Hi all,

 

I'm new to this forum, even though the forum posts have helped me in the past I have hit a small problem that no-one seems to have an answer for.

 

I have a clunk coming from the rear passenger side but it's intermittent. I have had the problem for a few months now and so far I can't find the cause. It only seems to clunk when at low speeds and the rate of the clunk correlates to the rotation of the wheel. Sometimes it will clunk everytime I slow down, other times it wont clunk at all (usually when I have someone inside with me trying to help diagnose it!) - the fact that it doesn't always do it is the most annoying part because it feeds me false hope.

 

I wondered if any of you had a similar problem?

 

Any help is much appreciated.

 

 

Wait till it does it all the time or buy a chassis ear.... or take it to a shop that has one.

 

GD

Check your brakes - pull both pads both sides and check caliper slides. Frozen calipers will allow various forms of play and pads can clunk around.

 

Take note if it's left right or center?

Thanks for your input guys,

 

I will pull the brake pads out and probably replace them for the sake of it. (drum brakes on the back so no caliper to stick). Definitely clunking from the rear passenger side.

Do you have any torque bind?

Is this a new to you vehicle?

 

Mobile version doesn't show your location but rust prone areas have a wide variety of noises due to rusty brake components. Clunking is one as unevenly warn pads flop in the clips when slides don't move or torque unevenly.

Rear will be drums and I'm far less familiar with those but they aren't immune from rust and failures as well.

 

It's still a guess and not a diagnosis.

 

Take note if steering or braking impact the noise. When I does it again play with brakes and steering.

 

Struts and wheel bearings would be other guesses.

broken stud?

 

rear sway bar endlink?

Thanks for all your input everyone -

 

grossgary - doesn't seem to be any torque bind and it's not new to me, I have owned the car for almost 4 years now. Steering and braking have no impact on the noise, it drives me mad because I can literally drive it around for an hour trying to recreate the clunk and it behaves perfectly until I get 50 yards from my house! Other times it will be constant.

I will clean the bearings out at the weekend and check for chips and i'll replace the rear brake pads for good measure. (Oh and i'm in Cyprus so things don't tend to rust very quickly here)

 

1 Lucky Texan, Mechanically there's nothing broken or loose, I have checked every bush and bolt on the rear end (twice).

 

I'll take it for a drive later and see if I can't get a recording of the noise - if it co-operates.

Strut/spring related is my guesswith that additional info.

 

Check very closely there loading it anyway you can to isolate and diagnose.

Hi grossgary,

 

I'll load the car up with all the
garage tools and see if extra weight makes a difference - didn't think to check it under load and the boot's usually empty.

 

 

Thanks again, i'll be back with an update soon.

Ok so I think i've found the main problem - a worn out shock, so credit to you grossgary - Thanks.

 

Can anyone explain why a bad strut would make an intermittent clunk that correlates with the speed of the wheels? I thought for sure it was going to be brake related.

Shocks:

Apart from smoothing out road-bumps, shocks will also smooth-out vibrations from out-of-balance tires.

That constant (and speed-related) vibration can wear out the internals of a shock, causing the distress that you have experienced.

Thank you Forester2002s for clearing my mind - I was starting to think I may have extra problems to deal with after the shocks (which is usually the case).

 

When the shocks have been replaced i'll get the tyres rebalanced too and the tracking done.

 

Thanks for everyones input