My max has it's daily share of punishment as I go back & forth to work...My route it's on construction, so I encounter all kinds of potholes and bad roads galore. Trying to relief a little, my poor max suspension, I've replaced the I've just both LCA's (Lower Control Arms), sway bar end links, tie rods (inner / outer) and the ride got noticeably better, sharper turn-in, but most of all, ride quality improved, less rattles and more responsive steering.

But on the rear, I was getting an awful rattle...At first I tried to re-align the trunk, and that helped but not much, then I removed carpet and trim, and started hitting the trunk "lip". Every hit returned a clunky sound, I tried to reinforced the inner panels with bolts and it helped a little more.

Last, I observed that there were many "holes" that could be helping to get that clunky sound, so I bought "great stuff" and started filling out those holes, being careful, not to mess thing up. Don't worry about not getting it perfect, the trim and carpet will hide your "errors", just make sure to clean very well so that the "stuff" sticks to the sheet metal, which by the way is very thin and weak.

Had a little test drive and man, the rattle was gone, the clunk was no more when hitting all kinds of potholes, except the really big ones...It's incredible how having a rattle free car improves confidence and makes you feel you are driving a more luxurious car.

I have a 98 5spd loaded, and I'm proud of it. I have seen newer cars having more rattles and clunks than my old max...I have seen newer cars without digital AC, leather or any of the amenities my car has...That's why I love my 14 yr old max .

Peace!

 

what is this great stuff? my decklid rattles cuz when i installed my spoiler i dropped a nut down inbetween the two peice of sheet metal. and i dont feel like taking it all the way off and then having to put it on by myself and align it and ****.

 

Great Stuff = expanding foam.

Great for stopping rattles and trapping water to create rust.

 

doesnt sound like the best idea.

if you spray stuff like that in between 2 piece of metal, it can expand more than you want depending how much you spray, and cause a high spot on the outside of the panel. been there done that...

my fatmat got rid of most of my rattles tho. its recommended.

 

boi do i have some rattles too. Spoiler is off and still have the dreaded sound going over brick roads and potholes.

 

the sound of the decklid bouncing up and down on the latch? ive tried adjusting to get rid of it. to no avail.

 

Great stuff is the cheap alternative to sound deadeners like fatmat, dynomat and such, obviously, I only use it to FILL HOLES, not to cover all my panels with it...I don´t worry about rust, I´m in Mexicali, Baja California. Roads are craptastic, but thank goodness, my main roads will be repaired in the short term.
Besides, the trunk lip is not an structural area per see, and the other bonus is that you can easily remove it if you don´t like it, and nobody will ever see the remains as the carpet/trim covers it.

Another tip for the trunk clunk that I use, was to put some black tape on the latch, and it has works wonders to...But is not that durable, I´m thinking in something more permanent, but it is a quick fix,and it will help you to pinpoint the clunk.

Peace!

 

Just to clarify, I use great stuff on the trunk lip, where the trunk hatch is, not in the trunk itself. However if you put the foam little by little, being careful to apply and watch howmuch it will expand, you should be fine and avoid any sheet metal bulges...Actually, that´s my next move.

 

im thinking if i put larger bump stops where our little non adjustable ones are it will tighten the gap up a little bit.

 

Also did that, didn´t help much, besides, your trunk can look like ¨slightly opened¨
...Believe me, put some tape on the latch and give it a try.

 

One bt of advice I can put here which should help most of you. Any rattle coming from the rear of the car, check the brake pads and hardware kit first. Easiest way to know for sure if it is the brake pads is to leave e-brake down and see if you can move pads with fingers. I have the 03 SE rims so my fingers can fit. If it moves, that's your noise over bumpy roads. Right now, the passenger side is driving me A-wall and about to get a bracket to replace as everything else failed thus far.

 

Imma check into that^. The wire hanger looking things deep inside the trunk under the rear soeakers were culprits too. Dealt with those already.

 

really now. the read brake pads rattling huh? i doubt thats my problem seeing as i just replaced my pads and calipers in the rear. my sound is undoubtedly the trunk bouncing up and down on the latch.

word of advice it gets WAY WORSE if you install the ID spoiler. that thing weighs atleast double what the oem spoiler weighs.

 

im not sure what you mean exactly about putting tape on the latch. you mean just to cover the metal parts so it makes less noise when banging against each other?

 

Roll some tape on the metal hatch, the hook where the lock mechanism meets with the body. Give like 4 layers and the lock mechanism gets tighter, and that will avoid the bounce. If you put too much, the trunk won't latch, just put some layers and test, and so on.

 

a more perminant solution might be to adjust the latch on the rear body side down a little bit.

 

Tried that already, and there´s still some wiggle to it.

 

forreal? when you loosened the bolts and tapped it down, was it already as far down as itll go from the factory? or was there adjustment room it just wasnt enough?

 

Post some pics of the taping up that you did. Really wanna see this.

 

i think he just wrapped taped aroung the latch part at the top until it built up enough space to keep the decklid latch tight down.

 

That's exactly what I did.