I need help!!! I have this popping sound coming from the rear passenger side when I hit a bump at an angle, or come down a driveway. It’s driving me nuts!!! It sounds exactly like a knock on the rear glass. Take ur knuckle and give one tap to the back glass and that’s exactly what it sounds like! It won’t make noise if I hit a bump directly with both wheels or come down a driveway perpendicular to the street, but if I hit a dip, or driveway, or speed bump with only one side of the car, I get the pop.

So I’ve searched and searched…. I replaced all 4 sway end links, and all 4 sway bushings with OEM parts. The car is completely stock. It’s an 2006 6MT Coupe. Still makes the noise. I checked all bolts in the rear suspension all are nice and tight. Both rear hubs, and bearings were also replaced a few months ago for a bad rear left bearing. Brakes are good, calipers are good etc….

Any ideas????

I’m tempted to remove the rear sway and see if it still makes the noise… This way I can rule the sway out. Other than that I’m stumped!!

 

First off, just because the bolts are tight does not mean the part is installed correctly. It could be off a little, making the sounds.

Is the car lowered? Modded?
Has the car ever had any rear fender or rear damage?

 

It's most likely not this and wasn't even on the same car.

But on an old toyota corolla(2008 model), I had the rear windshield making a popping noise. It wasn't seated correctly and needed to be re-sealed. I heard it over most bumps though, and it did get worse over time. Again, probably not the problem, but still something to consider.

 

The car is completely stock... No damage to rear fenders or bumper.

I thought it may have been the rear glass also... gave it a few pushes from inside and didn't really hear or notice anything. It almost sounds like its coming from near the rear speaker area.

 

Did you remember to grease the bushings before you installed them?

 

I think I have this problem on my car. The rear glass makes this tapping sound that only glass can make. Is this something the warranty would cover? lol

 

It did for Toyota. I can't remember how much it was but it was at like 5,000 miles on the car, and it developed at 4,000 miles or so. They either re-seated or replaced it but it was covered under warranty.

 

Sounds like the exact problem I've had for several months, I wish someone could figure it out. It does sound like its coming from the rear speaker deck/windshield area... I've gotten down to a bare trunk to look for any possible area where it could be coming from but no luck... Keep us posted

 

Temjin... The bushings were greased...

I think I'm going to remove the sway bar and see if the noise goes away. I really want to rule that out before I continue to troubleshoot.

I'll keep everyone updated!

 

This is going to sound stupid, but I'll mention it anyways because I've seen many people fall for this little trap.....

Do you have any loose things floating around in your back seat or trunk that might be bumping into something when you hit a bump at a certain angle?... such as a Mag-Light in the trunk or some other decently solid object?

My brother was trying to figure out for months what his "suspension noise" was in his car. I took a look a his car for a few minutes to help troubleshoot the problem and figured out that it was a Mag-Light in his trunk bumping against the plastic at the rear of the trunk, and it only did it when he went over speedbumps slowly for some reason.. i guess due to the way the flashlight was situated back there.

Check to make sure your Jack and spare tire are firmly positioned and locked into the trunk and there's nothing else floating around in the spare tire storage area.

 

Partyman.. Not stupid at all!! I've had that happen to me in a different car. That's the first thing I checked! I keep a club back there and the first thing I thought was that it's gotta be bouncing around. Unfortunately it wasn't that...

 

I had this same issue, a knocking sound when i would go over a bump, speed hump, etc. Took off the rear wheels and checked everything, nothing loose, broken, nothing...

But i solved the problem this weekend. While i was vacuming my trunk i removed the cardboard that covers the spare tire and was rattling things around to see if the noice was coming from there. nothing made the noise when i moved it, but i pulled out my jack and when i did the plastic tray it lays in made the thump noise!!

So to "fix" the issue i took a couple of blue garage paper towels and placed them under the legs of the plastic jack tray. no more thump.

if you are looking down at the jack go all the way to the right by the fender and reach your hand underneath the tray, you will feel a plastic leg that rests on the floor pan, place some thin padding under this spot. then if you look on the tray towards the bumper there is another leg that rests against the rear of the trunk, place some padding under this one also.

Hopefully you are having the same issue, i have been searching for this source of this noise for months, glad i didnt have to replace bushings....yet.

 

Don't you hate it when that happens?!!

 

So I emptied out my whole trunk (carpets, spare tire, both molded sides, all the junk I had) and I also drove around with the rear seat down. Still makes the same noise. This weekend I'm going to take off the rear sway bar and drive around a bit to see if that changes anything. I'll keep you all posted... It really sounds like its coming from the rear glass, or rear deck. I may also try sitting back there while someone else drives up and down a driveway curb.

 

^Mine does the same and I still think it involves the rear window. There have been many threads regarding this and no one has been able to pinpoint the cause. 1 of the cons of having a unibody.