hey guys i need some help here (yes i did search before anyone says to). i have this weird popping noise coming from my rear suspension. it started a few weeks ago and would happen everyone once in a while. now its doing it much more often. it sound like a dull thump like if you hit one of those big poland spring water bottles or if you had an empty trunk and put something small back there and it kept rolling around hitting the walls of the trunk.

its driving me nuts because i don't see anything wrong. i checked my rear stb and it was tight. i checked my trunk bar and that was ok. made sure noting was loose in my spare tire well and also those little compartments in the sides of the trunk paneling. nothing. my exhaust is tight (kartboy hangers) and has plenty of clearance. i think it has something to do with the cusco swar bar and/or the perrin endlinks (also they look fine too). i checked the sway perches also and they weren't cracked or anything.

the noise seems to be coming from the passenger rear. it happens at low speeds (under 15 mph) in forward or reverse or when changing direction (ie. going from reverse to first). its not consistent like if you had something stuck in your tire and you were driving and it was making noise. it happens with and without the brakes so i don't think it has anything to do with that.

could it be bad sway bushings? could my endlinks be frozen or something? maybe the spring is screwed up (its stock strut and spring by the way)? i don't know. its got me confused. i also tried opening the passenger rear door and hoping on the sill to simulate the car going over a bump but i couldn't replicate the sound.

please help guys. thanks.

check and see if the nut on the strut is loose. the one that hold the strut top and hat on. it could make that noise.

white lithium grease if your worried about the sway bar bushings.

im not sure about the evo struts, but i know popping was an issue with 04 STi's.

i was thinking about that as well. i'll have to check it out. meanwhile, anyone else have any advice?

update: found out yesterday that it does it with sharp left hand turns and its now doing it over low speed bumps. i also tightened my endlinks, rear stb, rear strut, and greased the sway bar bushings. its getting worse and more prevalent. any other advise? i also made sure that the torsion rods on the trunk lid weren't rubbing by putting padding on them.

um is ur spare tire secured in the trunk?

Are you sure its from the rear? If its not do a search as there are many problem with clunking documented. I get it sometimes myself. it just makes me cringe. The only constant thing about it is it seems to happen at about 40 degrees out the most.

I know you said you already checked the spare, but double check that the jack is in there tight.

i already checked everything in the spare tire well to make sure its secure.

Maybe a ball joint?

i recently had a thumping clunking noise in the front when going over speed bumps and other bumps and sometimes when turning. had my car at mitsu for scheduled maintenance so it was up on a lift. once they put it down and drove it, NO noise. my guess is that a spring wasn't settled in after going over a big bump at high speed and lifting the car reseated it. try putting ur car on a lift and then bring it back down. or jack up each corner and check if springs and other parts r seated as u lower it...watch ur hands!!

good idea. i was thinking of something like that. it started sometime after i did my fuel pump and i changed my rear diff fluid. i'm gonna check the fluid level and the pump tomorrow as well. i really wanna find the problem cause i hate the dealer.

I had an occassional thunk (driving slow, over speed bumps), like suspension binding up, and the mitsu dealer replaced a strut. That was 6 months ago, now the other side of the car is doing it. I'm taking my car back to the dealer to get the other strut replaced.

my noise went away like 5 weeks ago. just got really quiet one day and dissappeared the next. knock on wood.