Help with rear wheel issue

2002 C2 with 130k miles. I've had it about 10k miles. Recently started hearing more "noise" in passenger rear area near wheel when going over bumps/potholes. Kind of a thunk noise - not metallic sounding - but different from the left side. Also seems to squat or shiver sideways (not actual movement but more of a feels like thing) when going over bumps or bots dots/lane dividers. I jacked up the passenger side and rotated tire - no noise or gritty feel. But I have play in the tire when I lever it side to side. No vertical play (12 and 6 oclock), - and not strictly horizontal (3 and 9) - its on the 4 and 10 oclock axis as i'm facing the tire, standing beside the car. At the sidewall, i'm getting about 5/16 inch defection in the tire. So something is worn.. I tried the same thing with the drivers side and no movement in any axis. I also notice I've got a little bit of oil film on the shock shaft on the right side. But no oil noted on shock body. Finally, I get an intermittent shimmy in the body/seat (not steering wheel) at slower speeds 10-40mph. Seems to happen more when the car is cold and just starting out. Appears and disappears at random - its not all the time. New tires and balance lessened it but it didn't go away totally. I look at the underside of the car and compare sides. Don't see anything bent or deformed. Bushings look ok - no cracks or missing chunks in the rubber, to tell tale grease trails. CV boots look good. Tires don't show uneven wear (yet). I have good records on the car since about 95k miles - no notice of any suspension work or replacement parts. I'm planning on new shocks., but don't think that is my problem... Does this sound more like a hub bearing or suspension issue? Can I point to ball joints or one of the 3 "dog bones" (that's probably not the right term...) as the specific cause here? And if so, can I replace just the specific part, or should I just plan on replacing all the wear items on the wheel? Finally, if I do one side, should I do both, even if the other side seems to be ok? Sorry this has been long. I tried to give you all the info I could... lol Thanks in advance for any help or recommendations!

Sounds like it could be control arms ( 996 341 043 06). That's often the issue with low speed noise, although there are other potential suspects. Lots of threads, search low speed clunk & the like.

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I have a question for you. You have a 20 year old car with 130,000 miles on it. Yes, it is a Porsche. If you bought a 20 year old Honda, Toyota, Land Rover or Mercedes and it had 130,000 miles on it, and the rear suspension needed some "work" because of a thunk, would you question what and why? C"mon....replace shocks, mounts, rubber, anything that moves or rotates. These are not "forever" cars. At 20 years old and 130K miles, even if it is a Porsche, it's going to need replacement parts....sorry to say. Have you never owned another car? Yeah yeah yeah...no morning coffee yet. At what point of owning a 20 year old 130K mile vehicle do you "think" it might need some replacement parts and some rebuild parts? It really makes me wonder about people. I have a 20 year old car with 130K miles and it thunks...what could be wrong? Goodness gracious.......

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I'm old enough to remember the cars from the 60's and 70's and that in the 80's they were all ancient and tired. Carb'd engines were done at 90K-100K miles from the gas-washed cylinder walls and were leaking from all the cork gaskets. People didn't grease the zerk fitting on all the suspension points and so the suspension was fully shot shot as well. We take for granted how well modern cars last and are generally reliable.

If the control arms seem fine, good bet it could be the control arm links aka "tuning fork". Changed these on my 986 and solved the slow speed thunk/clunk/rattle over imperfect roads. This part is hard to diagnose while on the car.

I think Joe has a fair point(s)... This being said, I think you've at least ruled out the wheel bearing (you'd hear and feel it while spinning the wheel). It's a rear engine car, so the rear suspension components are going to take more of a beating than the fronts (the 600lb+ weight of the engine plus the constant torque/twisting under power). Regardless of the fact that you're only hearing the noise on one side, I'd recommend doing both sides together. Also, if you've never changed your motor mounts, don't rule them out - they can give you the "water sloshing in a bucket feeling" as well as clunks and shakes...Anyway, good luck tracking it down - not easy when the car's weight is unloaded...

can you take the wheel off and see what's moving?

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best you get the rear up on stands and take both rear wheels off - this will remove the tension off the sway bar.

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Uber, we're actually talking about the same part -- good that you added the clarification. The part number in my post is for the "tuning fork'. Changing it also resolved my low speed clunk. I used the EPS type with the rigid bushings. Some say that type adds unintended suspension resistance, but I noticed no difference in handling. To the OP, given the cost of the replacement parts, an alternative would be to source out new bushings, rather than to toss the otherwise good part; seems that there's a DIY on that floating around somewhere. GLWS and best to all.

Thanks everyone! I hadn't considered sway bar loading with just one wheel jacked up. Ill lift both and see if I get any play in different spots. Dough - I did pull the wheel off, and got under the car with wheel on (jackstands for safety...). Seems like the wheel hub moves with the wheel (so not wheel bearing), but I cant tell where the slop is otherwise - maybe without the sway bar loading... DBJoe996, I appreciate your comments, and I see your point, but at the same time, if I have an engine that needs spark plugs, I don't replace the valves at the same time just because it is a "high mileage engine with a miss"!!! The reason for my post was to see if I could narrow down the problem so I don't have to replace parts that may not be at a replacement stage yet. As an example, I have a Miata at the moment that is 10 years older, has 50,000 mile MORE on the chassis than the Porsche and has only needed a ball joint and shocks so far. The rest of the suspension is fine. I don't have any problem replacing what needs to be replaced, but I'd prefer not to throw parts at the car until the problem goes away. But I appreciate your taking the time to respond! BTW, we are neighbors apparently, I'm in Daytona. Maybe we meet up some time for breakfast or something. Tell you what, Ill buy your coffee so you'll be in a better mood. lol There may have been suspension work in the past and I just don't know about it. So I don't want to "just replace everything" as a matter of course. I had an alignment done on the car and new tires installed early in my ownership and all the numbers were able to be maintained within specs. the tech didn't point out anything as needing replacement at the time. Obviously there has been wear and tear since then though. Anyway I appreciate ALL your comments and suggestions!

Let me see if I have this right... Each (rear) wheel has a control arm and 3 different links. Each link has one or two bushings in it. Its the bushings that wear and cause the play in the suspension? Looks like you can replace bushings (only) at about 2/3 cost of the whole link. I have a press in my shop so this is not an issue.. Do the link bodies (without the bushing) usually wear? Aside from maybe getting bent somehow?!?! The one link listed above - the tuning fork one, - do the bolt holes wear or elongate, or is the bearing the only usual wear point. Finally, the control arm itself - looks like 2 bushings and a ball type joint. Are these rebuildable as well or just replace them? I'm a curious kind of guy - I like to know the why and how of stuff, even if I have to replace parts. Sorry to be a pest! I found a neat interactive diagram online that helped me "see" the interrelationships with all the parts. That helped a lot!

Hey Bill...hey neighbor. One of the best shops in Daytona is down on Orange Avenue/Palmetto - British American car repair. I know...it's a Porsche. I had an evaluation done there on our Mini Cooper on the AC. Then had them fix it. I was so impressed with their work. It was flawless. For what it's worth, George might put it up on the lift and poke around, for nothing. Then let you know what he finds. Here is their website https://www.georgesbritishamericanautorepair.com/ My wife and I will be in the Porsche paddock for the 4 days of the Rolex 24. Going?

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The control arm bushings can be replaced, and some people replace them with metal bushings where the tuning forks locate and monoball/heim joints/urethane where they bolt to the frame. I don't know if the ball joints are replaceable and I don't think I would replace them even if they were. Some track focused control arms do have replaceable ball joints. Everything else can have the bushings replaced, and again you can go with polyurethane for firmer feel, or rubber for stock feel. As long as the parts aren't bent or damaged I see no reason not to just push in new bushings, especially if you have a press.

I thought I would give you guys a progress report.... I ordered lower control arms and wishbones for both rear assemblies. Based on the help I got here and the added research I did, these seemed to be the likely culprits. While I was installing them and had the car up in the air, I checked the upper dog-bones and rear lower link. Bushings looked good and I couldn't find any play in them. They seem to be easier to replace so I can do them later if needed. The front bushing on the "bad side" wishbone had a fair amount of slop in it, although the boot was still intact. The control arm bushings were tight and intact, but the ball joint was loose and had a little play in it. So both of those were worth replacing. The sway bar bushings were in good shape and looked fairly new. So I greased them and reinstalled. When I put the tire back on, I can't sense any play in it like before, so I think one/both of those parts were the problem. Looking at the hardware, I really think the car had the suspension "done" before by a previous owner and I just don't have record of it.. While I'm on a roll (and the car is up in the air on jackstands), I plan to check out the front end and replace worn items, then have the alignment done on all four corners. It's a third car, so I don't haver to be in a hurry to get it back on the road (but I do miss driving it!...). Anyway, just wanted to report back and say thanks again for those of you who helped with advise! BTW, DBJoe, I didn't make it to the races yesterday/today. I usually work out there at the track so don't buy tickets, but staffing has been a mess this past year with restricted gates and covid. So I stayed home and worked on my suspension. Thanks for the shop reference. I think I have dealt with him before as a parts source back in my MG days.