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I had my car jacked up recently and I noticed a vertical play(wheel going up and down) while holding the wheel at 9 and 3 and trying to move it.

This comes with a severe knocking on the rear, both sides, over speed bumps and larger potholes - no noise on small imperfections.

The car has shock absorbers on the rear with a rubber top mount and a small rubber absorber beneath the spring.

This first happened after about a 1000 miles with 3 people in the back and 2 in the front, full trunk as well- it has lowered suspension so that was a lot of load on it.

First of all - is this vertical movement normal? I presume not, as it doesn't happen on the front.

Secondly, My guess is top mount. Any other ideas before I go about dissembling?

VIDEO: Video from Youtube

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  • Usually, when holding at 9 & 3, play that is felt is horizontal... Vertical play is usually found by holding at 12 & 6...
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Nov 19, 2018 at 12:29
  • Hey Solar Mike, I have added a video of the movement. Feel free to check it out. It's up and down movement, not a wheel wobble.
    – Tisho
    Commented Nov 19, 2018 at 12:34
  • Does the other side do the same?
    – HandyHowie
    Commented Nov 19, 2018 at 12:44
  • Yes, both rear sides do that. Fronts do not. I can hear the knocking/thumping super loud noise from both sides.
    – Tisho
    Commented Nov 19, 2018 at 12:48

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Normally I'd say this isn't normal. However, considering you stated the suspension is lowered in your car, this may actually be something which is caused from it being lowered. Here's why I say this ...

When you lower a vehicle, you are allowing the suspension to get closer to the vehicle. This can be done by compacting the rear spring (putting in a spring which may have a higher spring rate, yet with less overall height and travel). Just because the rear spring is shorter, doesn't mean the travel of the rear suspension is any different. If, when the suspension is fully hung (not bearing any weight), such as what you show in the video, your springs may be completely off of the perches depending on how the the lower was done. If these are coil-overs, you probably wouldn't see this. If, however, these are lower springs which sit in the original perches, then the suspension might be all the way down and there may be a slight gap between the spring and the perch ... which would allow for the movement you show.

To verify this, securely put the vehicle up on jack stands, then crawl under the car while someone else moves the suspension so you can see what is actually happening. Look to where the spring is at the top. See if there is movement there between the spring and the body of the car (top spring perch).

If this doesn't prove to be what's happening, you may be able to actually see what's going on with it. You'd be looking for where ever the movement occurs. If there is movement where bushings are located, then there's an issue there. Just follow all avenues of movement and you should sooner or later find the culprit.

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