When I hit hard bumps I get a bit of a rattle from the shocks in the back of my car? Is this common or should I look for something else. Haven't really looked yet!

 

Rear sway arm link bushings most likely.

 

Thanks

 

Had this issue when I first bought my 86 IROC Z. Fold down the rear seats and peel back the carpeting. Be careful not to screw up the interior molding. you will see two foam plugs on each side. carefully remove them and it'll expose the top of the towers. The shocks have a tendency to back out a little after years of use. Clean threads with a brass brush and then reseat the nuts on the towers. No need to jack the vehicle up in the back, as this will extend the shocks. keep the load on them and simply tighten them. Also check your bushings on your rear stabilizer bar, if they are dry rotted, simply change them out with some new bushings.


cheers,


SRKLEGIN

 

If it sounds like coins in your pocket, it's the sway bar bushings. Get Energy Suspension or Prothane poly ones, 2¼" or 2½" length. Do the same to the front at the same time. Get the matching bushings to fit whatever sway bars you have too; that one cheeeeeeeeep little repair is one of the biggest bang-for-the-buck and bang-for-the-effort things you can do to your car. Makes an UNBELIEVABLE difference to almost any car.

The shock bushings frequently are so old and dry-rotted that they may even have crumbled and disappeared. If so, one can only imagine what the shocks themselves must be like, which is, nothing but dead weight. If the bushings are shot, replace the shocks.

Also, the shock has a tendency to literally punch the hole in the floorboard out, that it goes through. Cure for that is, weld in acoupla large washers. Not a "permanent" fix (which AFAIK there isn't one) but should last for another 100k miles or so.

 

I want to change my rear diff oil too so should keep me busy for a bit.
Drove a bit with T-tops off that was fun.

 

Slopy steel brake line on driver's side. Where metal goes through hangar and changes to rubber. The mounting bracket was just letting pipe bounce around. Black tape and some zip ties fixed it.
Bushings on sway bar will need changing soon.
Thanks for the help.