Vue: rear suspension thumping noise
 

My 2005 FWD Vue (4-cylinder, 5-speed manual transmission) has an irritating thumping noise in the rear suspension when going over small bumps. It sounds like a rubber-on-metal noise. I've replaced the rear shocks and the sway bar stabilizer ends to no avail. All the rubber bushings in the main swing arm look OK. Any ideas what it could be?

1) Is it coming from one side or both sides? Have someone ride in the back with you driving.
2) Did you find the upper strut mounts loose when you did the struts?
3) Did you torque the nuts for said strut mounts to spec? Do NOT run out to the vehicle and try to tighten them WITHOUT a torque wrench as the studs will twist right off if overtorqued.
4) The upper strut mounts can harden over time--they're just rubber.

Semi-Aside: When I last redid the struts on my 97 SC2 (at about 230K) I made the mistake of using monroe upper strut mounts in the rear because the saturn rear strut mounts had doubled to some ridiculous price. I'm paying for it every time I drive the car because the monroe studs and nuts seem to have a variable thread (someone please add the correct terminology for this) such that they become harder and harder to tighten the further you go. (It's not just a nylon locking nut). Upshot is that I am afraid to try to tighten them any further for fear of twist off and like an idiot I only saved one orig rear upper mount as a spare. So I get a rubber to metal thump going over medium bumps because there is a tiny bit of play at the top of that strut mounting.

It could anything back there, including any mounting point. A cross member bolt could be loose, could be a bushing, could be a shock mount coming apart. It could be anything back there and we can't see it so you'll need to get it in the air and inspect everything.

Top right you'll see your user name, next to it is a drop down. Click it, open signature. Add your first name, state, and car to said signature.*

Next get your post count up to 10 asap or your account will be shut down for being inactive. Reply to pictures folks have posted, post a picture of your car, anything to keep your account open.