... coming from the back of my 1983 Renault Alliance. I replaced the rear shocks, checked the trunk for loose items, spare tire, jack, etc. This is driving me crazy -- especially since my car only has 26,000 original miles! Any ideas?

The rear bearings are easy to check-- loosen the rear lugs, jack up the car-- take OFF the rear lugs-- remove the tire, spin the drum by hand and listen !!

I have had rear bearings go bad before-- and they are a split type-- they have 2 races in them.. so perhaps one race is bad-- the other is good,,, but if a bearing is bad-- the SPIN BY HAND TEST is a very easy and satisfying test to do that will help you find your bad noise.....

Low mileage does not always mean NO Trouble....

Joe in USA

Excellent suggestion; I just checked and it's not the problem. I placed the vehicle on jack stands and checked the bearings and the rear suspension -- everything seems tight. The rattle doesn't sound like bad bearings -- sounds more like a clunk, like something loose. Any other ideas?

I had a similar noise on a R6, years ago. Although everything seemed to be tight, the shocks were worn. After changing them, the noise disappeared.

Regards,
Andy

That was the first item that I suspected -- it sounds like a broken shock -- so I replaced them with new KYBs -- the problem still persists.

After some time they just start make a charakteristic sound. Check the rear axle - this is a common problem in C class Renaults that have torsion-bars based rear suspension.

A

I placed the car on jackstands and shook the rear end and heard no rattling. So then I took the car to an alignment shop, and they told me that the rear suspension was real tight, and they couldn't determine from where the rattling sound had originated.

my 4 door '85 model had a rattling due to some sort of dynamics as the torsion-bar-type suspension arms (with their axle points under the rocker panels near the rear of the rear doors) loosened up and broke in. Now, at 149000 miles, or whatever it has, it's no longer something I notice. I bet it went away in about 6 mos to a yr after I noticed it. My mechanic pin-pointed the noise. There was no lubrication or part replacement that she could do. No danger, either.

hmm, maybe. my car only has 26,500 miles -- hardly broken in yet. how could i verify that this is the case?