Do I need new suspension parts? Help.

[PhatRoyale]

I've noticed the ride quality of my car has gone down a lot. Car has almost 140,000km, still on original suspension.

Every time I go over a speed bump I hear thuds and/or squeaks.

It handles very sloppy, sways alot and it feels floaty at times too

What could be the problem that's causing this? How can I know for sure?

What should I have replaced?

Any help is much appreciated

[Boston Redneck]

I would start with struts and if it's got that many miles on it, you might just want to go on and put new strut towers on it as well because the groove they match up in can get distorted. You may need some other bushings in the front end, but I would start with that.

[PhatRoyale]

I forgot to mention that it's a 97 AE102 as well.

Does anybody else know what else is causing this?

[Piloter]

Strut replacement on the AE102s is recommended every 60-90k miles. After 90K on the originals on mine, they were shot just like yours are and a replacement fixed the ride right up

Incidentally, if you do get them replaced, I'd be willing to buy the old rear ones from you as long as shipping isn't completely insane. =)
Long story involving junkyards and Konis....

[Piloter]

Oops. Regarding testing struts: Push down on a corner hard, let up. The corner shouldn't oscillate more than once (DOWN....up, down, stop) before stopping. Any more than that, and yeah, the struts are shot.

[freakinbox]

if it seems soft you might need to do the springs too

[PhatRoyale]

How long do springs last?

Is there a way to test if they are still good?

[Piloter]

I was under the impression that springs lasted pretty much for the life of the car, unless they outright cracked...

[gideon1331]

The rear struts were shot on my 94 when I got it with 110,000...I dunno how long they were shot for before I got it. My Dad said they didnt look to be of the highest quality.

Front ones are origional and still perfectly good at 163,000 miles...

[89yotarollagts]

Well it sounds like you allready know the answer to your question.. You may not want to but you should just replace it all at once.. this way you wont have to put the car up again just to replace the springs or strut mounts, or get another alignment. And you will have the satisfaction that everything has been replaced & in new condition

[PhatRoyale]

Thanks for the replies!

[project trueno]

Are they wet?

The dampers I mean.

[PhatRoyale]

Originally Posted by project trueno

Are they wet?

The dampers I mean.

What do you mean by 'wet'?

[retiredat44]

I do have a question,

Actually more of commentary.

I fail to see why people knock, or dismiss some brands of struts. First of all, since myself and others are not making showcars, or racing, we just go to autoparts store and buy new struts. We buy Gabriel, Monroe, or whatever. They when we say we had 1 million miles on our struts and our cars were riding horrible, so we put brand 'X' struts on our cars, people basht ehm, or maybe not bash, but dimiss them as not as good as brand 'Z'. I don't understand why.

Example: my car had 200,000 miles on it, and the struts were so bad no struts would have been better, I mean really really bad. No leaks, just worn out. Now, I can only speak for brands here in the USA. But the crappy struts that came from the factory were not the greatest, that's for sure, they were made cheap and were soft. But, nothing special. The new struts I got and Autozone ( www.autozone.com ) Gabriel Struts are very stiff. Built very strong.

Yet I see name brands like this dismissed and then others say use brand 'x'. I fail to see how anyone could use a stiffer strut on the street without chipping your teeth going over a bump. Yet people say they are not stiff enough. I wonder if people get on some hype wagon, just repeating what they hear about some brands, thinking they are getting some racing strut, or what??? Have they even tried other brands?

I really think that there is absolutley no need for anything stiffer on the street. For one thing it's street driving, and let's face it, these little putt-putt cars are just ,.... that economy cars. Sure you can make them corner well and handle a couple fat people with stronger harder struts. Even if you use lower springs, the struts will remain the same.

I just got tired of people dimissing some brands, without having a clue about them. I can only speak for brands here and stores here. The roads here are pretty well maintained and we don't have snow and ice. I can say I have lived and visited and drove in many states and countries. I have driven in years of snow and ice as well as in mountains and in deserts. But currenty in San Diego, it's mostly dry/hot/warm, with not much rain. but still lot's of bumpy roads and potholes, but not in a 3RD world country.

So, I say ignore hype and go on facts. Just how frigging stiff do you need your ride to be?
Mine is so damend stiff I could cram several fat people in the car before it mushes down a bit. Why would anyone need stiff suspension in an economy car?

[Flashmn]

Gabriel, Monroe, wont last long with lowering springs, you're out of their effective range, plus you risk bottoming them out.

As for having harder suspension on the street. I like it better than the soft shitty suspension of a stock corolla. Also I do track my car, so it has another duty than being a daily driver.