Hi all.

I kind of have a problem and it is driving me crazy. I drove from Davis to Palo Alto on Tuesday for a basketball game and along the way, I noticed this really weird clunking and banging sound in the rear right of my car. I am not sure what's up with that. I think it is suspension related. Anyways... what happens is that when my car goes over a speed bump, or hits a pot hole or something like that... there goes this banging/clunking sound. I kind of think it is suspension related but I am not sure.

Here are the details of my car:

1997 Impreza L Coupe
114,000 - 115,000 miles
17" wheels

It was more evident when I had people in the car.

Maybe you guys can give me some ideas on what it is.

TIA.

 

OMG. I did it again!!

Damn... I must be tired.

 

Is there any gear stashed in the trunk that could be moving around?

With enough weight (people) in the car, is it possible that it is bottoming out the suspension by using up all of the travel in the strut and hitting the bump stops?

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

Get under there and re-tighten your sway bar and end links.

 

Yeah. I checked if there was anything in the trunk that was moving around, but there wasn't anything in there. I didn't have much light, but maybe later today, I'll empty out my car and drive it around again to see what's wrong. After dropping off the others, I did notice some more clunking/banging, but this time, it was less frequent.

 

what do you have for suspension?


It could be strut clunk. It could be a loose or busted sway bar mount. Could be endlinks. Lots of stuff can go on. I'd go up under there and tighten everything related to the sway bar and endlinks. Check the strut tops...tighten the nuts there. stuff like that.

If that doesn't fix it, your struts might be going.

 

Yep its strut clunk there are many posts on this. Its a common problem with suby struts. I had 5 thats right 5 different struts clunking in my sti. I went with coilovers i got so tired of it. Everytime i would get one replaced another one would do it.

Do a search on strut clunk you should find a **** load of posts.

E

 

I just had new RSB and endlinks put in about month and a half ago.

I just have stock strut/springs with a JDM RSB and helix endlinks. I haven't had this problem until yesterday. I guess I'll check everything. Not quite sure what to check, but yeah. I take a look under there when I get back from school.

 

do a search on i-club for strut clunk you will get numerous posts. I dont think there is a way to fix it. But i heard you can regrease the struts and get rid of it for a few weeks then comes back. I had subaru replace two of mine and it came back eventually. Its a very strange problem. Post up if you get any news.

 

I'd check your sway bar to see if the sway bar and endlinks are making contact.

my guess is that something is loose in relation to the RSB/endlinks. Seems as those are the most recent additions and it is not uncommon for something to come a bit loose on newly installed parts especially if the bushings are new.

That's my guess right there.

put the car up on ramps and check them.

 

How much does it cost to replace the strut?

 

Yeah.... so... pretty just look under there and try to tighten everything in relation to those two items?

 

Mine turned out to be the right front tophat which was worn out.

Also, endlinks are the other likely culprits.

 

I won't try to sell you one since I'm not a vendor, but you would be paying about $112.30 for the front one, and $115.51 for the rear one. All prices + tax.

 

depends. You can dig around and find stock struts cheap or get a factory replacement or you can upgrade the entire set. $100

For that car it might not be a bad idea to get some KYB's or a stock Sti set up on there. Be a big improvement over stock. $500.