I've had 4 Brats...all of them have had this noise...but my current Brat has it in spades. I get a loud hard bump which sounds to be coming from the right rear wheel well area. It only happens on potholes. Everything underneath looks good. This Brat has very low miles but spent a long time sitting stored. Can a shock absorber make a loud clunk?

 

It does not make noise on paved surfaces. We jacked up the wheel and pushed down on the bed, but could get no sound.

 

Another symptom is that it veers differently when you jerk the steering wheel....it's softer to one side than the other which makes me think one shock is dead...perhaps broken inside. Do the torsion bars in the rear suspension ever break? We thought maybe this could be the problem....but the Brat sits level, and when raised up on a rack all the wheels hang down the same distance.

 

We have thought about just taking off the shocks to check them and to see if the noise disappears....any suggestions?

check the wheel bearings on my EA82 wagon it makes all sorts of god awful noises when the wheel bearings are getting bad

 

since its a brat u arent going to hear the howling noise like a back door on a wagon is open while u drive down the road. jack it up in the air and check for top and bottom movement by grabbin the top and bottom of the tire and shaking

Struts and/or strut mounts shot? They'll clunk.

Raccon trapped in the wheel well?

 

nipper

bad rear strut.

 

exhaust hangers banging, but that should be obvious.

one of the numerous bushings shot.

Check the bushing in the rear diff hanger. Its the round one on top in the front.

Check the bushing in the rear diff hanger. Its the round one on top in the front.

this brings up a good point - can you tell if it's "left/right" or more central? that would be a big help to know.

 

when they are completely shot (gone) they clunk when giving it gas - torquing the driveline and banging things around. clunk, clunk every time you hit the gas hard. in this case i would guess some of the bushing is still there, so inspect it closely.

 

have you tried you and a buddy pressing (or jumping!) on the bumper really hard and fast?

Thanks for all the suggestions

 

I am going to try some serious jumping up and down on the bumper. Also thought of using a tractor bucket to push down on a piece of plywood in the bed....but it seems to need to be going forward and back at the same time it is going up and down. Potholes really do it...so perhaps i will try going back and forth slowly over the same one till i can get the noise consistently.

 

It seems to be on the right rear. It never happens when stomping or letting off the gas....and never makes it on smooth surfaces, only on un-even surfaces.

I had a similar "popping" noise coming from the same area in my ea wagon. Turns out it was the set screw in the torsion bar tube.

Here's a link to the thread.

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=85034&highlight=set+screw

I had a bumping/clunking noise coming from the back corner of my wagon awhile back. And it would turn into a dull, hollow sounding rattle on gravel roads.

 

Turned out to be the bolt that mounts the rear shock to the suspension arm was a little loose. Tightened it up and the noises stopped.

 

And just to add. I had the same kind of noise on the front passesnger side as well. Turns out the rubber bushings on that side for the radius rod where it connects to the body were put in backwards. Flipped them over and that noise went away.

I have had brakes that need adjusted badly make a bump noise in the rear. These do have an adjuster. I believe you turn it in till the wheel doesnt turn anymore then back it off 1 and a half turns with an additional half turn increment until it starts to roll easily again. Thats from memory though....every car I have had of this era except my currrent Brat I converted to disc brakes before needing this.

 

A 1/4" square socket is needed to do this. The adjuster is bottom center on the backing plate and may have a rubber boot over it. (TRULY HOPE SO) Spray with PB blaster or similar lube to free it if it looks rusty.