could be a bad sway link

 

Strut plate could be bad. I had the same thing happen to me. (Or it is a possibility it wasn't put back in right?) I replaced my driver side front strut plate and the clunking going over bumps went away.

 

Spent the day yesterday replacing all four struts on my '07 LE. I went with KYB, the installation went well (so I assumed). I put everything back together exactly as I took it down. Outside of the struts alone, I reused all other parts as everything seemed to be in good order.

Test drive: I seem to have a knock/clunk when going over bumps/pot holes at low speed (<35 and especially <15mph). At highway speeds (65+), I do not hear it at all, even if I hit something. I had a friend ride in the back and confirm that it was coming from the driver's side (left) rear.

Took everything back out and inspected, I noticed that the strut mount has a flange that runs to the flat side of the strut rod that looked a little worn, so decided to go buy a new strut mount (Monroe garbage, only thing available locally). I did notice the Monroe strut mount didn't have that flange the OEM one had, it is just a circle...I didn't know if that mattered. I Put in new strut mount on, same sounds in the same conditions.

I am open to any ideas, I want the clunk to go away.

your strut is not tightend properly. get access to your rear strut mount and the strut shaft that goes throught your strut mount has a nut holding it to the mount and in the middle of the shaft it should have a hole for a allen wrench.
have a couple people sit in the trunk area with your trunk open and while using a allen wrench to hold the strut shaft, tighten the nut. you might as well check the other side also.
if it was something that is worn out it would have shown up before you changed out the struts.

 

I'm going to give that a try...thank you for the input!

 

End link

 

Rear strut rattle/clunk FIXED!

I wanted to update on this issue since it may come along for someone else. After trying every fix I could find online I was frustrated. So I took everything down and looked at the strut mounts very closely and I noticed something I had not noticed before:

Notice that there are 5 places on the base of the mount where something was stuck to it? I got up into the area where the mount goes and there was a thin piece of material matching each piece up there. Basically very small foam padding was stuck on, placed on the mount at assembly. I will assume that this created just enough buffer and when I broke the seal to replace the strut, the pad was no longer useful.

I got with my father-in-law and we tossed around some ideas for replacement padding, what we came up with was a piece of conveyor belt from his shop. We custom cut the material to the exact shape:

We strapped that puppy on and the noise from that side went away. Did the same thing to the other rear mount and no more noise from either side. I've been driving on this for about 10 days, everything is perfect now.

I hope this helps someone in the future if they are having a rattle or clunk from the rear struts; because although I could find a lot of similar complaints online, I couldn't find fix that worked anywhere. Something I also learned while digging around was that this strut mount fits other Toyota models including the Avalon, Highlander and Lexus ES 350...in case this crops up with other Toyota models.

Cheers!
-Mike

 

I wanted to throw one more thing out there from a PM question I received...

To my knowledge there are not any options for after market REAR* strut mounts other than Monroe. Every single brand I ran across were essentially re-badged Monroe...even ones that claimed that they were original made (like Replacement and Roca) looked and felt identical to the Monroe part, which made me wonder.

The Monroe part (or the like) run about $40 a piece and can be found at most places like RockAuto, Advance, etc. True genuine Toyota ones are available at CarQuest (or from Toyota) for around $120.


*This does not apply to the front, as I believe there are some options like Moog available on RockAuto.

 

Got this identical issue. Going to pull the strut and check out the insulator. Hope all is well.

 

Any luck on yours? My fix is still working well after 5 months

 

BamaCam07,
The padding you referring to - you only found that on the rear strut mount? and not on the front right?

Also what is that white circular marking in the first picture? I recall reading somewhere that when mounting, that mark should be like facing outward if I recall...?

 

I only remember the the padding on the rear, I never had a problem with the fronts after replacement so therefore I did not take them back down to look whether it had similar pads.

As for the circular marking, it was only a white dab of paint, I didn't note any significance. Nevertheless, as for orientation of the strut, the mount is shaped in a way that it can only be placed in one direction...i.e. if you turn it any other way it won't fit.

 

i am having this issue.. i hear a noise under 15 mph on my front right side and its def my strut mount/plate ... i can loosen the bolt at all on the top of the strut to torque it correctly could this be the issue is that its tightened down too far.?

 

Have you done any work on the front end or caused any trauma (hit a hard pot hole or the like)? The reason I ask is, I can't imagine the mount being "too tight" causing a rattle at low speeds. There are so many things that can sound like it is coming from the strut that really are not, I know this from experience from a previous front end issue on my Gen 4...I had a sound that I would have sworn was coming from the strut or mount and ended up being a stabilizer link issue.

Your best bet is to find exactly what recreates the issue (i.e. between 15-30 mph and going over a bump) and find a mechanic you can trust that knows suspensions. Hearing a sound when you are driving can be very misleading.

Hope this helps

 

Great info!. So, I plan to get struts on my 02 camry changed soon via my back yard mechanic. I plan to reuse the OEM strut mount if it's good.

Anything I should ask him to watch out for to avoid future clunking?

 

At the very least, I would suggest buying something as a buffer for each mount. If my theory is correct, that is exactly what those five places are on the mount (in the pic). This creates that little bit of a seal that no amount of tightening can accomplish. It is that slightest of movement that creates the rattle/clunk when the weight of the car moves that mount.

However, keep in mind that Toyota did theirs at assembly when they could torque that part down in a way we could rarely accomplish with the clearance available post assembly. That's why I went with a heavier/thicker (but still pliable) material when I made my buffer. So find something squishy, but won't die on you...I used the conveyor belt rubber in mine and hardtopte72 used craft felt in his DIY

With a "shade-tree" mechanic, he may save you money but he may not be as inclined to redo the job for free if there is problem beyond his control. Save yourself some time and hassle and give him something to put on there as a preventative...I'm sure he won't mind a bit when you tell him why.

Good luck. :thumbsup:

 

Thx. Yes, he wouldn't have an issue. I am thinking of hitting lowes or home depot to see what I can find. Can you mail me some conveyor belt rubber for some $?

 

Unfortunately we used up what my father-in-law had available in his shop. When we cut those custom pieces there was little more than scrap trim left, which we threw away. Sorry man, but I'm sure you can find something to use at Lowes or Home Depot.

 

The existing pieces are so thin and small pretty much anything will work as a fix.

I used 2 layers of felt for a grand total of .46 cents plus tax or right at 49 cents total.

 

That sound, does it sound like to plastic plates hitting each other. If so, I have the same problem. It usually occurs at less than 45 mph on "not so great roads".

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

yes it does... or kin of like tapping withyour fingers lightly on a table type sound.. barely there ..but there.. im gonna pull the strut and see what i can find

 

FYI. I saw this on amazon for about 11 bucks. it's about 2mm thick. Should this be good to use? (It's may not be as thick as conveyor belt, but better than felt I suppose)

"Neoprene Sheet, 70A Durometer, Smooth Finish, No Backing, Black, 0.093" Thickness, 12" Width, 24" Length"

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005I557N2/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/ame]


And if I read the earlier posts correctly, this padding is only needed for the rear mounts right?

 

FYI. I saw this on amazon for about 11 bucks. it's about 2mm thick. Should this be good to use? (It's may not be as thick as conveyor belt, but better than felt I suppose)

"Neoprene Sheet, 70A Durometer, Smooth Finish, No Backing, Black, 0.093" Thickness, 12" Width, 24" Length"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005I557N2/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


And if I read the earlier posts correctly, this padding is only needed for the rear mounts right?

A single piece of felt is probably 10 times as thick as the existing factory material (tiny strips of what also looks like felt) and I used 2 pieces per side. My guess is that my fix was overkill and so is just about anything else.

 

Camber adjustment?

If we increased the thickness of the "shim" material can we correct for too much negative camber?

 

I don't think so.

All the shim would do is push the strut downward off the mounting surface which worse case would actually increase negative camber (which is probably doesnt in our situation).

 

Ok thanks. And you used it only for the rear strut mounts? or was it on the front too?

 

Just the rear.

 

have you tried HardTop's trick of putting felt in there?

 

No I have not pulled them off and its the front

 

Can make the noise front or rear.

 

Front

 

What I was trying to communicate is that the noise can come from front or rear struts, and that the felt can help either.

Since yours is in front, will be much less involved to do it than doing the rear. Not counting time to go to Hobby Lobby or wherever to buy the felt, I guess you could probably do both front in about half an hour.

 

This thread is excellent. I'm having these symptoms in the front in my '08. I'll have a buddy wiggle the tires while I'm underneath first, but after reading this thread I'm fairly sure I'll be insulating the front struts.