Weird Rattle in the rear end??

[odie301]

I have a weird rattle in the rear end and can't find it!!...it is starting to make me really mad. I checked the spare tire and it was tight. I took all my junk out from the inside thinking that the stuff was making the noise and that wasnt it. It seems most noticeable going at slower speeds over bumps or cracks in the road. (but if you listen carefully it can be heard at higher speeds) I have new shocks, so I don't think it is them rattling at all. when you hit a bump it seems like you get the sound of the bump and then an extra da dum from whatever is rattling. it mainly sounds like the passenger side, but every once in a while you hear a little from the drivers side. ANYONE have a suggestion on where to start looking?? i think i need brakes soon, would that possibly cause the sound? (sound happens even if braking)


It is driving me nuts listening to it everyday...so i usually crank the radio up to drowned it out. But i would rather fix it before it gets worse...so any with a thought or suggestion please let me know.

 

[Sepiroth]

Check your sway bar links and shock bolts. Also look at your panhard bar. Also this is rare but check your rear brakes. I know of 3 instances where a rear brake caliper became unfastened from it mounting surface.

 

[odie301]

I was under it the other day, and had someone jump on the hitch and couldn't find anything loose. Seems like the sway bar is all tight and that the shocks are tight. The panhard is the bar that goes right to left correct? I will check tomorrow on that one. I will also check my brakes, as I think I need a new set anyway so it wouldn't hurt to pull the tire and check it out.

I did notice that I get the noise when turning, mainly to the left. If I turn left and hit a bump, i hear it and it seems like something it shifting(moving around) with the rear end( or maybe that is just the posi locking up or unlocking)

 

[Rivieraracing]

Lug nuts tight? Does it have a hub cap or a center cap, maybe loose? Try lifting each back tire off the ground and see if you can shake the wheel around at all, jack the whole back end off the ground where the axle floats and try wiggling that stuff all around. Just some ideas!! Keep us posted!!

 

[odie301]

I tried tightening the lug nuts, none were loose. I jacked it up in the air and wiggled stuff around. Only thing I got was a tiny bit of movement from the shocks but I don't think that it is enough to cause the loud rattle that I get. I pushed and pulled right to left on a tire and then I can hear it...but can't seem to see anyting moving when I do it. Would that be the pan hard bar?? Or is it possibly a rear axle bearing or something? I drove home with the radio off trying to hear it better....MAN is it ANNOYING!!

 

[joejoe]

i hear the same noise on my 2002 tahoe. have you figured it out yet?

 

[odie301]

I tried new rear sway bar bushings... but of course the ones I bought were too big...but when i shimmed it to fit because autozone didn't have the right size, the noise went away for a while. Now that the shims fell out it came back, i just have to get time to measure my sway bar for the correct size and order new ones and hopefully that is it.

I had a mechanic mention that some times the rear parking brakes fall apart and could rattle around in there, haven't looked at that yet. I did seam to find that if I loaded the back down a bit the noise went away not sure if that would point at the sway bar still or something else. (i had about 200lbs of salt in the back during the snowier part of this winter)

 

[Taho_02]

Have you checked the rear struts?

 

[joejoe]

hey, I may have figured it out. someone on here mentioned the parking brake may be causing the noise. Sure enough, my brake is DOA. It doesn't not work at all. Goes all the way to the floor and provides NO hold at all.

Does anyone know what it costs to get this repaired? Thanks.

 

[Grocery Getter]

I have a 5'' drop in the rear and I get the same "extra" clunk on low speed bumps and such and I figured out it it the hanger for the ABS/Brake line it was resting on the top of my sway bar and when I hit a big bump at low speed it would push it out of the way and then it would spring back with a "clunk" I just bent the hanger out of the way of the sway bar and voila...no extra "clunk". This may be due to the the 5'' drop and not apply to you but check that hanger and see if it looks like it will engage the pan hard or sway bar if the rear end is compressed....ya' never know