Drumming sound - nearside rear drumming noise and poor handling

Technical Area Steering & Suspension
1
  1. My model of MX-5 is: Mk 2.5 1.8 sport, 2001, 70,000 miles (original dampers)
  2. I’m based near: Cambridge
  3. I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: suspension noise

I’ve recently noticed a drumming sound coming from the offside rear wheel and the handling has become skittish (the rear of the car skipped sideways on an uneven road surface when cornering). It feels like the tyre is bouncing. I can’t see any sign of fluid leaks around the damper but there is crumbly pink dust on top of the damper, which I assume is from the bump stop. On the offside rear damper there is no sign of dust.

damper
damper480×640 103 KB

I’m planning to replace both rear dampers, but would be grateful for a view on the symptoms.

2

Sounds like it would be worth putting the car on a ramp and inspecting all the bushes, on a vehicle this age they might we’ll have perished which could cause the sound you describe if metal is hitting metal, I would also check you wheel bearings for good measure, YouTube can help you with this.