Rear springs... loose? Options

[MeyerTX]

1996 celica GT, 160k, auto... before this last weekend we've had a "clunk" in the rear suspension, and it was happening on any surface... smooth, bumpy, accelerating, turning, etc. So, I opted to change out the springs (struts had already been replaced with basic KYB GR2's about 10 months ago).

Bought and installed Megan orange lowering springs... same issue.

Here's the HUGE clue - the old springs did not need to be compressed to get out of strut - and neither did the Megan springs need to be compressed to be installed in the KYB's. They are probably about 1/4" from fitting with the strut structure tightly. I'm wondering if:

1. KYB is selling a new strut that is too tall? (double checked part numbers on site and on actual strut)
2. We have something missing, like a thick spacer? (bought new rubber mount for lower part where spring meets strut base, then you have the spring, and a one-piece strut mount holds in all in place.


Ideas?

[MeyerTX]

lesson learned... don't trust that new struts are going to stay new... turns out one of the new KYB struts has decompressed (leaked) and had zero rebound. The end links on the drivers side are also dead though.

One last follow up - we are thinking of turning this into a track-day car for SCCA - does anyone make poly bushings for all the links on this generation? A few searches have yielded zero. I might just buy an entire rear crossmember from a local boneyard and rebuild it on the workbench, and just search for bushings in the correct sizes.