C2 - Rattle Noise From Rear

[John L.]

When I drive my '66 over bumps in the road and the like there is a rattle type noise coming from the left rear corner of the car that sounds like the muffler is loose and knocking around. I do not hear the noise while driving the car on smooth pavement.

I jacked up the rear of the car to take a look and the muffler looks to be firmly in place as does the tire tub. The other night I stood along side the left rear tire area and pushed the car from side to side and could heard the rattle noise. Any thoughts on what could be causing this? BTW, the traling arms were rebuilt by Bairs about 10 years ago. Thank you for the feedback.

[Tom H.]

Re: C2 - Rattle Noise From Rear

Left rear rattle. If everything looks good under the car, could it be the jack or something in the jack compartment ???????

[Mark H.]

Re: C2 - Rattle Noise From Rear

Hi John. Take a look at where the exhaust extension exits through the rear valance. If the spacing there isn't centered, you can get a rattle. Test it by grabbing the chrome extension (obviously, don't grab a hot exhaust component with your bare hand) and gently jiggle it back and forth. If it has enough clearance you'll sense no metal to metal contact. Hope this helps.

[Jim D.]

Re: C2 - Rattle Noise From Rear

Check to see if the antenna is mounted firmly.

[Edward J.]

Re: C2 - Rattle Noise From Rear

John, a few things come to mind, take a look at the rear shock and mounting bolts and rubbers , possiably the strut rod bushings, lastly look at the rear body mount, they do rust away in the salt belt areas.

[Jack P.]

Re: C2 - Rattle Noise From Rear

When I drive my '66 over bumps in the road and the like there is a rattle type noise coming from the left rear corner of the car that sounds like the muffler is loose and knocking around. I do not hear the noise while driving the car on smooth pavement.

I jacked up the rear of the car to take a look and the muffler looks to be firmly in place as does the tire tub. The other night I stood along side the left rear tire area and pushed the car from side to side and could heard the rattle noise. Any thoughts on what could be causing this? BTW, the traling arms were rebuilt by Bairs about 10 years ago. Thank you for the feedback.

Check your hub cap spinners , if old, sometimes rocks or other stuff can be be in the space between spinner and base of hubcap

[Bob R.]

Re: C2 - Rattle Noise From Rear

I know you mentioned you looked under the car at the exhaust system and saw no issues but the clearances on the exhaust sytem are pretty close. Any missalignment of the system could cause it to hit something. When going over bumps the exhaust system could be hitting the tire tub or even the rear spring. One other area that comes to mind, I had a loud rattle under the car when I first purchased it and found the center exhaust brace was missing. The exhaust pipe was hitting the center brace where it passes through the frame. Of course that doesn't sound like noise from the rear left. You could also check to see if the hangers used to support your system are correctly configured. A lot of muffler shops use home made brackets to hold up the system.