Okay, here's my dilemma. I've had this annoying suspension noise for a while now. For at least 5 months. It sounds like something's loose in the back suspension wise. If i hit a small bump, or go across uneven road, the back of the car rattles. It sounds like something's loose. It is a kind of rattling combined with a squeak that only happens on rough, uneven roads or small bumps. I thought it was the shocks/springs at first. The stock shocks, when i took them out, were obviously not useable. They would compress and would not depress. However, when i replaced the shock and the spring. The problem still existed. I'm wondering if the blown shocks could have somehow broken something else on my rear suspension. And i'm also wondering if i should go in for an alignment now and see if that fixes it. This is because i THINK it might be the shock/spring hitting the wishbone shaped arm/assembly that goes around the shock/spring because there's only about a little less than an inch of clearance between the spring and that assembly. However, if i get an alignment and discover the problem to orginate from somewhere else, i'll have to get the car aligned again after i alter the components. If anyone has had this problem, or has any ideas as to the possible cause of this problem, please tell me. This is getting truly mad. Also, I've shaken each component on my suspension and none seem to be loose or wobbling. Thanks in advance for your help.

This sounds more like the hatch rattling to me, have you ruled that out? Your worn shocks did not damage the remainder of your suspension and if you found no signs of contact or loose pieces upon inspection than you might look elsewhere for the noise. Is your setup stock? Remember that sound does travel and it could be anything from worn bushings to exhaust hangers. Good luck

I've got the same thing that JUST started happening to my 98 TSI this weekend?

Think I'm gonna just have to put her up on some jack stands and try to recreate that rattle?

My hatch WAS shut for sure, wish it was that simple?

Thanks,

Howie

Originally posted by hellcat77
My hatch WAS shut for sure, wish it was that simple?

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The hatch can be secure and still rattle. I think you fail to realize how structurally unrigid these DSMs are. Hell, jack up one side of the rear and you can usually hear and sometimes see the hatch flex...same thing for the front if you have a sunroof. Of course these can be remedied or toned down by added bracing, etc. Anyway, I'm just pointing out that there could be other sources for the problems experienced. Hopefully you have access to a lift which will make your life much easier.

Late

strut mount, go to kyb home page they have some info if your suspension is making noise

I have the same prob. its the knuckle in the rear suspension that connects to the upper A-arm and to the wheel. The bushings go out when the car is lowered and the proper camber kit isnt installed.

Originally posted by TurboLax
I have the same prob. its the knuckle in the rear suspension that connects to the upper A-arm and to the wheel. The bushings go out when the car is lowered and the proper camber kit isnt installed.

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took the words right out of my...uh...fingers...i did that, lowered it to far and didnt install the camber kit...id check that first and see if the knuckle is touching the upper arm and if the bushing is focked

i also found a good way of fixing it for now with out having to pay $340 for a whole new knuckle.

do tell please!

well if you take the bolt that holds the knuckle to the A-arm the middle of broken bushing will come out which is just a metal sleeve, clean the old rubber off of it and from inside the knuckle hole this will leave another sleeve inside the knuckle. so now you have a metal sleeve in your hand and in the knuckle. At Auto Zone they sell rubber fittings, get two that are slightly smaller than the outside sleeve. now its tricky getting them on the sleeve and back on the knuckle but at 3.25 its well worth it. trust me I just did it today

cool, thanks!

Originally posted by DevilSperm


took the words right out of my...uh...fingers...i did that, lowered it to far and didnt install the camber kit...id check that first and see if the knuckle is touching the upper arm and if the bushing is focked

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Do you have a picture? I have no clue what you're talking about and I need to get rid of that squeak!

my camera is kind of a pile but ill see what i can do

My first time doing my suspension I didnt put the schocks back together right, and I noticed the same noise your talking about. Its almost like a bolt shooting down through a hole with a nut at the end stoping it and making a clatering noise eh? I dunno, it may be something to consider.

here ya go...the rubber bushing in the middle ripped apart and the center piece was smacking against the outside...at least that was my problem....yours may be different but id check it out

right on! a heater hose, a few o-rings and some snow on my head and my car makes no more noise thanx TurboLax

I really don't know what the noise is. the arm shown in the above picture does not rattle, and the bushings "appear" to be fine. I believe it might have something to do with the trailing arms. Not sure if it's the stoppers or the arm itself. I'm about to bring it to a suspension shop and have them diagnose it for 28 dollars. Better than replacing stuff that doesn't need to be replaced right? Haha, I'll keep you all posted on how it goes. Thanks for the help, and keep on posting if anyone reading this has any other ideas. Again, thanks!

just for the record that only cost me $0.38 and an hour of work

**edit** another thing you might look at is if the strut is tightened down enough...that would be easily over looked (happened to me once) other than that man im stumped... good luck

Here's something else to check. On my car it turned out to be one rear brake pad had lost it's shim and was rattling around in the caliper. It was definately a rattle, not a squeak, though. That side also groaned when I hit the brakes while backing up. There wasn't any damage, just noise.

Thank you VERY much DevlisSperm. I had this problem, and a blown strut at the SAME time! I replaced this strut, and drivability was much better, but I still had this sound, so I was very saddened and discouraged. I couldn't figure this out for the life of me. But, after removing everything from my car I decided to look here for answers, and like usual, they were here. I removed the tire, and the bolt holding the knuckle and arm, and the bushing "appeared" to be fine to me, but, I thought I'd try something just to be sure. I put the bolt back on, and before puting the tire on, I tied speaker in the crevices where the bushings are supposed to work. 5 minutes later, tires back on, AND no rattle! Moral of the story is, I'm ghetto, and, even though the bushing appears to be fine, it could still be the problem. Tie some speaker wire in there, see if it solves your problem. This is bound to be only temporary, so a more definite fix is in the future, but, I'm glad to know what the problem was. Thank YOU!

right on, you should give me some Rep points now

ive been having a noise similar to what has been described here onlyon my left rear... only thing is my car is lowered way more that i want(bought it that way) and i'm looking for coilovers to raise it. but my left rear rattle makes this noise its almost like a bang then a pop it bounces once then regains its rigidity. i think it might be the shock but now i'm not soo sure so i'm prob just gonna raise the rear of the car 2 inches or back to stock height

I've been having this same problem forever too and have take out and reset the struts a few times and the last time I did it I sprayed everything down with penetrating oil (the rubber pieces) and it went away for like 2 weeks so I think that its just all those different rubber pieces rubbing together. Mine comes and goes as well which also makes me think its a bushing. You might want to look at the shock body and see if there are any rub marks on them. Mine does it on one side only, and on that side I can see rub marks on that shock, they were on the old one as well, only on that side, so I dunno.

TurboLax said:

I have the same prob. its the knuckle in the rear suspension that connects to the upper A-arm and to the wheel. The bushings go out when the car is lowered and the proper camber kit isnt installed.

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Same thing happened to my car. Just replace the bushings and adjust the camber and you should be set....at least that's what worked for me.

Hi Guys,

I have the same problem, i’m french and i have Many difficulties to translate all words ^^

So, can someone tell me which bushing is the bad one we are talking about ?
I put a picture

Thanks a lot

Or maybe this one ?