KNOCKING, THUMPING, OR CREAKING SOUND IN REAR/FRONT WHEN GOING OVER BUMPS
Q: I have been dealing with this weird noise for some time. I can hear the noise sounds like two pieces of heavy metal hitting each other. It sounds from the right rear area. It happens more often when speed is low say 30 mph on rough road. On highway, it does not happen as often. Anyone know what it can be?
A: First thing to check is your sway bar (stabilizer bar) bushings. What causes the bushings to wear is when water and salt (or just water) gets into the bushing, it corrodes the surface of the sway bar and the surface becomes rough. This wears away the bushing. To get a long-term fix, you should polish the sway bar with a strip of emory cloth where the bushing rubs and then replace the bushing with a new one. Then the sway bar is smooth and the fix will last longer.
The sway bar bushings are cheap to buy from Toyota ($10/pair) and easy to replace - 30 min at most. When I have bought bushings from Toyota, they even gave me a strip of emory cloth to polish the bar with.
Here's a thread on the subject:
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...3&page=1&pp=15