Need advice on shocks

[Ken4]

Occasionally on cold mornings when I drive over my neighbourhood speed humps, I hear a strange sound coming from my rear suspension, like a thunk. After the suspension warms up, there is no more sound going over humps. I crawled under the car to check the shocks, rubber, bushings, etc. Cant seem to see anything wrong. No oil leak from the shocks either. But there is a little bit of exterior wear on the top of the shock absorber (where the rod comes out of the piston). This part is usually covered by the rubber boot, but when I jack the rear up, the strut becomes exposed. Car is 2000 camry 2.2L with 90,000km. I did the tradional bounce test on the suspension. Shocks seems to work fine with no unusual noises. Is it mostly likely the rear shocks dying? The rear suspension has taken a beating the last almost 6 years. It frequently bottoms out easily when there are 5 adults in the car. Is it about time to change all 4 shocks anyway? Thanks for your advice.

[dirtdiggler]

check your sway bar bushings.. grab the swaybar and see if its loose from the bushing. if so just replace the bushings. a common problem with camrys.

here's a how to link: REAR SWAY BAR INSTALLED - read on:

dirt diggler

[hclee25]

what he said, and maybe the bushings just need some grease

[Ken4]

Thanks for your replies. I will try greasing the bushings.

[barthmonster]

my 1994 Camry had the same thing. a Clunk going over bumps. Was the upper strut mount (triangle-shaped plate with bearing the strut rod is bolted to behind your back seat). I also needed struts & bellows, but the mount was making the 'clunk'. I got new KYB GR-2's all the way around and couldn't be happier, except I had to do it myself because of the high cost of labor.

Brad

Hope this helps. Any questions, ask...

[Ken4]

Grease on the sway bar bushings did the trick. Thanks.