I. Am. An. Idiot.

[mdatrdcam]

Well for the past few months i've been under the impression that my front TRD/Bilstein struts were blown. They were exhibiting the normal behavior associated with blown struts i.e. excessive chattering , banging while going over bumps or road imperfections.

So the time finally came that i was ready to ship them off to Bilstein in California for re-valving. I would have done this much sooner but was hesitant due to the fact that i worked at UPS for five years and know how often that shipping companies lose and poorly treat packages. I witnessed, on many occasions, employees stealing certain things from the shipments. So i was worried that my very rare and very high quality struts would magically disappear while en route to their destination. But, the struts were really starting to worry me and i decided to go ahead and remove them to be shipped out.

I gathered up all of my tool and started to remove the struts. I had the car all jacked up and the wheels removed. Next i went to break lose the top strut nut because i knew that i wouldn't have any leverage once the strut assembly was off the car. When i went to break the nut lose i was quite surprised, to say the least, it was already very lose. so much so that i could turn it with just my fingers. I stopped and thought for a second that maybe, just maybe this could be the problem. So i tightened the nuts as much as i could and put the wheels back on the car for a test drive. I figured i might as well try and see if i was going to luck out and have this one nut be the simple solution to my problem.

Sure enough it was the top strut nuts that were the problem! I honestly couldn't believe it, it was like driving a new car! No more noise, no more loose struts haha. The car is fixed!

Now could these bolts some how have loosened themselves or did i just overlook tightening them when i installed the struts and springs? I still really am in disbelief that this is what my problem was and it that it was so easily fixed. Anyway thanks for listening to my rant and i cant wait to see everyone at the meet.

[iovaykind]

Sounds like a "doh" moment.. glad you didn't have to send it back and go through all that trouble. don't know if it can come loose like that but try using some loc-tite next time so it doesn't come loose

[N/A Camry Sleeper]

My dad had the same problem with his Gen4 when he did the front struts - turned out he overlooked the same bolt! With my Gen3 recently I did the same thing on the driver-side strut...

Definitely a Homer Simpson moment, but at least it cost $0.00 to fix it!!!

[camry6]

Originally Posted by mdatrdcam

Well for the past few months i've been under the impression that my front TRD/Bilstein struts were blown. They were exhibiting the normal behavior associated with blown struts i.e. excessive chattering , banging while going over bumps or road imperfections.

So the time finally came that i was ready to ship them off to Bilstein in California for re-valving. I would have done this much sooner but was hesitant due to the fact that i worked at UPS for five years and know how often that shipping companies lose and poorly treat packages. I witnessed, on many occasions, employees stealing certain things from the shipments. So i was worried that my very rare and very high quality struts would magically disappear while en route to their destination. But, the struts were really starting to worry me and i decided to go ahead and remove them to be shipped out.

I gathered up all of my tool and started to remove the struts. I had the car all jacked up and the wheels removed. Next i went to break lose the top strut nut because i knew that i wouldn't have any leverage once the strut assembly was off the car. When i went to break the nut lose i was quite surprised, to say the least, it was already very lose. so much so that i could turn it with just my fingers. I stopped and thought for a second that maybe, just maybe this could be the problem. So i tightened the nuts as much as i could and put the wheels back on the car for a test drive. I figured i might as well try and see if i was going to luck out and have this one nut be the simple solution to my problem.

Sure enough it was the top strut nuts that were the problem! I honestly couldn't believe it, it was like driving a new car! No more noise, no more loose struts haha. The car is fixed!

Now could these bolts some how have loosened themselves or did i just overlook tightening them when i installed the struts and springs? I still really am in disbelief that this is what my problem was and it that it was so easily fixed. Anyway thanks for listening to my rant and i cant wait to see everyone at the meet.

You probably didn't forget to tighten them down. The nuts likely didn't back off, they are lock nuts after all. What happened is; there is a holding notch up inside the mount where the end of the strut rod passes through. There are two flat spots on the end of the strut rod, just below the threads. The flat spots HAVE to align and fit up into the notch of the mount (this is intended to prevent the strut rod from turning in the mount when tightening or removing the lock nut.). If not, the nut will torque down, but the rod is not seated properly. With the weight of the car pressing down on the coil spring and compressing it, there is virtually no pressure on the end of the strut rod or nut. As the suspension transmits lateral forces on the mount to the car body, the strut rod can shift and slip into alignment with the notch in the mount. This will suddenly create about a 3/16" gap between the nut and the mount, causing the nut to appear to have backed off. This is where particular attention has to be paid to the proper alignment of the flats and notches of the rod and mount when tightening the rod nuts.

[THEARCHITEK]

ill suggest tp torque them down, i torque everything as spec in school, is better off like that

[LynchburgCSI]

ALWAYS use the recommended torque specs when doing struts. Then RE TORQUE everything after a test drive. And then check it all again in a few days.

[Mister_Perkins]

Paint marker works great after you torque bolts down to remind you that you've already torqued it down

[mdatrdcam]

yeah, i know for a fact that i aligned the flat spots on the strut with the strut mount. i really think i just overlooked it. i think i must have only tightened it down just enough to keep the flat spots on the strut in the mount and then never went back to completely tighten them. oh well, live and learn i guess. And yeah, im so psyched that the solution to my problem cost me nothing. this is probably the only time in my life that some car related problem will cost me nothing to fix. i just dont know why i never thought to check those bolts, i even remember somebody on solaraguy posting a thread where the same bolt was the cause of their strut problem haha. definitely a "DOH" moment on my part.

[reluctantmechanic]

Originally Posted by mdatrdcam

Sure enough it was the top strut nuts that were the problem! I honestly couldn't believe it, it was like driving a new car! No more noise, no more loose struts haha. The car is fixed!

t.

if this is the worst mistake you ever make on your car, you are WAY ahead of the game.

[fenixus]

hehe good one
grats on "fixing" the struts

torue on those center nuts on top is 36ft-lbs, that should be all it needs. re-check after initial driving.

[Safari Wagon]

I've been having some noise from what I believe is the top of the strut. After fixing one of the three bolts that was stripped, I tried to tighten the center nut but found that it spins with the bolt.... Is this normal?

[Chris Crash]

Yes. Because the whole thing spins. How much does it spin? Mine spins a little, then the rubber grabs and it squishes the rubber and it torques down.

If it just keeps spinning and spinning, take the wheel off and try to hold onto it while you tighten the nut.