Replacing Struts on a 89 corolla

[Oldyota]

Still new to this ride so I got to ask some questions............ I know that the front and rear struts need to be replaced. I have the 1989 DX model AE92, and I was wondering if GTS struts would fit on my car? Would that increase the handling? Better/Worse?? I ready to buy a set and they are asking if I have servicable mounts? And are they worn out? I have now idea currently b/c I haven't taken them out yet. Is it recommended to replace the mounts or that rubber boot on the top? I've got 211K on ride and wondering what to do.

As far as swapping parts goes how about of the other parts such as gauge clusters, sway bars, engine parts, etc..

Thanks,

Oldyota

[tashirosgt]

I suspect all the cases of bad strut mounts that I have seen were due to minor collisions. The center of the mount breaks out, but since it is all black rubber, this is hard to see. By jacking the car up you should be able to see if the center part of the mount is really attached to the rest of it. Also check the bearings. The front mounts have bearings and when you turn the wheels the strut rod should pivot freely in the mount. If you get new mounts you may have to drill out the 3 holds for the studs on the mount to make it fit . The aftermarket ones all seem to have bigger shafts than OEM's on the '89. In fact, I have been trying to find out if you would have to do this for new OEM struts also.

The rubber boots, the bumper, and the nut for the top of the rod are generally sold with new struts. Replace these if the new parts fit.

I recently discovered yet another hazard in replacing struts. I got two strut assemblies from a '91 Prizm (virtually the same suspension as your '89 Corolla) from a junk yard on the promise that I would bring the struts back since I only needed the rest of the parts. I compressed each coil spring carefully on my Branick compressor, took of the nut from the rod and slowly uncompressed the spring. On one, the strut did not fall free of the assembly when I took it out of the machine. I also noticed that this spring seemed a lot shorter than the other spring. I put the two springs down side by side to compare them. Then I finally noticed that the shorter spring had not uncompressed fully! The metal plate that goes on top of the spring and beneath the strut mount was somehow caught on the strut rod and it was still holding the spring. I very carefully put the nut back on the rod. Then I recompressed the spring. I drilled a small dimple in the top of the rod to hold the point of a puller shaft. Then I used a puller to push the rod out of the metal plate. It didn't pop out. It came out slowly as if there was much friction against the rod for about an inch of travel. Maybe this was also a collison related problem. The junkyard car was hit on the right side between the doors pretty hard. And there was no rust on the plate or the strut rod.


About GTS parts, I don't know.

[REN69]

Originally Posted by Oldyota

Still new to this ride so I got to ask some questions............ I know that the front and rear struts need to be replaced. I have the 1989 DX model AE92, and I was wondering if GTS struts would fit on my car? Would that increase the handling? Better/Worse?? I ready to buy a set and they are asking if I have servicable mounts? And are they worn out? I have now idea currently b/c I haven't taken them out yet. Is it recommended to replace the mounts or that rubber boot on the top? I've got 211K on ride and wondering what to do.

As far as swapping parts goes how about of the other parts such as gauge clusters, sway bars, engine parts, etc..

Thanks,

Oldyota

I think GTS struts will fit but you will have to buy the whole assembly from a GTS and put it in your car as the GTS has serviceable struts. Your car I believe has full strut (non-serviceable) so you have to buy the whole strut to replace it. I would suggest OEM or KYB struts if you don't mind a little firmer ride.