When I was going to get my car aligned, they couldn't do it b/c my front pass. side wheel has too much play. They had the car on a lift and could move the wheel up and down about a half inch. The top of my strut by my damping adjustment was moving along with it. They thought the top nut was cross threaded, but my dad and I put them on very tight. We think it might be the top bearing plate, 'cause when we did my springs and stuff, we noticed they seemed to be in pretty bad shape. Do you think this is my problem? We priced them at about 50 bucks apiece. What do you guys think?
And, since we will have to take it apart anyway, should I cut the factory bumpstops down since I have different shocks & springs. (Didn't think of that when we did it the first time.) As always, thanks in advance for your info.
Are you saying that the wheel moves up and down a half inch before the spring gives you resistance? no aftermarket springs should be so short that the strut disengages the spring while not under load.
First, id be absolutley sure that everything was tight.
Second, id look into your struts... wheel movement that is solely up and down can only be attributed to struts/springs or how those are fastened (which may lead you to the bearing/camber plate).
If you are in need of immediate action, you could just get those plates to see if they are the problem, they arent all that expensive, and it can never hurt replacing a "bad" component of a car.
I blew a front right strut cartridge last night on my way back from murfreesboro... there are some large bumps on route 840.. and I guess I should've slowed down... but I heard a loud thump... and noticed the car was pulling to the right when I'd hit any kind of bump... I also heard the spring causing the wheel to bounce up and down.... kinda scary. so I've ordered a new strut and it should be delivered on the 29th... until then I'm gonna have to take it easy.
back to your problem... do you notice any fluid ... ie. grease, oil... around the strut itself?.. if so, you've probobly got a blown cartridge...
if your strut mount was bad, you'd notice a big difference when turning your car... you'd feel a pop almost if the bearings were bad... cause they'd try to seat themselves when turning.. or try to push themselves further out of their housing...
when you have the suspension assembly out for inspection, leave everything assembled and lift the entire structure by the strut mount, you should be able to feel if there was any vertical play in the bearing...
hope ou figure it out
I didn't think the struts actually turn with the wheel. Do they? There is no pop or anything, it just moves up and down a little. The cartridge is only like 3 months old, so it better not be that.
Sorry to hear about your luck. Again. It's gonna get better, hang in there, champ!
the strut catridge is tightened into a housing that is attached to the steering knuckle... the top of the strut cartridge attaches to the strut mount (where the bearings are) the whole assembly rotates when you turn the wheel.. and if you heard popping or other related noises while turning... it could've been the strut mount...
as for your three month old strut... mine is even younger!! I replaced it about a month ago! I have lowering springs that are a little shorter.. thus relying on the strut to do more work than they are designed to... and hitting large bumps like I tend to do...doesn't help either!
I had my 91 MR2 (154k miles) into the garage for an alignment because it was wearing the front passenger tire on the edge. I'm pretty sure the mechanic found that the bearing that the top of the strut goes into was totally rusted and sloppy, allowing the wheel to move around. After replacing that, everything was a-ok.
hey where did you find that bearing at the top of the strut? i cant find any for less that $120 a piece. i emailed vtecthis and they didnt have em, but the guy tyler i talked to was an ass.
I got mine at auto-zone for $23 apiece... for the front
CORRECTION: I just stopped by and checked the price...
$49.00 + tax... here in TN it totaled $54.40.. something along that line... I decided to go ahead and buy another one since I've been driving on my blown strut for a few days.... that can't be good on the bearings.
__________________
back to the 4cyl...
Last edited by MR-355-5sfTe; 06-28-2005 at 03:22 PM.
I think we found them at good old Auto Zone too. Now to see how many times we have to order them until we get the right ones. (My local A Z is NOTORIOUS for getting wrong parts.)
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