98 corolla CE suspension - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

redbone · 10-31-2005, 11:10 PM

Just acquired a 98 Corolla with around 200k. Remarkable shape. My only concern is that the car nose dives heavy and does not feel overly confident at higher speeds.
Any recommedations springs etc. My 98 Tercel with same k's feels more sound and dives less.

Rob

Inland99 · 10-31-2005, 11:39 PM

Sounds like struts to me. Mine were shot at 120k miles and really made a difference after replacing them.

dlichterman · 11-01-2005, 12:11 AM

Inland99- did you do them yourself or have it dont and how much did it cost

redbone · 11-04-2005, 05:30 PM

I was thinking of these I saw on ebay ST Shocks Struts. Any body heard of these ? Do you also recommend springs.

Regards

Rob a.k.a. redbone

Inland99 · 11-04-2005, 07:32 PM

I had mine done at Pepboys. $180 for the front struts and $100 labor. All #@!! breaks loose when the shocks in McPherson (spelling?) strut suspensions go out. You can do it yourself but it's a lot of work. You'll need spring compressors, etc and will have to dismantle practically the whole front end. I'm a truck mechanic by trade and would rather pay some else to do it.

Another thing to watch out for with older front wheel drive cars is when the front axles/CV joints start to go out. You'll get a high speed shimmy, usually around 50mph plus and will only shake while accelerating. When you let off the gas, everything is fine. Give it gas and you're all over the road, steering wheel trying to shake out of your hands. Had my struts and CV joints done and my 123k mile 99 Corolla handles like a sports car.

I'd get bids from everyone except Toyota. Good luck.

dlichterman · 11-05-2005, 12:13 AM

Yeah everyone seems to want ~1000 for all 4 parts and labor

redgtxdi · 11-05-2005, 03:08 AM

I will say this too.......as best I can tell, the Gen 8 Corollas seem to have had a slightly weaker suspension than before (Gen 7) or later (Gen 9).

What I mean by weaker is that it doesn't seem as taught as others. When I was test driving while shopping for Rollas, I noticed the Gen 8's were always a little loosey goose on the road when it came to shock travel.

My '98 Camry has 110,000 miles on it and the struts feel a little weaker than when it was new, but I certainly ain't jumpin' to have 'em changed.

My '95 Prizm has 130,000 miles on it and there's a bit of an oxymoron goin' on there 'cuz I'd almost rather it were a little looser, but I can tell the struts are worn because *quick/short* jolts (like road imperfections, etc.) aren't dampened as well as I'm sure they should be.

Anyway.............given all that............I agree that it sucks to pay so much for something (what happened to the good old days of SHOCKS??? $20 a piece, a couple bolts & you're done!! $100 all the way around). Now this strut crap has us all payin' $500+ just to get the ride back.

I've always wanted to try doing struts myself, but the only time I had a chance to ('88 Geo Spectrum), I just had 'em done by Pepboys (like Inland99 did). I think it ran about $500 too. My .02!