'm not crazy, the monroe upper mounts came with 4 pieces, a inside top rubber piece which contains the nut, the lower outside rubber piece, a sleeve which reside inside the two pieces, and a large flat fender washer with an ID the size of the shaft. My order of operation for installing was flat washer ontop of the metal cup which faces down, then sleeve and lower rubber mount, then the thin rubber cup ontop of the rubber piece that faces down, then of course once the shock is through the hole the inside mount. This is correct right? Want to make sure I didn't solve one issue just to make another.

Any thoughts? I am about to throw in the towel and take it to a shop to get it diagnosed and take it from there.

[MadJoe]

You've primarily focused on the passenger side, I think it's time to disassemble the driver's side and ensure the problem isn't there. I had a clunk in the back not to long ago and replaced upper and lower mounts along with both shocks on both sides, which cured the clunk and made a big improvement to the ride. At 70k you should replace both shocks and all mounting hardware anyway, but if you can't afford that at least replace the mounting hardware (upper and lower) on both sides. You should always work symmetrically with wheels, tires, brakes, and suspension. Meaning if you replace a part on one side, replace its corresponding part on the other side at the same time.

[Cascade253]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm pretty far along in the path you suggested, both top mounts replaced and passenger lower mount replaced, the drivers side side lower mount has not been replaced yet because there was only one available from the store I picked it up from.
As an update, I had removed the sway bar end link on the passenger side and did a short test drive and it was still there with the sway bar not connected so I don't think that is the issue, I then swapped the shocks to see if it was the actual shock making the noise. After I did this the sound went away on the initial test drive but on my way into work (~15 mi) the clunk came back near the end of my commute. It seems very strange that this is the second time now where I have gotten the noise to go away only to come back again. Will be checking on the lower shock bolt torque to make sure it's still good but I can't imagine that it has loosened up any. Manual says 28 ft-lb for the nut. When reinstalling the shocks I did lower the car back down onto the tires to get the suspension at ride height then installed and torqued the bottom nut and top mount.