my 95 sohc neon bumps when cornering, and i just found that when looking at the strut towers, and lifting on the rear wheel well or by "bouncing"on the rear bumper the center bolt in the strut will bounce up and down about an inch. Is that normal or is it a replacable part that will have to be replaced. Never had to do the rear suspension in the neon yet.

 

Not normal...

It's possible that the nut has just worked itself loose and can be tightened down, check to see if there's room under the nut to do so.

If not, the upper perch has broken, and the top of the strut body is hitting the bottom of the upper mount, plus it's rattling all over in there. This can be done fairly cheap... just go to a yard and get an entire strut assembly for that corner. Should run $50-75 or so. It'll have the strut, the spring, and the upper mount all as a unit. Just remove the old assembly (4 bolts attaching the upper mount to the body, plus the 2 on the rear knuckle), and swap the "new" one in. A spring compressor (free rental from Autozone) may help some, but may not be needed... The job should take less than an hour with hand tools, even for a novice. Put the rear corner on jackstands, put a jack under the knuckle so it doesn't shoot down, and have at it.

Best of luck!