vanster

Somewhere in my rear suspension,(left rear) I have a very bad
creaking and banging. Bill Ball and I looked at the shock towers and they are tight, Andre drove my car and it didn't do it. I drove it for the first time in a month ( I went to Madison WI to pick up an old Airstream) and now the clunk is worse. I had my local muffler shop in Berkeley remove the useless intermediate muffler and we checked for banging so I can discount the exhaust.
Could it be a bad shock or a bad CV? The rear shocks are original
fronts are Bilsteins (103k miles).

I will creak and bang my way up to Sharks in the Park this weekend and toss the keys to anyone that wants to have a go at finding this annoying malady. Just leave me the keys to your
5sp GTS

j.kenzie@sbcglobal.net

I had a similar sound. It turned out to be a broken emergency brake spring. I had scraping and banging that sound like I had run over a big piece of wood in the road. I found two loose compression springs rattling around inside my brake drum. It is the best outcome possible and a quick fix.
Best of luck,
Dave

vanster

Great suggestion.
I will take a look
Thanks Dave

van

Mrmerlin

to verify the E brake springs simply look at the rear sides of the hub carrier,
there are 2 small holes with a ridge on each,
the spring hook should be catching the ridge,
if your not sure where to look then try checking the right side to get an idea.
You will need a drop light

j.kenzie@sbcglobal.net

Stan is correct. There is a picture in the WSM page 46-15 showing the spring hooked in place. If you look for it on the good side, you may find it missing on the bad side. It's a little hard to see, and pulling the drum may be more definitive, if you're not sure.
Dave

SeanR

Have you made sure nothing is loose in the tool tray or spare tire areas?

Bertrand Daoust

E brake springs pics.

j.kenzie@sbcglobal.net

Hi Bertrand,
Those are some of the springs. There are also the two compression springs that hold the e-brake shoes to the backing plate. If any are acting as a loose foreign body, you will have noise and trouble.
Dave

Bertrand Daoust

Oh yes!
I think you mean those.

j.kenzie@sbcglobal.net

Yep.

Bill Ball

I've resorted to having someone ride in the hatch area (illegaly, I assume) to try to localize the source of the sound. Maybe we can try that on Saturday.

Mrmerlin

remove the caps on both of the strut caps and put a 17mm socket onto the shock strut and tighten it also do the 3 mounting bolts that hold the cover to the top of the strut

Bill Ball

I think we checked those - I have had one come loose before - but we'll check them again. Thanks, Stan.

Charley B

The fact that it comes and goes is compelling evidence that a foreign object is floating around in a wheel assembly. The likeliest suspect would be a brake spring.

I can bring a set Sunday, if you need them.

And you can hold the keys to the 5spd GTS while we install them.

NoVector

I don't think it'd be a 1/2-shaft or CV as I don't think that noise would come and go. I've had a rattle from a loose shock nut but it was a rattle; especialy going over bumps--not a "creaking and banging". For it to come and go, sounds like something was unsettled and is now re-unsettled from possibly going over a bump or something. Maybe stabilizer (?)