Funny sound at rear.. Need help..

My car recently developed some strange noises from the the rear undercarriage when it travels on uneven/bumpy roads. It sounds like a loose metal end hitting other parts of the car, or something like a metal part waiting to come off.

It sounds like a loose exhaust muffler, but my mechanic says that the exhaust mountings are in place. I thought its probably the shocks, but there is no sound when I repeated tried to "push down" the car at the rear end just to test the suspension. When I took a quick peep at the underneath, everything seems to be in place.

The fact that the noise will not surface when travelling on highway or level ground, and only does when travelling on uneven/bumpy roads, really baffled me.

Can it be the rear wheel bearings/ rear axle/loose pipes...? Any advice from you guys? What can it be? Hmm....

Check your emergency brake cables, I just had that happen to me. I kept hearing this weird mettalic sound commin from the rear of the car. It started getting worse, so me and a freind of mine looked under it one night at the gas station and I saw a where something was hittin the drive shaft. Got it home and crawled under to find out that the cable had popped out of where the 2 join together and was rubbing the drive shaft.

Go under the car and try move/shake the over-axle exhaust pipe.. This is bad for knocking against the rear end if its loosened up or if you've had shitty exhaust work done

I had crawled underneath the car and looked/shaked both emergency brake cables and over-axle exhaust pipe. Both looked ok, although the exhuast is slightly more loose than it should be, but it is in place. So i reckon both parts are fine.

I practically tried to move/shake all parts underneath, but they are look harmless to me.. I really hate to bring it to the workshop, as they gonna drain my pockets again...

Any more advice? Thanks..

well remember its hard to reproduce the movement of the body and axle on rough roads, while the car is sitting still. do you have an aftermarket exhaust? or any other modifications to the rear of your car?

WOW... kudos to our Mr Moderator! Congrats, dude..

Back to my problem:
I am not sure what the previous owner did, but from the way I look at it, exhaust seems to be stock throughout..

could be a worn bushing on a contol arm or a torsion bar

Hmm...Worn bushing? How does that generate the metal noise? If you can further elaborate, it will be great! thanks!

I doubt a 96 would have a worn bushing that would make much noise. My 89 bushings dont even creak and those things are toast. Is it possible that you might have polygraphite aftermarket bushings??? I think they can creak if they arent lubricated.

broke shock maybe???????

i think what you have to realize is that this is one of those needle in a big ass hay stack situations. the entire car is metal on metal. however in the tradition of narrowing down possiblities maybe you should look into your rear strut towers. maybe the shock nuts came loose somehow and are banging on the wheel well, although that would make more of a creaking noise or a loud thud at most...

Can you tell if its coming from the left or the right?? Ide say most likely a shock or the shock mount.. You wont be able to tell by pushing the car down

From my driver's position, the metal noise seems to be from the right rear side (passenger). It is quite loud, and make quite an annoyng "clang clang" noise" over uneven roads (especially in bumpy city roads). I suspect that it may probably due to the shocks though, as the car does not make that nosie on level grounds.

Ooops.. I thought i can test the shocks by pumping the car up and down manually with my hands. I guess I am wrong...

Shock mounts? Where are they located? Are they located at both ends of shocks?

Check your catalytic converter. On my car the air tube rusted off of it and isnt secured very well now. When i wiggle it, it makes a clang noise. Maybe it could even be a heat shield on the exhaust?

go into your hatch and take out the interior parts that cover your spare tire and such. the shock mount is right there, check to see if the strut nuts are loose. if they are give em a torque and problem solved...

Hey!
It was my shocks coming alright! GOt them tighten, and no more weird noises!
I love this forum!!!!
Thanks a million guys!!!

glad we could be of service.. These damn cars are bad enough with the rattles and noises..lol Dont wanna add to the problem

Anytime man.......................