Rear Shocks

[TC01]

I own a 2001 Camry 4cyl with 150,000 on it. I was hearing a slight thump in the rear when I would go over bumps. It's not loud but sounds like something in the trunk is loose. Anyway, I removed the rear tires to check out the shocks and found that on both of them the rubber that covers the piston rod in the shock is all ripped and the piston rod is exposed. I call it a piston rod for lack of knowing what it's really called.

Do you think the shocks are the things that are causing the noise over bumps? Everything else seem to be tight and solid. None of the other rubber bushings look bad. The shocks don't seem bad because the rear of the car bounces back ok when you push down on either side.

Any ideas? Thanks.

[Mister_Perkins]

Its probably the Bushing at the top is either junk, or the bolts are loose either on the struts tower bolt, or strut mounting bolts. Remove the rear Speaker Panel and try to tighten all the bolts. If they are all tight, replace the strut tower bushings

[slavie]

Have you struts ever been replaced? If not, at 150k there's a very, very good chance your rear struts are past it.

If shocks are bad and don't absorb the energy they're supposed to over bumps, the shock bumps into the bump stop (it's inside that torn insulator), which sounds similar to what you're describing. Those guards (Coil Spring Insulators, as they're called) can also be purchased.

Just because your rear end bounces back doesn't mean the strut is in good order - before I replaced my rear shocks, the rear would bounce, but it was a slow and exaggerated bounce. Now, if I push the back of the car, it goes back to it's previous position almost right away, instead of bouncing.