Just got the car back after the alignment. Tech also clocked the upper A arm bolts all around (all 8).

Clunk is still there. Friend asked if it might be the exhaust. We went out to look just now and the Urge midpipe does basically just barely _not_ touch the larger PuddyMod diffcase. SO it is easy to replicate something approaching the "clunk" purely by pushing on the right exhaust tip (toward the center of the car). I'll work on repositioning the exhaust's midpipe and report back. Likely won't be for a couple days though.

I'll also double check all the relevant bolts and retorque. Will also see if both the front and rear sway bar endlinks need to be "clocked".

Thanks for all your suggestions!

 

If something is loose, I'm betting top hat nuts.

*hopefully* you didn't use an impact to loosen or tighten those, BTW.

 

I don't recall the the top nut being an issue. Don't recall the shaft spinning. Please see 2 posts down, one of the rear shocks does have this issue.
The rear springs have a ton of preload (12mm).
No tools left in trunk.
Not many miles on the shocks, maybe 5000.
I had these off the car recently, I didn't shake them violently but they were definitely solid and everything is tight.

What are trunk springs?

Definitely sounds like something is very loose.

But I moved the exhaust away from the diff and that didn't remove the clunking/rattle. Think it did eliminate some noise though, but now the rear suspension rattle is much more crisp.

Tophat nuts definitely aren't loose as mounted (torqued them to 36 lb/ft). And no, I definitely didn't use an impact on these nuts.

Hate this rattle (clunks on bigger bumps, sadly I didn't hit any in this video).
Really seems like the rear is stiff as hell and yet loose with all the clunking.
Here is a video that provides audio that might help.. or it might not:

 

Think/hope I found the problem:

Thoughts?

 

One of the rear shocks does have the issue you mentioned: shaft spins when trying to torque the top nut. I was able to get pliers on the shaft to torque the top nut tight. But is the shaft spinning indicative of some problem?
I tested both shocks.. they seem to go up/down in the same manner when pressure is applied.

Thanks in advance.

 

Normal. The bump stop just floats on the piston shaft. Your dust boot looks like its taught enough that its holding it down off the very top, but again the bump stop free floats on the piston, doesn't matter where it is.

 

Be very careful not to ding/scrape up the piston shaft with teeth of the pliers. The shaft needs to be perfect condition to create a proper seal around the shock seals and or you will weep fluid and damage the seals.

If memory serves the pistons typically will rotate inside the body of the shock, but the top center nut should be tight upon assembling the dampers with spring, and the spring pre load as it compresses from tightening should aid in securing the piston to be able to tighten that nut to proper amount, as it all sort of works together. Could have been the source of your sound. Have you installed and test drove car since you tightened further?

 

Did you actually listen to the audio of that video? Sure, the bump stop is supposed to be able to be moved up and down but i'm not so sure the top hat is supposed to be making that noise.

OP, based on that noise when you move the bump stop up and down, i would guess you're missing a washer or some other part when you assembled the top hat and/or you didn't tighten the top nut enough. If you keep the shock assembled, but just remove preload on that spring and jiggle the top hat, does it make noises?

Regarding my comment about the shaft spinning: it's perfectly normal for the shaft to want to spin. It's just something you want to watch out for when trying to torque the top nut down because if the shaft is spinning when you're tightening the nut, then you're not getting the torque that you want on the nut.

I know some people frown on using impact guns for this sort of thing, but it's exactly what i use to both remove and install the top nut. If you get one that has a good burst of initial torque, it will both remove the nut and install the nut without turning the shaft at all. Of course you risk over tightening the nut, but that's just something you have to have the right touch with as far as your impact gun is concerned. The alternative is gripping the shaft with a vice grip, but you have to make sure you protect the shaft from damage and grip it at the upper portion of the shaft (upper is least likely to make it past the seal and damage the seal).

 

Actually I didn't hear anything on first watch, so I just listened to it and you are correct there is definitely something loose sounding there in the top hat area to focus on.

 

Had the metal on metal noise from the front when i installed my Ohlins. Turns out the tophat bolt (one in the middle) was loose. Used an impact and tightened it, problem solved. Also the top of the strut has a spot for an allen wrench to keep the shock from spinning so you dont have to grab the strut itself, i would be scared to scratch it.