I've been having this soft thud/thumping noise coming from the trunk area. I think the noise has always been there, but I only noticed it when I removed the trunk liner.
It only happens on uneven roads and slow speed. Car feels solid on corner, speed bumps, highway ramps. The noise is very similar to metal hitting rubber so I thought it was the RSM, but new RSM and new struts didn't fix it. However, I feel that the RSM rubber bushing isn't compressed enough that it could not provide the preload that the suspension needed under no/small load.
The sway bar end link and bushing seem to be in good condition with indication of side to side movement. The RTAB could be a suspect, but inspection using pry bar only showed very small movement. I've researched this RTAB problem and it seemed that it is a consumable item every 30K miles.
I plan to restore the rear end bushings and rubbers, dropping the sub frame, clean, and reinforce it anyway but I would like to get your opinion on this particular noise. There is also the spring binding/rubbing going on in there too.
Thanks
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00-03 Nissan Maxima HID Retrofit
6th gen AV6 FX35 Retrofit
Chassis and Suspension
2011 Space Grey E82 N55 DCT
2000 Sunlit Sand Maxima SE 5Spd.
1997 Arctic Silver E36 M3/4/5.
1997 Techno Violet E36 M3 Coupe 5Spd (SOLD).
Put rear tires up on blocks or ramps and have someone rock the car like that with you lying underneath with a light. That way you can probably isolate the source a lot better than you can through the trunk.
My guess is that it's something in the rear suspension and if you're fully refreshing all the bushings and ball joints then that should take care of it.
1999 M3/2/5 - Titanium Silver - Track/Weekend Toy
I went under and with my daughter rocking the car, the "thud" is louder from the top and couldn't really tell from the bottom.
I then started to place my hand on every component to feel if there is any vibration/movement in sync with the noise. I could feel it in the trailing arm, but I couldn't see it physical movement. Trailing arm moves side to side with gentle pry but that is normal i think. That's why we put limiter on there to prevent this from happening, but stock setup should have side to side movement, no?
Upon some more inspection, the noise is only happening on side to side movement. Up and down did not produce this noise. It is equally loud on the left as to the right side.
FEEDBACK THREAD
00-03 Nissan Maxima HID Retrofit
6th gen AV6 FX35 Retrofit
Chassis and Suspension
2011 Space Grey E82 N55 DCT
2000 Sunlit Sand Maxima SE 5Spd.
1997 Arctic Silver E36 M3/4/5.
1997 Techno Violet E36 M3 Coupe 5Spd (SOLD).
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