Loud clunking from the back

[Nokkers3]

I started noticed this clunking noise coming from the rear/trunk area about 2 weeks ago. At first it was just mostly going over bumps and dips, but this weekend it has gotten really bad. It's a bit louder and much more frequent. It seems like any little bump or jerk of the vehicle would set off the noise. It seem to be coming mostly from the rear right suspension. At first I thought something was just loose in the trunk, but everything is still tied down nicely. My car is nearly 3 years old with 50k miles. What could it be?

 

[MSMS3]

Check the rear anti-sway bar. Mine started making a very similar sound within a few hundred miles of leaving the dealer.

There is a sticky or how-to here somewhere for the simple fix.

What I remember (and might be a little off on this) is that when I looked at the end links I found that the nut had backed out of one of them and there had been some damage done to the threads under it so that it would not tighten down all the way. That loose nut on the end link was causing the link to bump and clunk every time I went over any bump or uneven surface.

I backed the nut out and completely off, put some spacers under it so that it could grip new threads. I coated the threads and inside of the nut with red Lock-Tite, tightened the nut back down and everything is still fine 38,000 miles later.

I also removed the nut on the other side put Lock-Tite on the threads and tightened it back down even though it had been still tight and no threads had yet been damaged. I figured that sooner or later it would work loose too.

 

[Nokkers3]

Hey thanks for the info. Could this be potentially dangerous and require immediate attention or is it just something minor that can wait a couple of weeks?

 

[MSMS3]

Depends on what it is. If it's just the rear sway bar, it affects handling but could wait a bit, since that is not a structural part of the suspension.

But what if it's something else? You need to get under there and look, or have someone do that for you.

 

[cudaman]

If tightening the endlinks doesn't do it, check the condition of the sway bar bushings. If they are worn or cracked, the bar will clunk-hit the sway bar bracket as it squishes down hard on the broken rubber. Probably would only happen during hard corners and / or big bumps though.