Passenger Strut Mount Problem need advice

[kerbos5]

Well I have 95 camry le (171k) with the dreaded strut mount problem on the front passenger side. I should really change out the entire suspension but I think I'm going to try to get through the winter as cheaply as possible, so with that said I just want to fix the knocking thats driving me crazy. My question is what all do I really need to replace, I know the Strut mount for sure, but what about the Bearing...how do I know if thats bad without tearing it apart first, and the spring upper seat, along with the bumper and both insulators. Thanks for your help.

[davemac2]

You are going to have to take the strut/spring out to check everything out to be sure. Check the mounting nuts and strut nut on top of the strut to make sure they are not loose at least. It's likely just the strut mount, but I believe the bearing is part of the mount isn't it? I would not replace the spring top and bottom isolators or the bumper unless you actually find wear-thru or a split bumper or something. If the bumper is split, I would suspect a badly worn strut also. Just borrow a decent spring compressor tool from autozone or some other place to dissassemble it. It only takes 10min to compress the spring in a vice. Most of the work is removing and installing the strut.

dave mc

[kerbos5]

Does anybody know who makes the OEM part for this front strut mount, I found a strut mount and bearing at NAPA for $89 made by NCP as opposed to $135 from toyota, I had a similar incident with the stabilizer end links for the front, bought them at Napa, and found out they were made by Dana, the oem manufacturer for toyota, wondering if this is the same case. Thanks

[toyomoho]

The bearing may or may not come with the replacement strut mount, check up on this when you look.

The bearing can go bad and make a popping noise as the steering knuckle rotates, thus change it now when the strut is apart.

There ere several makers of these parts, KYB, Spicer, Monroe, ACDelco, Moog.

[kerbos5]

I bought the strut mount with bearing from Napa for 69 bucks, put it in in like 30 min, and it finally is a quiet ride, now lets just hope it holds up for awhile. It was a nice cheap fix.