Camry 1999 rattles on City Roads - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

camry2001Speakers · 02-21-2011, 03:46 AM

So i just bought a 1999 CE and it drives really smooth on the freeway. However, whenever im going low speeds(10-50mph) over slightly rough roads, you can hear the area in front of the passenger wheel rattle.

The rattle doesnt seem to appear when the road is Super smooth or going really fast... So what can this be, is it important to fix and how much would it cost?

Thanks!

pmesfun · 02-21-2011, 09:43 AM

Could be many suspension components that are worn out. Strut mounts, sway bar links and bushings or control arm bushings.

87Camry5Speed · 02-21-2011, 11:37 AM

^+1. That style Camry was notorious for strut mounts making noise. Two options- replace them or turn the stereo up

***fenixus*** · 02-21-2011, 11:44 AM

it's the strut mounts. usually passenger side goes out first and rattles.

I have the same thing (original strut mounts) on both sides of wife's 2000 Solara 2.2L

Honestly new mounts and rubber parts are so expensive alone (plus labor to change them) that I would suggest replacing both front strut assemblies with Monroe Quick Struts - 3 nuts on top and 2 big bolts at bottom and done (get wheel alignment after).

rockauto sells Monroe Quick Struts (for camry 2.2L) at $125/each

aa2033 · 02-21-2011, 01:58 PM

i have changed everything mentioned above. even used the monroe quick struts. but i still get this rattle. exact same place, same speeds also.

i have NO idea what causes it.

***fenixus*** · 02-21-2011, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aa2033

i have changed everything mentioned above. even used the monroe quick struts. but i still get this rattle. exact same place, same speeds also.

i have NO idea what causes it.

make sure all 3 nuts on Monroe strut mount are torqued down to 29ft-lbs (15mm socket).

raise the front end of car and remove the wheel. take a closer look at bushings in sway bar, check sway bar end link for play, shake outer tie rod end, check ball joint.

under hood check other stuff for loose, broken off bolts in that area.

camry2001Speakers · 02-21-2011, 02:15 PM

Okay so its nothing too serious then... Its something i can ignore and keep on driving the car? I dont want to change it and still have the rattle like aa2033.

carsrus · 02-21-2011, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camry2001Speakers

Okay so its nothing too serious then... Its something i can ignore and keep on driving the car? I dont want to change it and still have the rattle like aa2033.

Yup you can keep on driving the car. Ive been putting off changing my struts for as long as I can remember.

carpetguy00 · 02-22-2011, 02:20 PM

I also have that clunk, and ive been chasing it for the year ive owned the camry. I used the quickstruts and changed one control arm, both sb endlinks, and the sb bushings (moog).... still clunking.

camry2001Speakers · 02-28-2011, 04:23 PM

Alright so how much would this whole strut/suspension thing cost me if i wanted to fix it? Today i was driving the car through some rough city roads and the both front wheels had that rattle... I dont know if i can handle this noise for a few years...

***fenixus*** · 02-28-2011, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camry2001Speakers

Alright so how much would this whole strut/suspension thing cost me if i wanted to fix it? Today i was driving the car through some rough city roads and the both front wheels had that rattle... I dont know if i can handle this noise for a few years...

rockauto.com

gen4 2.2L front strut assembly $125 each
gen4 3.0L front strut assembly $144 each

carsrus · 02-28-2011, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camry2001Speakers

Alright so how much would this whole strut/suspension thing cost me if i wanted to fix it? Today i was driving the car through some rough city roads and the both front wheels had that rattle... I dont know if i can handle this noise for a few years...

Just like fenixus said its about 260$ worth of parts from RockAuto. Its really,really easy to install too. Being careful and slow it shouldent take more than 2 hours to do both front struts.

No need for an alignment either. The tie rod and ball joint are not touched at all.

***fenixus*** · 02-28-2011, 07:26 PM

well, I'd say alignment is still needed if someone likes keeping the toe-in values zeroed out (helps for keeping tires longer). there is no way to keep things ideally same, no matter what you do.

I agree about tie rod end though, this thing is quite easy to keep at same setting. however replacement struts (mounts especially) rather rarely fit exactly same way, the bottom moves a bit too, so things will change, not much but expect +/-0.05in change in toe-in values when not touching the tie rod ends.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carsrus

Just like fenixus said its about 260$ worth of parts from RockAuto. Its really,really easy to install too. Being careful and slow it shouldent take more than 2 hours to do both front struts.

No need for an alignment either. The tie rod and ball joint are not touched at all.

Just Out of Reach · 02-28-2011, 10:06 PM

I did the alignment (98 Camry) last week after struts on all fours and it was same as it was 20k ago (still in spec). The guy who put it on the rack said doing struts doesn't change alignment on Gen4 Camrys. I'd say it depends how many miles it's been, whether or not it's due anyway. (They sprayed a little nut loosener and then charged $10 for "parts", thus losing my future business).

***fenixus*** · 02-28-2011, 10:12 PM

true then, last time my i4 had alignment checked was a while ago (2 years?), so perhaps tie-in values were out of adjustment before I touched struts.

I did it anyways, because wanted to get lifetime alignment at local Firestone, they had a promo deal. we have too many pot holes around here after Winter and alignment is getting bad easily depending how many pot holes you hit

some local roads look like swiss cheese ...