Clunking rear shock mounts: Solved?

[ldwinslow]

On my 06 wagon I recently replaced the rear shocks and after three days I starting getting a clunking noise on even slight bumps. After talking with a tech rep. from Gabriel I had not torqued the shock bolts properly. I retorqued the bolts per the tech's spec of 85 ft/lbs on the upper and 76 on the lower and the clunking noise went away when driving over bumps. Apparently the shock mounting brackets are meant to tighten onto the shock sleeves. This eliminates the clunking between the mounting bolts and the sleeves when the sleeves are not held firmly by the mounting brackets. When removing the mounting bolts I thought they felt awful tight.

[elsolo]

Originally Posted by S0C0nFused

Here is a pic of the top of the rear shocks. You can just see the stop.
Also, a pic of the 'doughnuts' I made from a heavy rubber foam. These add considerable resistance to the stock rubber mount (also pictured, doughnuts fit inside). Hope to get them in this weekend. Note: These are not solid like the ones from P-51.

I made a pair of donuts out of 1/4" thick latex sheet stock, they remove all free-play but have a little bit of give under stress.

No clunks ever, it's been 15,000 miles since I put them in.

[Geezer]

The upper mounts between the wagon and the sedan/hatchback are very different as are the torque settings for each. After replacing my shocks on my ZX3 I developed a clunking problem as well. After pulling out my hair for several days (and I don't have that much to pull), I discovered that the interior panel (that has to be removed to get to the top mount) was the culprit. One of the clips on the back of the panel was not fastening correctly and was allowing the panel to bang around.

[Sniper Focus]

I have nylon washers in the mounts and it makes the "cracking plastic" sounds, all this time I thought it was the plastic tote I keep in the trunk to partition/isolate stuff.

I might play around with removing the washers and torquing the nut to 13ft lbs with a crowfoot socket at a 90* angle. The latex washers look like a great idea, but I don't know if I could find something like that.

[jay1028]

Looking to replace rear shock mounts. I don't know what the washer looking parts are for and where do they go?



Jay