Coucoui6 Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 i have a strange clunking sound in the rear of my pathy for sometimes now. the sound only happends went i've had 2 adult people or my car is a bit on the loaded side. i cant seem to find it. i looked at all the suspension parts and every think looks good. nothing is loose... the sound is comming from the center rear. it would clunk every time my path go over a speed bump. it really sounds like its coming from the rear diff area. i know this is a pretty hard question to give an answere. thanks, coucoui 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Could be knocking your bump stops maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriskaw440 Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 my first guess would be the upper or lower control arm bushings, but you have to disconnect them to inspect....it can be hard to tell with them in place. if a bushing gets a split in it....it can sometimes work fine, and sometimes "klunk" as it will if enough load is put on it. On my 90, when they went bad, just looking at them they looked fine, but once unbolted so you could see the entire bushing....it was obvious they were blown apart from age and dryrot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkorahil Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 (edited) I would say one of the muffler/exhaust hangers is busted. Edited June 16, 2008 by Alkorahil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eglaisi_91pathy Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Spare tire carrier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coucoui6 Posted June 16, 2008 Author Share Posted June 16, 2008 I would say one of the muffler/exhaust hangers is busted. i do have and after market cat back exhaust done by a muffler shop. i was looking at that yesterday after i posted my tread. i thought the top hump of the rear sway can hit a pipe. i did not see any obvious metal rubbing marks but i will recruit my wife to help bound on the rear of the pathy to see it its a possibility... now some of my exhaust hangers are broken. i've use small hose clamps to hold the tail pipe up in place. i may need to re inspect it. or use some more support. thanks. coucoui6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkorahil Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 i do have and after market cat back exhaust done by a muffler shop. i was looking at that yesterday after i posted my tread. i thought the top hump of the rear sway can hit a pipe. i did not see any obvious metal rubbing marks but i will recruit my wife to help bound on the rear of the pathy to see it its a possibility... now some of my exhaust hangers are broken. i've use small hose clamps to hold the tail pipe up in place. i may need to re inspect it. or use some more support. thanks. coucoui6 Good thing about the clamps is they are an easy fix. bad thing is they dont last forever. I am in the same boat as you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coucoui6 Posted June 17, 2008 Author Share Posted June 17, 2008 Could be knocking your bump stops maybe? i dont have the greatest suspension but i dont think i'm bottoming out. i have a 2-3" suspension lift in the rear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coucoui6 Posted June 17, 2008 Author Share Posted June 17, 2008 Spare tire carrier? i dont think and extra passenger or load will effect the clunk if the carrier is the cause. wouldn't it just clunk all the time.???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coucoui6 Posted June 17, 2008 Author Share Posted June 17, 2008 my first guess would be the upper or lower control arm bushings, but you have to disconnect them to inspect....it can be hard to tell with them in place. if a bushing gets a split in it....it can sometimes work fine, and sometimes "klunk" as it will if enough load is put on it. On my 90, when they went bad, just looking at them they looked fine, but once unbolted so you could see the entire bushing....it was obvious they were blown apart from age and dryrot. you may have a good point... i will take a closer look after double checking my exhaust out. thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 it's either the drop links or maybe panhard bushing going. i have one of these and haven't really found it yet but i kind of gave up looking. it clunks at change of pitch most of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriskaw440 Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 when I changed my control arm bushings, I went ahead and ordered the panhard rod bushings too figuring they are probably shot from age also....but to my surprise, they were perfectly fine when I took the rod off.....so I just bolted it back up and put the new bushing in my workbench drawer for a later day I guess its because the control arms take more abuse than the panhard rod does. but it sure is nice not having that annoying klunking anymore! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coucoui6 Posted June 18, 2008 Author Share Posted June 18, 2008 okay... last night i had a change to fix my sagging exhaust with a new 7" hose clamp and some smaller ones. the 7" was able to loop around my rear frame and a mid section pipe. now my exhaust is not going to be an issue anymore. but was that the true cause of my clunking should... not sure. since i was down there...i use a large flat head screwdriver and attempted to inspect the upper trail arm (control arm) that is attached to the top of the rear axl. i was able to shift the arm quite a bit more on the bushing to the frame. so maybe i will need to change that also. i do know that my panhard rod is okay... i took that off just 2 wks ago and the bushing was fine. thanks coucoui 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91PathSE Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 I had a klunking noise about 3 weeks ago...its turns out it was the shock bushings...check those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeV Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Had these guys take care of my Mystery! :tonguefinger: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coucoui6 Posted June 19, 2008 Author Share Posted June 19, 2008 I had a klunking noise about 3 weeks ago...its turns out it was the shock bushings...check those. my shocks are only about a year old. so i know their still good.... thanks. update. my exhaust remedy did not fix the clunk..... i think its a bushing to the top control arms now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coucoui6 Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 i wonder if my rear clunking is from the control arm/ trail arm bushings... how much damage would i do if i just left them broken? i must say the clunking is pretty annoying!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 You could try laying underneath the back end and having someone beefy give the rear bumper some bounces...watch the control arm bushings and whatever else moves, that might help ID the problem area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriskaw440 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 The nissan mechanic I have showed me how my rear end (the pathys.....not mine) would move back and forth when he gave it some gas and with one foot on the brake, let out the clutch some, and the real axle on the drivers side actually moved back and forth while the vehicle stayed put. "Oh damn yeah I see that!" was my remark. Probably wont damage much of anything but you wont be able to get an alignment job done correctly with it loose like that and in my case, it acutally made my rig unstable on the road since the geometry was going out of whack whenever I stepped on the gas.....made the rear end 'wiggle' or go off in another direction due to the axle shifting out of square. Talk about annoying!! My LOWER arm bushing were what was shot any my uppers still looked fine so I just left them as is. I ordered new bushings from Rock Auto Parts and changed them out myself .... although it was a bit of a pain in the ass to knock the old ones out and insert the new ones. Had to grind out the space a bit so the new (slightly fatter) bushings could be pressed in. Still better than paying for new arms ($$$$$ for what they are...). HUGE difference though once it was done....so nice to have a normal ride again and klunk-free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coucoui6 Posted July 11, 2008 Author Share Posted July 11, 2008 Chriskaw440, i just ordered my rear trail arm bushing from 4x4parts.com. i got 2... one for each side. my wife is not beefy enough to help rock the pathy's rear end and the clunk is worse. so i'm tired of hearing it. i will check the lower rear trail arm once i get the new urethane part... thanks for you input. coucoui 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriskaw440 Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 good to hear. Well mine would mostly klunk when starting out from a dead stop....(putting a load on them....causing the axle to 'pop' forward) and just bouncing the rear end (the pathfinders...not my wifes) up and down would not be enough to make anything move out of place. once you get started...I would take each arm off (one at a time) and inspect the bushings...if you see any signs of cracks / dry rot in the rubber....then the bushing is shot. This is a pretty common issue with the older pathfinders and luckily, with some common tools and patience....a pretty cheap and easy fix. Has to be done anyway as like I mentioned before...no competent shop could do a proper alignment with the rear end loose like that. -Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coucoui6 Posted August 31, 2008 Author Share Posted August 31, 2008 okay... i just want to report that the mystery is gone.... i finally got around to replace my rear upper trial arm with some urethane ones... i did take the bottom trail arms out and its okay not great. some cracks but small. i think will do those later. fyi... i took my trial arms to two shop to have them press the old bushings out... everyone wanted to charge me min. 1 hr at $95.00 per hr rate. wow. inflation . i thought shops was only just 55-65 per hr. i never thought the current rate would be $95. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriskaw440 Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 Ouch $95.00 per hour..... probably took them what..about 15 minutes to pop them out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coucoui6 Posted September 1, 2008 Author Share Posted September 1, 2008 i'm sure it was only a 15-20 min. job... but i was bend over on this one. i really wanted to take my part back home but i already promised my wife a leasure lunch. so i had to drop it off to save time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coucoui6 Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 okay... the mystery is back. the top trail arm bushing did help, but last week i had to pick up family at the airport with luggages. and guess what? the klunking sound came back. so my next move is to replace the lower trail arm bushing and re evaluate the pan hard rod also. if it still "klunks" than i'm out of suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now