Rear suspension noise

[failingboy]

Awesome info on this forum, but I haven't been successful in finding anything like an issue I'm having.

Driver's side rear is making a consistent noise, sometimes creaking/popping, but also sometimes sounds like banging, with loading or unloading the suspension. Happens over bumps, around turns, even with accelerating. It almost sounds like there a suspension bolt loose or something. Sounds like it's almost right behind me and is very prominent and unnerving. It's significant enough that I can actually feel it sometimes instead of just hear it. Dropped it at the dealership this morning and they definitely hear it but haven't located it yet. Wish I'd thought to take a video.

It's a '17, just picked it up at the factory a couple of weeks ago, now has ~2600 miles (although has been happening since about 600 miles), base SRT, so no adjustable suspension. Any ideas?

And a pic from just after I got it home, since I don't like seeing new car posts without eye candy

20901

UPDATE: Solution was a rear toe link replacement in the back and adding grease to the upper control arm ball joint in the front.

[Steve-Indy]

I would first put it on a lift and go over everything very carefully. A good tech should be able to check suspension with/for you.

[failingboy]

Thanks! No luck at the dealership after leaving it there with a viper tech all day. I had tried jacking it up myself and didn't see anything amiss.

[swexlin]

Could be the diff. My old diff that whined had some clunkiness. Any noise from the rear end? Oh, and congrats on the car. First 17 on here, I think, at least non-ACR. Love a white Viper. Hope they get it fixed soon and out on the road. Love that you're putting miles on it. 2600 already? I put on 1500 miles since last October....

[Steve-Indy]

swexlin makes a good point about the differential...there have been issues with various prior Gen V model years.

[One Viper Bite]

As others have stated, the rear differentials on these cars have a tendency to begin to fail. Rear diff on my 13 GTS started that way. Clunking and whining. It slowly got worse until the entire thing pretty much seized. It had torn itself to pieces.

Another issue I had with my car was the half shafts failing. The symptoms were a "creaking" and clicking noise. My Viper tech said it was also common on our cars. So have them inspect the entire rear assembly.

[sadil]

Interesting observation, definitely agree that you should completely inspect the car's rear end and suspension. Factories usually mark torqued bolts, not sure if the Viper facility does this, but if they do, try to find one that has no marking or has moved from its original position. Checking the diff would be a great start so you get that out of the way.

Btw, would love to have your 17 on the registry. PM me your vin or just the last 8 along with your options/spec!

[failingboy]

Could be the diff. My old diff that whined had some clunkiness. Any noise from the rear end? Oh, and congrats on the car. First 17 on here, I think, at least non-ACR. Love a white Viper. Hope they get it fixed soon and out on the road. Love that you're putting miles on it. 2600 already? I put on 1500 miles since last October....


swexlin makes a good point about the differential...there have been issues with various prior Gen V model years.

Thanks for the advice. It hasn't sounded a whole lot like I would imagine the diff acting up would, but granted I don't really know what normal is for this car is yet. I'm hoping they'll come up with a good solution, but I might can help them to expand their search to the diff.

I haven't wasted any time putting miles on it. Drove from Detroit with my wife down to Austin for the F1 race, then back to Alabama. Far enough to get a windshield crack. I've been dreaming after this car for years, so I'm definitely not going to worry about driving it. :smileys-car-driving

[failingboy]

As others have stated, the rear differentials on these cars have a tendency to begin to fail. Rear diff on my 13 GTS started that way. Clunking and whining. It slowly got worse until the entire thing pretty much seized. It had torn itself to pieces.

Another issue I had with my car was the half shafts failing. The symptoms were a "creaking" and clicking noise. My Viper tech said it was also common on our cars. So have them inspect the entire rear assembly.


I like the half shafts idea too, especially given how it seems to change with movement of the suspension and if it's been an issue on other cars.

[dmann]

My '13 had a clank like what your referring too. They replaced the rear shock.

[failingboy]

My '13 had a clank like what your referring too. They replaced the rear shock.

That's helpful, because the creaking part of the noise sounds very shock-like. I'm just not sure about the banging part, but I'm hoping I can post the answer soon. Really sounds like differentials have been the most common cause of noise from the rear, and if that's not it, I'm dealing with something less common like what you've mentioned.

[dmann]

yea, the noise was more present when the car suspension would unload over a bump

[dmann]

Great looking car BTW!!

[Jack B]

Our cars use CV joints which are different from half-shafts. Typically you can find a bad half-shaft through a visual examination. On a CV joint the working parts are not exposed, therefore, making it harder to diagnose. The sound as it was described could be a CV joint or ..........

[mjorgensen]

Jack the rear corner up and down slowly while someone feels and listens for the noise location. A leaking shock is obvious of course, but we have also had these noises and they have ended up being other things. You can look at the rear brake ducts to see if they are rubbing the roof, this can cause creaking from all the situations you describe because of the flexing of chassis.

We have also found these noises coming from the joint between the roof and the rear quarter panels right behind the door opening. You can locate these items by holding your finger lightly on these joints as the car is jacked and lowered from that corner if this is it. If you do find this to be the case you can re adjust the rear brake ducting to eliminate the noise or remove and re seal the foam pieces to eliminate it. If it is the roof/quarter panel then that gets harder and what the factory does is add a small amount of silicone grease to that joint, let it soak down in the joint then clean and way the area.

If you have questions don't be afraid to call.

[kbench55]

Jack the rear corner up and down slowly while someone feels and listens for the noise location. A leaking shock is obvious of course, but we have also had these noises and they have ended up being other things. You can look at the rear brake ducts to see if they are rubbing the roof, this can cause creaking from all the situations you describe because of the flexing of chassis.

We have also found these noises coming from the joint between the roof and the rear quarter panels right behind the door opening. You can locate these items by holding your finger lightly on these joints as the car is jacked and lowered from that corner if this is it. If you do find this to be the case you can re adjust the rear brake ducting to eliminate the noise or remove and re seal the foam pieces to eliminate it. If it is the roof/quarter panel then that gets harder and what the factory does is add a small amount of silicone grease to that joint, let it soak down in the joint then clean and way the area.

If you have questions don't be afraid to call.

I had the exact same sounds coming from my 2014 SRT. It ended up being the roof panel and rear quarter panel not lined up perfect and it would make a rubbing, squeaking, and banging noise quite regularly. To the OP your problem sounds exactly what I was experiencing. They took off the panels and realigned them and I have not had the problem since.

[One Viper Bite]

Our cars use CV joints which are different from half-shafts. Typically you can find a bad half-shaft through a visual examination. On a CV joint the working parts are not exposed, therefore, making it harder to diagnose. The sound as it was described could be a CV joint or ..........

I think you've made this point before when I reported my issue. Aren't we basically saying the same thing? The half shafts have CV joints at the end of them...but they are still half shafts, are they not? As in, they are independent of each other unlike a solid rear axle.

Either way, what I'm telling the OP is that I had an issue with my half shafts AFTER my rear differential failed and was replaced. Replacement of the rear differential does not include new half shafts (or CV joints, whatever you want to call them).

[failingboy]

Thanks guys for all of the great info. Mark, thank you specifically, and I may end up giving you a call about all of this. I just got off the phone with the dealership who says that they still have not been able to identify the specific cause. They are able to replicate it with putting some torque across the car, ie, lifting the right (non problem) side, and say they're also hearing it in the front. That sure sounds like it may lend credence to the idea of a panel alignment issue that would change with stress put across the car.

They say that they've contacted Dodge, asking for additional tech support, but that it could be weeks (!), not days until the issue is solved. I've passed along the advice that you guys have given me from this thread, hoping that helps them to narrow things down.

Anybody have experience with Benchmark CJDR in Birmingham, AL? I think my closest dealer on the recommended list is in Columbia, TN. Otherwise, if I'm going further than that, it might as well go to you at Woodhouse, Mark. I'm trying hard not to be frustrated, understanding there are going to be some idiosyncracies with a hand built, low production number car, but I miss driving the thing already!

Appreciate all who are resources here on the forum

[mjorgensen]

Thanks guys for all of the great info. Mark, thank you specifically, and I may end up giving you a call about all of this. I just got off the phone with the dealership who says that they still have not been able to identify the specific cause. They are able to replicate it with putting some torque across the car, ie, lifting the right (non problem) side, and say they're also hearing it in the front. That sure sounds like it may lend credence to the idea of a panel alignment issue that would change with stress put across the car.

They say that they've contacted Dodge, asking for additional tech support, but that it could be weeks (!), not days until the issue is solved. I've passed along the advice that you guys have given me from this thread, hoping that helps them to narrow things down.

Anybody have experience with Benchmark CJDR in Birmingham, AL? I think my closest dealer on the recommended list is in Columbia, TN. Otherwise, if I'm going further than that, it might as well go to you at Woodhouse, Mark. I'm trying hard not to be frustrated, understanding there are going to be some idiosyncracies with a hand built, low production number car, but I miss driving the thing already!

Appreciate all who are resources here on the forum


You are welcome and if you want to give the service manager there my cell phone I would be happy to help him if needed.

[kbench55]

Trying pushing down on the roof panel where it meets the rear quarter panel just behind the door. I did that and was able to replicate the noise I was hearing and knew for sure it was a panel issue.

Here is a link to a previous thread with the issue.
http://driveviper.com/forums/threads/10090-Squeak-Rubbing-Popping-Noise

[failingboy]

Trying pushing down on the roof panel where it meets the rear quarter panel just behind the door. I did that and was able to replicate the noise I was hearing and knew for sure it was a panel issue.

Here is a link to a previous thread with the issue.
http://driveviper.com/forums/threads/10090-Squeak-Rubbing-Popping-Noise

Thanks for the link. I wish I'd asked the question before taking it to the dealer, or I could've checked that area specifically. I was able to reproduce it in a less severe way by basically bouncing the left rear up and down by hand, which is the same panel, so I really do wonder, as it's sounding more likely to be body rather than suspension related.

[failingboy]

Just an update to add video. The quality of the sound is not really captured well through my phone, but the best example is between 0:07 and 0:12 seconds of this video. There is more of a "creaking" quality sometimes that's easier to hear around 0:25 to the end. Apparently they had some kind of area rep fly in, and he's at the dealership today attempting to diagnose. Hoping that means there's some progress to be made soon, and if there's an answer it can help somebody else with a similar problem!

https://vimeo.com/191891871


https://vimeo.com/191891871

[Vette2Viper]

I had some rear end noise that I had thought had something to do with the diff; couldn't for the life of me figure out where the noise was coming from though. After a while sounded more like a suspension clunk than anything else so opened up the rear hatch and put some weight in the car and bounced the suspension and down. Found out my rear passenger side suspension was the culprit so I jacked up the car and put some Teflon lubricant on all the bushings. Noise has not come back since.

[Tamvette]

I think because I read this thread, my right started to make similar sounds and I could generate typical diff going bad sounds in a parking lot with full left/right turns.

I called my "amazing" local dealer and was greeted with "Our Viper tech doesn't work on Vipers anymore but he might be, we will get back to you"

This is the worst part about this car. I expect issues from any car but dealing with these guys is a form of torture.

[swexlin]

Listening to the video, ok, that's not the diff. Honestly, sounds like something is loose. Exhaust, muffler, maybe? Can you get a passenger in the car with you, maybe he or she could help pinpoint it, which is sometimes difficult to do when you're driving.

[failingboy]

I had some rear end noise that I had thought had something to do with the diff; couldn't for the life of me figure out where the noise was coming from though. After a while sounded more like a suspension clunk than anything else so opened up the rear hatch and put some weight in the car and bounced the suspension and down. Found out my rear passenger side suspension was the culprit so I jacked up the car and put some Teflon lubricant on all the bushings. Noise has not come back since.

I like that idea, and it's couldn't hurt. There's a few little tiny squeaks and stuff otherwise that I'm sure it might help too.


I think because I read this thread, my right started to make similar sounds and I could generate typical diff going bad sounds in a parking lot with full left/right turns.

I called my "amazing" local dealer and was greeted with "Our Viper tech doesn't work on Vipers anymore but he might be, we will get back to you"

This is the worst part about this car. I expect issues from any car but dealing with these guys is a form of torture.

Sorry my thread made your diff start acting up :-/


Listening to the video, ok, that's not the diff. Honestly, sounds like something is loose. Exhaust, muffler, maybe? Can you get a passenger in the car with you, maybe he or she could help pinpoint it, which is sometimes difficult to do when you're driving.

Good thoughts. The dealer spent some time with some electronic listeners in several spots and are telling me they think it's the driver's rear toe link, which sounds reasonable. They've ordered one, so I'll update if that turns out to be the fix.

[failingboy]

Thought I would update, in case it's helpful for anyone else. Dealership replaced the driver's side rear toe link, which fixed the noise I was hearing from the rear, but also unmasked a quieter but similar sound from the front driver's side. This was clearly suspension related, with some squeaking and popping when loading/unloading the suspension in the front.

I had some help bouncing the suspension over that wheel while I listened and around, and it was coming specifically from the ball joint in the upper control arm. I just added some grease via the Zerk fitting and now all is perfectly quiet. Not sure why this would have been dry from the factory, but problem solved!

[ZeeViper]

thanks for the update!! i have what i think is the same thing going on in the rear, just slight off camber bumps and certain movements of the geometry made the sound happen. It seemed like even temperature would play a role. either way...really drove me nuts. hoping to fix it before next season.

[V10 Snake]

have a similar noise in my '13. sounds like something is loose or jiggling. still haven't found the source of the problem.

[Pappy]

New data point. I had the rear spindles on my ACR replaced under warranty so Dodge could measure some clearances on my old ones (2600 miles). Shortly after replacing the spindles (100 miles or so), I developed a "popping" or "snapping" somewhere in the rear at slow speeds. I pulled the diffuser, belly pan, and inner fender liners, but that didn't help. Then, with the car on jack stands I jacked the lower control arms up and down a little. When I jacked the passenger side and released it, I got a "snap" from the driver's side lower ball joint. Jacking the driver's side control arm did not produce any noise. I greased the ball joints - it appears the lowers did not have much if any grease in them, and all is now quiet. Of note, the lower ball joints were part of the spindle package (spindle, bearing, and lower ball joint) that was replaced 100 miles ago. Time will tell if any damage to the ball joint occurred.

Pappy

[SADVIPER]

I'm having a noise in my back suspension just when I drive over bumps with a passenger, the suspensions sounds squeeky but not scratch marks inside the tyre well.

There is that small lubrication nozzle / nipple but I have no idea how to use it.

Anyone familiar with tools required and what to inject?