I hear a loud thud/thump sound coming from the rear of the car every time I go over bumps/potholes. It kinda sounds like the spare time is loose and is bouncing around, which it is not. Is this normal? I've had this issue since I bought the car a few months ago. Seems like it may be getting worse. I've already pinpointed every bump in my daily drive and drive around them. Just hit 70k miles a few days ago.

 

im no expert but it might be one of your suspension components going out

 

Only way to know is to inspect the rear. It could be anything from something in the rear suspension or even a loose or broken exhaust hanger.

 

it's definitely not the exhaust. they don't seem loose.

 

Check for a broken end link on the rear sway bar.

If not that, have a look at the point on the sub-frame where the brackets for the rear sway bar bushings are welded to the sub-frame.

 

how do i go about checking the rear sway bay?

looks like i have the same issue
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/clunking-noise-rear-suspension-ot-wheel-611153/

 

Sounds like it's worth checking.


You check it by crawling under the back-end and checking the RSB. You want to check 4 spots, 2 on each side.

2 end-links. One on each side, just in-board of the rear wheels.

2 Bushings & Bushing Bracket Mounts. Just follow the RSB toward the middle of the car. About 1/4th of the way in, you'll find a bracket and rubber bushing. Make sure nothing is loose and the where the bracket mounts to the frame doesn't have a broken weld.



The thing with the purple 'dots' is the End Link. The sway bar is gray. The gold-ish braket is the one we're talking about, EXCEPT on your car the bolts will go right in to the sub-frame (and the braket may not be that color).

 

I gave it a quick glance today and everything seems tight. I'll have to get it up on a lift to really check. The underside looked really clean for being a 7 year old though. Could this have been caused by frequently curbing the wheels? It lived in San Francisco it's entire life and was parallel parked often. All four wheels are curbed all around.

 

might sound stupid but start jumping up and down in your trunk. See if you can replicate the noise. I had a similar noise but in the front. Ended up being my strut mount. I ended up replacing all struts anyway.

 

i had the same noise at low speed over bumps. it was more of a clunking kind of sound. Dealer replaced my rear struts under warranty and problem solved.

 

Sounds like a strut/shock issue?

 

That's (probably) different. That's primarily a TL-S specific issue.

TSB 07-039 on this page: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/3g-tl-technical-service-bulletins-tsbs-3g-garage-j-016-a-613659/ - you have to follow the instructions at the top of Post #1 to open the actual TSB.