98 Camry Knock at Rear Wheel

I have a knock at the passenger side rear wheel on my 98 Camry. The
knock does not occur on all bumps but it sounds like something is loose
or broken. I've looked underneath several times now and can't seem to
locate the problem. The rear struts were replaced about 2 years ago at
Sears. Any suggestions?

spunky1 wrote:
> I have a knock at the passenger side rear wheel on my 98 Camry. The
> knock does not occur on all bumps but it sounds like something is loose
> or broken. I've looked underneath several times now and can't seem to
> locate the problem. The rear struts were replaced about 2 years ago at
> Sears. Any suggestions?

Your condition sounds like typical junk replacement struts at two years
age; I would consider that the strut(s) are the cause of noise. I
would also suggest that there was no real problem with the OE struts
two years ago. I see and drive these every day and rarely do rear
struts make any noise under 150k miles; even rarer are OE Camry struts
that have leakage or performance issues at any mileage.

You may want to check to see if the shaft nut has backed out or if any
of the three upper mount plate nuts are loose, but it requires lifting
the rear deck board. If the shaft nut is loose, you can attempt to
tighten it in the car (large gold colored nut, 19mm socket). If it is
loose, there's a possibility that the keyed strut shaft has spun out of
position of the keyed strut mount, which will require strut removal and
the use of a spring compressor to remedy.

More likely, the Sears'omatic strut has failed just like many junk
struts do in short time. Other areas to look are the rear control rods
that run perpendicular to vehicle travel - look for looseness in the
articulated end bushings. Worn out swaybar bushings, though extremely
unlikely, could cause a sort of knocking noise.

Toyota MDT in MO

if you hear the clunk from the right wheel when you go over bumps on
the right wheel or bumps on the left wheel but you don't hear the clunk
when you go over bumps that hit both wheels..... then it might be the
sway bar bushings or linkage. I have this on my car, its a little
annoying but not too bad.

A loose strut whould make a very loud clunk that sounds like it is in
the back seat.

Mark






Mark

Mark wrote:
> if you hear the clunk from the right wheel when you go over bumps on
> the right wheel or bumps on the left wheel but you don't hear the clunk
> when you go over bumps that hit both wheels..... then it might be the
> sway bar bushings or linkage. I have this on my car, its a little
> annoying but not too bad.
>
> A loose strut whould make a very loud clunk that sounds like it is in
> the back seat.
>
> Mark
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Mark

I have replaced the sway bar bushings...but knock continues. What
puzzles me is why I don't hear this knock on every bump. I hear it more
on uneven road surfaces rather than large bumps in the road. When I
drive the car on an old worn out road the knocking is extremely loud. I
will take the vehicle back to sears and have the struts checked since
they are lifetime warrantied, but, I don't think it is a strut. Also, I
have checked the exhaust system for any knocks and removed everything
out of the trunk to see if there was something banging around. I let my
wife drive the car and stuck my head in the trunk thru the back seat to
listen to try and isolate the sound and it seemed to be knocking right
at the rear wheel.Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Mark wrote:
> if you hear the clunk from the right wheel when you go over bumps on
> the right wheel or bumps on the left wheel but you don't hear the clunk
> when you go over bumps that hit both wheels..... then it might be the
> sway bar bushings or linkage. I have this on my car, its a little
> annoying but not too bad.
>
> A loose strut whould make a very loud clunk that sounds like it is in
> the back seat.
>
> Mark
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Mark

I have replaced the sway bar bushings...but knock continues. What
puzzles me is why I don't hear this knock on every bump. I hear it more
on uneven road surfaces rather than large bumps in the road. When I
drive the car on an old worn out road the knocking is extremely loud. I
will take the vehicle back to sears and have the struts checked since
they are lifetime warrantied, but, I don't think it is a strut. Also, I
have checked the exhaust system for any knocks and removed everything
out of the trunk to see if there was something banging around. I let my
wife drive the car and stuck my head in the trunk thru the back seat to
listen to try and isolate the sound and it seemed to be knocking right
at the rear wheel.Does anyone have any other suggestions?