CLUNK in rear passenger side

[CNIXZGO]

Ok, this noise started last weekend in my 1978 280z. I think I went too fast over a speed bump at work and now i have a "clunk" noise when i go over bumps. right now it only does it when i go over any kind of bump, i got under the car today because I thought a nut came loose on my diffy, or mustache bar, everything looks OK and tight. I just got new KYB struts so i dont think that's it.

I thought maybe it's a bushing that went bad, maybe in the mustache bar or front diff. i visually inspected those areas too and it looks ok, this noise is only on the passenger side, in the rear.

can any one know what elsei i can check and have this problem before? thanks

Nick

[texasz]

Just a thought but you may want to check to make sure that your spare tire is still fastened down. When you hit a bump it will bounce and make a clunk sound when it lands.

[tanny]

This is interesting because I just installed two KYB struts on the rear of my 240 and I am getting a clunk on both sides when I go over any bump. I can reproduce the noise by just pushing down on the rear of the car. I'm going to check out the struts today and see if maybe the top nut that retains the cartridge in the strut is not screwed down tightly enough, although I remember cinching down on it fairly hard. The clunk definitely is coming from the strut area. Victor.

[CNIXZGO]

pushing down on the rear bumper also and i CANT reproduce the sound. I'm going to check the strut area anyways on sunday and see if i can find anything else.

[biker]

I had a clunk in the back of mine and it turned out to be the bushing which holds the transvers link on nearest to the diff. give it a wiggle from side to side to see if you have any movement in these.

PS

I am running KYB as well allround.

Biker

[Brett240]

i used to have that clunk on the left back too, only when going over bumps, it was awful. i ended up putting up with it till i put in all new coil overs in, struts, springs, shocks, bushes, brakes, the lot and then it dissapeared. i have no idea what it was, so this is a pretty useless post. :stupid:

[tanny]

I took the struts apart and found that the cartridge retaining nut that fits over the cartridge shaft and screws down into the strut tube was not seated down against the top of the cartridge, so the cartridge was slamming back and forth about 3/16 inch on every bump I hit. The retaining nut that came with the KYB cartridges would not screw down far enough to secure the cartridge, so I had to fabricate two washers(spacers) to place inside the retaining nut for each rear cartridge to take up the 3/16 inch gap. The clunking is now gone. If only the nut could have screwed in a few more turns. Interesting that the nuts that came with the front cartridges worked fine. What a hassle. Victor.

[CNIXZGO]

Well Victor, i think i have the same problem as you just described. Today I took off the cover in the interior that goes over the strut housing. I then held my finger on the nut to see if I could feel any kind of vibration while I drove down the street. Well it does sound loose and i can feel the vibration of the clunk when i go over a bump. i didnt take it to work Sunday for fear of that strut totally busting on me. I'm going to take it back to where i got them installed because I need to have the spindle pins replaced anyway. hopefully it's something that just needs to be tightnened and i'm glad it's not a bad bushing or bad diff. mount

[tanny]

If it turns out that you have the same problem, it might be good to email KYB and tell them their bung nut is not the proper specification for this application. They probably wouldn't do anything because this application i'm sure doesn't bring them in much money, but worth a try to save others the hassle. Please email me if you do have the same problem. Thanks, Victor.

[CNIXZGO]

Thursday morning : Well I have narrowed it down to either the spring seat or the strut top mounting insulator. Every time i go over a bump I get this clunk from atop the strut tower in the rear. My question is Do these parts wear out or come loose? I also might suspect the gland nut has come loose on me and it needs to be tightened. I've already tightened the top strut nut. Does anyone know what might be making this sound??? Maybe it needs new bump spots, i dont remem ber having those installed when I had the KYB installed.....My car is a 78 280z

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by cnixzgo

Thursday morning : Well I have narrowed it down to either the spring seat or the strut top mounting insulator. Every time i go over a bump I get this clunk from atop the strut tower in the rear. My question is Do these parts wear out or come loose? I also might suspect the gland nut has come loose on me and it needs to be tightened. I've already tightened the top strut nut. Does anyone know what might be making this sound??? Maybe it needs new bump spots, i dont remem ber having those installed when I had the KYB installed.....My car is a 78 280z

My bet is on the gland nut being the problem. I would be AMAZED if the mounting insulator was the problem. (It could be, but I doubt it) Spring seat can't "wear out", but the welds could break, but again I doubt it.

[CNIXZGO]

I'm figuring the gland nut too, OK, so do i have to take the whole freaking assmbly apart or can i tighten it through the springs?