1996 GP rear driver's side noise

[jaustinbell]

Got this car two weeks ago and this is about the last thing I need to do to make it perfect: there is a noise coming from the driver's side rear of the car, and I think it's the shock absorber. Sounds like a 'whomp whomp' or a bowling ball rolling down the lane when you hit a bump while driving. At the moment I've got all my money on that shock; my mom was listening to cartalk the other day and someone described a similar problem that they said was the shock.

[jaustinbell]

OK turns out that's it, I've got the upper bolts out and the lower nuts off, but the lower bolts don't want to seem to come through the knuckle. I've tried tapping them with a mallet and a hammer but I don't want to risk damaging them. Do I just need to keep tapping or what? Also, this isn't gonna screw with my alignment, is it?

[Crazy K]

yes, it may mess with your alignment.

 

tap harder!!!! put the nuts on and beat on them, not the bolt. (basically 90% threaded on)

[BXX]

The whomp whomp is prolly your tire bub.. And your strut is prolly a problem too..

 

Either a belt has shifted, or the tire has toe wear/flat spots from a shotty alignment.. Most of our 1st Gen Ws dont have good rear end alignments because cam kits need installed on the rearward mounted lateral link, otherwise it wont hold the alignment because the subframe is slotted and w/o the cam it can move in the slot over time.

 

Inspect the tire, replace both struts, and have a shop do the alignment. I recommend installing cam for toe adjustment as well..

 

Oh, and the moment your removed a part of your rear suspension, your screwed the alignment up..

[White93z34]

I would imagine a shifted belt/ broken belt would make noise all the time, just not over a bump.

 

also just pay attention to how you remove everything, and depending on the brand of strut you use it may have the holes slightly slotted. take care to make sure they line up just as your old one did. I have never had to get a rear alignment on one of these cars after doing rear struts.

 

as for that stuck bolt thread the nut back on some and put the socket back on it and hit it with your hammer to get them out. Some cars rear lower strut bolts get REALLY stuck in there. worst case you might have to remove the whole rear knuckle to get a good swing with a hammer to get them out... or a air hammer might work very well if you have one.

[jaustinbell]

Thanks guys, I got the new strut in and made sure to get the lower slotted bolt tightened in the same position as the original, so hopefully the alignment's not too off. After alot of hammering on the bolts, I decided to use a C-clamp on them and that worked. They were in there really tight! Anyways, the old strut was leaking and had no resistance left whatsoever. The noise is gone now; before the I could get the car to do it if I pressed down on it while it was parked, so I knew it was something in the suspension.

[xtremerevolution]

might be worth noting that I didn't need an alignment on my regal either. I lowered the car, drove around the parking lot, then measured the angle of the wheel with a level, then took the wheel back off and positioned the strut better using the ovaled strut holes on the kyb gr2's. I repeated that step until they were perfectly straight. haven't gotten any abnormal tire wear as a result.