This started ever since it got a little warmer. Basically it feels like my entire rear of the car is going to fall off. It sounds and feels so bad, like all the bolts are loose. When I slowly come to a stop, I can hear something like very hollow crunching. If i drive straight and hit a bump, it sounds like something is shaking around for a while and resonating. And when I take a turn, even at slow speed, or even driving down a road with constant pot holes or dips, it feels like the entire rear of the car wants to go sideways, almost feels like it goes airborne for a brief second. What could cause this type of play?

 

Take a glance under there and see what you can find. Check the unibeam and your struts/ strut mounts and bolts behind the trim in the trunk, just an idea.

 

Lift the rear of the car and see if your wheels can be wiggled in any way. A bad wheel bearing could make noise and cause looseness. (If you must use the spare tire jack, be very careful in applying too much force). Maybe one of the brake calipers has seized and is pulling on one wheel. In any case, take it to a reputable mechanic or tire/alignment shop and get them to check it out before you ruin your tires or cause an accident.

Dave

 

No i tried wiggling the wheels but they dont move. I just took a look under the trunk carpet. Heres what I noticed:

If I move the car up and down, the passenger shock stays perfectly still....but the drive shock kinda has some flex to it. That is, I can see the center bolt go up and down as the car goes up and down. Maybe its the mount?

 

Are you talking about the center nut that's visible from inside the trunk? I believe that the top end of the strut should remain tight at all times, so visible motion there is not normal.

If so, then you may have a damaged bushing in the driver side strut assembly. Offhand I don't know if it's the spring seat or the bushing above the bump stop, but I would remove and inspect the shock assembly. The good news is you don't need a spring compressor to work with the rears.

Dave

 

How do you figure you dont need a spring compressor? I've never worked with shock, so can you give me a breif how to? Just the basics....

 

MacPherson struts are assemblies of the damper, spring, and some rubber parts and hardware. You should always removed the strut as an assembly (leave that center nut in place!) until removed from the car. To remove it, unclip the brake lines, remove the two bolts in the trunk and the two bolts holding it to the wheel hub. Then it comes off.

Then you basically unscrew that center nut and the pieces come off one-by-one. On a front assembly, you must use a spring compressor to hold the spring short or else it will explode when the center nut is removed. The fronts are much stronger springs and have massive preload, so proper use of the spring compressor is vital. I won't cover that job. The rears have weak springs and not much preload, so removing the center nut isn't a big deal - just remember it will want to push on you when it comes loose. On reassembly of the rears, it only takes pressure by hand to compress the spring enough to start the nut. Putting it back in the car is easy also, except that it almost requires a second person to start the nuts that inside the trunk while the other one holds the strut.

Dave

 

Jack up the car, remove the tire, theres 1 bolt holding the shock in at the bottom of it behind the brakes, remove bolt, goto trunk, remove all bolts except the middle one, it will pop off the car, inspect it.

The rear suspension is really easy, just make sure you dont strip any bolts in the process.

 

Ok thanks guys, I'm prolly gunna do this on thursday and post pics