New Suspension Worth It?

[tjdean01]

My 1998 Camry has 215k on it. I haven't had it too long, but I've made a dozen cheap fixes to it: headlights, interior lighting was all burnt out, glove box was hanging open, side view mirror was glued on, oil was dirty, thermostat was stuck open, etc. Timing belt, brakes, and tires all new. Total, this cost me under $1500, and that includes the car!! Blue Book is $2800 even at high miles.

But the suspension is clunking. Apparently there's no way of knowing if it's the strut, mount, or bearing (is the bearing not a part of the strut or mount?). I can get 4 struts new for $300 through this guy I know. I could spend a day putting them on, or I could have the place do it for about $200. But then, I would probably have to spend about $50 extra for the mounts (and then the bearing?).

I have the money to spend, I plan on keeping the car a while at least, and a smooth ride will increase its resale value when I do sell it. I want it to be a smooth ride, yet I don't need it to be. Is it stupid to put money into this car? What would you do? Thanks!

[LynchburgCSI]

First off, in my opinion... ONLY USE TOYOTA UPPER STRUT MOUNTS. We even have a guy here that can get you a discount just for being a TN member. But please, use OEM upper mounts/bearings.

My money is on the upper mounts/bearings going bad. But at that milage, you could probably use new struts too. Do it yourself, if you know what you're doing and can rent spring compressors. The day of your weekend doing it is worth saving $200. But that's not a bad price for the labor, IMO.

Is it stupid to put the money into the car? As long as you've been good about maintaince, not at all!

[JohnGD]

It's recommended new mounts be used with new struts. Therefore price out Monroe QuickStruts from rockauto.com. Lifetime warranty too. It's a lot easier too. Other TN members have done this on first try. So it shouldn't be a problem for you if you're mechanically inclined.

BTW you'll need an alignment after that.

Originally Posted by tjdean01

But the suspension is clunking. Apparently there's no way of knowing if it's the strut, mount, or bearing (is the bearing not a part of the strut or mount?). I can get 4 struts new for $300 through this guy I know. I could spend a day putting them on, or I could have the place do it for about $200. But then, I would probably have to spend about $50 extra for the mounts (and then the bearing?).

I have the money to spend, I plan on keeping the car a while at least, and a smooth ride will increase its resale value when I do sell it. I want it to be a smooth ride, yet I don't need it to be. Is it stupid to put money into this car? What would you do? Thanks!

[carsrus]

Originally Posted by tjdean01

My 1998 Camry has 215k on it. I haven't had it too long, but I've made a dozen cheap fixes to it: headlights, interior lighting was all burnt out, glove box was hanging open, side view mirror was glued on, oil was dirty, thermostat was stuck open, etc. Timing belt, brakes, and tires all new. Total, this cost me under $1500, and that includes the car!! Blue Book is $2800 even at high miles.

But the suspension is clunking. Apparently there's no way of knowing if it's the strut, mount, or bearing (is the bearing not a part of the strut or mount?). I can get 4 struts new for $300 through this guy I know. I could spend a day putting them on, or I could have the place do it for about $200. But then, I would probably have to spend about $50 extra for the mounts (and then the bearing?).

I have the money to spend, I plan on keeping the car a while at least, and a smooth ride will increase its resale value when I do sell it. I want it to be a smooth ride, yet I don't need it to be. Is it stupid to put money into this car? What would you do? Thanks!

The easiest and best way would be to get 4 QuickStruts on rockauto. About 500$ shipped for all 4. Replacing just the shock and mount will end up costing you the same. You could go with the cheapest strut and mount and then take it apart but ehh, it'll end up with the same clunks with cheap parts.

I wouldent do it on a car with 215k. Resale value will be close to nothing even if its in perfect shape. Keep on repair mechanical things so it runs good but forget about everything else. Its the logical thing to do.

My buddy dumped 600$ into his ride fixing suspension and other junk and then the tranny blew out 3 months later....

[bigbird]

at this point i would just keep the car till it dies (catostrophic failure). resale value is not really something id be concerend with at mileage like that unless your plan on replacing the motor and tranny before you sell it. so if you think about it that way, the suspension is really something you have to justify spenging the money on.

how old are the struts on there? is the suspension really soft and bouncy? i'm asking because you may not even need to replace the shocks, just the strut mounts. also, what is the condition of the suspension bushings? a bad bushing may also be causing your clunking.

[tjdean01]

Thanks, guys, good replies here. I wrote a long reply but deleted it because the Monroe Quick-strut page answered all of my questions: yes, the quick strut includes the bearings, mounts, boots, and everything I'll need! If I'm going to do it at all the $400-500 quick struts would be easier because 1) I wouldn't have to look for all the parts and 2) no guessing about what parts are bad. Agreed?

Here's the question. If the guy at work can get me the off-brand for $300 should I do it? Or, what about the cheaper Monro Econo-matic complete struts?

Thanks again! When it warms up just a bit more up here in Michigan I might try to do this myself. Was up to 45 degrees today!

[Scottysize]

Installed all four Monroe Quick Struts this week end. The car rides so much better and it raised the clearance off the ground. It took me 3 hours. 2 hours for the rear struts and 1 hour for the fronts. The rears suck because you have to take out most of the back seat to get to the strut. I tried just taking out the little piece of seat on the right and left, but could not tighten the nuts without taking off the back with the speakers. Fronts are a piece of cake. If you get the quick struts, then there's not spring compresser needed. Do it yourself and put the $200 in your pocket. My car has 228,000 miles on it and the springs, mounts, bearings, ect where all shot. I needed to replace everything, which I did with 4 quick struts.

[tjdean01]

Ok, sounds easy enough. And I have someone to help me!

I'm curious about the Monroe Econo-Matics though. They're only $75 each where as the Quick Strut is $125. But, it looks like the Econo-Matics don't have as a good of a ride?

Or, I could get cheap ones for around $75 each too, regular ride, but I don't know what brands are safe.

Thanks guys. This is the only decision I have left to make!

[LynchburgCSI]

Go ahead and get the quick strut, IMO. That just gets everything replaced that could go wrong in 100 miles.

[fenixus]

the only difference between the Economatic and QuickStrut is the strut itself (cheaper cheezzzzzzier in Economatic), while the rest of parts is EXACTLY same.

QuickStruts are OE replacement, while Econo-crap is not.

[GopherT]

Open the hood. Have a friend hold the hood while you bounce on the front bumber gently. While doing this, watch the strut mounts on each fender (inside the engine compartment). If they look like they are clicking up and down as you gently bounce it they need to be tightened. Put a couple table spoons of water in the rubber boot on top of the shock if you can't see it pop (water will splash sharply as it clicks). If loose, simply tighten the big 19 mm (3/4") bolt in the center of the mount. Do it gently, no reason to torque on it too hard (I don't even know the torque spec but with it mounted on the car, I am not sure what will break or bend.

In any case, tightening that bolt about 1/2 turn helped my old 1999 beauty. Rides like new - a bit low since the springs are sagging but much quieter.
I just did this on my 1999 and the cluncking stopped.

[tjdean01]

I was ready to get the Monroe's for $500, but pretty much everyone says to go with the cheaper ones for $360. Price does sound better since I only paid $1000 for the car and it has 215k miles on it.

Here's what I'm going to go for. Guy has a lot of positive feedback and replied quickly when I asked two questions regarding the quality and he said they've had no issues and consider them to be as good as Monroe. Seems legit: Ebay Link

[Scottysize]

Originally Posted by tjdean01

I was ready to get the Monroe's for $500, but pretty much everyone says to go with the cheaper ones for $360. Price does sound better since I only paid $1000 for the car and it has 215k miles on it.

Here's what I'm going to go for. Guy has a lot of positive feedback and replied quickly when I asked two questions regarding the quality and he said they've had no issues and consider them to be as good as Monroe. Seems legit: Ebay Link

Those are the ones I bought. I got all 4 of them. Like I said, the backs suck to replace. I've put 1000 miles on them so far with no issues. No bumping, grinding, clicking, etcetera. I gave $1500 for my car with 227,000 miles on it, so you did pretty good at $1000.

[tjdean01]

Every single time I try a DIY I end up spending way too much time and regretting the decision to save the money. These are the problems I ran into trying to do the backs:

1. When removing snap-out pieces of plastic in the rear panel I broke two of those little plastic clip things. They are only made to be removed once. Some are removable (half twist with a Philips head), some are not. And finding replacement parts for things like that is EXTREMELY difficult (example, been looking for one of these for 2 months)
2. On both sides of the rear the sway bar link bolt takes an allen wrench to keep from spinning. Horrible, HORRIBLE set up. I stripped mine on both sides. I'm going to have to get the bottom pieces cut off and it will probably be best to just replace the entire sway bars.


3. Bottom bolts of struts. I heated them and used lots of oil and even the jack but these are not coming loose. I actually got one using a pipe as leverage, but on the other the 1/2" hardened steel Craftsman ratchet extender SNAPPED! No vehicle to go get new tools either. I didn't even get to try these two bolts on the other side.

Six hours spent today. I could have paid someone $150 to do it. Pretty upset.

[LynchburgCSI]

Moog endlinks. Problem solved.