2005 Toyota Corolla - Loud Rattling Noise Passenger Rear Corner

[RidingOnRailz]

Title says it all. Car has 185,000 miles on it, no known rear suspension work.

I test drove the car around the block before night-boxing it at our nearby shop.

Over manhole covers and moderate bumps the right rear wheel area sounded like a metal trash can falling down a metal New York fire escape.

Car accels and handles fine, and when I got out and pressed hard down on the left and right rear corners of the trunk, there was no excessive rebound. Just a noticeable squeak from the rear end.

A crawl on my back underneath the rear end revealed goose eggs.

What gives?

[RidingOnRailz]

Sighhh....

I guess some bot from Whatzitstan will chime in.

[shorod]

Does the car have a rear anti-sway bar? The description of the sound seems pretty consistent with a bad anti-sway bar end link. Another thing to try would be to remove the hub caps and see if the noise disappears. It's not uncommon for hub caps to trap rocks or other debris, or to break and rattle.

-Rod

[RidingOnRailz]

Originally Posted by shorod

Does the car have a rear anti-sway bar? The description of the sound seems pretty consistent
with a bad anti-sway bar end link. Another thing to try would be to remove the hub caps
and see if the noise disappears. It's not uncommon for hub caps to trap rocks or other debris,
or to break and rattle.

-Rod

Thanks to those who offered up suggestions.

It turned out to be a strut that broke at the top. Local independent made note of it's position, wrestled the sum'bich out of there, and installed a replacement.

I don't know what caused it to break/ separate in the first place. My wife drives reasonably fast but prudently, staying right most of the time, and avoiding road hazards(sub-grade manhole covers, pot holes, what-not).

This car has 184,000 miles on it presently, and these are likely the original struts in back. So it sounds like it's about to turn on to the Road of Diminishing Returns...

[shorod]

Wow, that could have been a nasty surprise for her if she kept driving it and hit a large pothole or something that allowed the spring to escape the strut!

Thank you for following up with what you found the issue to be.

-Rod