Does anyone have a good idea what my max's problem is? Only when I get a couple of people in the back seat does my car make a terrible pounding noise in the rear whenever I hit a pothole. It's especially bad when cornering. Is this struts? Springs? It sounds so bad but I'm not sure exactly what it is. I've got stock size tires too. Anyone got a clue? It's got 67,000 Miles...94 GXE (Original struts I'm sure)

 

Me bet is that the struts are worn and with the extra added weight of people in the car it makes the strut bottom out causing the pounding noise.

 

Okay, So I just had a 200 pound guy jump on my bumper. The back end sprung right back into place. I also had two guys drive with me, and sure enough, it made the noise. The more confusing the problem seems to be, the more money I'm afraid I'm going to have to dish out to fix it.

 

What were you hoping to achieve by having someone jump on your bumper? Do you believe that if the bumper must stay down as an indication that the strut is bad?

You have a big a$$ spring in your suspension don't you? Well no matter how bad your strut is, your spring will keep the car up.

What you should look for is how many times the car bounces after it's been pushed downwards. Can it be pushed down easily? Does the rear end look like it's sagging more than the front end?

Having a 200LB guy jump on your bumper is simply stupid. He could have scratched your paint, or he could have fell.

 

 

Yeah, I think it would have been a long ride home today without my big a$$ springs. Do you think it's simply struts that are shot?
The car doesn't sag, and it doesn't bounce after it's been pushed down. It's not that easy to push it down in the rear, hence the 200LB body slam to my bumper. I'm still too new to the Max to know how easy it should be though.

By the way, the paint is fine, as for the guy, I was too busy checking the paint to care...

 

If it's kind of a clunk when you go over bumps it could possibly be the main strut bolt right in the center. I had the same problem in the front, tighetened that bolt, and the problem was gone.