Here's the story. Replaced stock SE springs with H&R's at 90k, I was cheap and kept stock struts on they've been fine for 15k, but recently car is undulating or moving side to side. It's most noticeable at 20-30mph.

I pushed on all four corners of car and it doesn't bounce it moves down then up and stops. So I'm not sure if I need new struts or not. There is NO shake in the steering wheel and the car tracks fine. I can let go of the wheel and it stays in it's land fine.

One thing I did notice was that one of my back tires is nearly bald on the outside and the other back is worn but not nearly as bad.

So what should I check/replace first? Tires or Struts?

Maybe I'll just break down and get some KYB GR2. I just hate to waste the money if I can get by with the stock struts another few years. I'm trying to get completely out of debt so don't want to spend too much on the car.

thanks for any insight,

E

 

Get your alignment checked. One side of a tire being that worn down seems to point to an alignment problem.

 

Yeah, I thought of the alignment but wasn't sure if it was a waste since the tires were shot. I'll get it done, it can't be too much.

 

it between $40-$70 but it wont matter if the tires are worn or not it just adjust how the wheels are aligned on the ground

 

so it's a waste of money to get an alignment now then?

I guess I need.

1. New Tires /balance
2. Alignment
3. Struts- eventually - How long do the stock struts usually last when lowered?

 

How is the ride? What springs are you lowered on? I'm just about to throw on some stechs...too cheap to buy struts aswell.

 

Your struts will be gone in a matter of a couple months with s-techs drop to low and the rate not good enough to support that type of drop and your gonna be bottoming out every bump you hit. If your going with s-techs you better get struts

 

They can last anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple years just depends they could blow the very next day. When your car starts to rock like a boat you better be ready to buy struts because your struts are blown

 

I'm lowered on H&R's which is a mild drop so I never bothered with getting new struts. I've had other cars that went 200k on stock struts but they weren't lowered so maybe 105k is all I'm going to get out of these.

 

If your tires are bald in the rear, there isn't much you can do except to replace them.

Rear alignment is fixed, since it is a beam axle. Therefore, the rear alignment is NOT adjustable. Only front alignment can be changed on the toe angle. Unless you have bottom mount camber bolts, the camber is also fixed. But for the $20 dollars that Eibach camber bolts cost, you might as well have them for the adjustability.

 

I think you need to jack up the rear wheel with the bad tire. Check for play in the wheel (wheel bearing) Spin the tire and make sure there is not a high spot on the tire. The undulating feeling could be a damaged tire/wheel/wheel bearing/axle. If the wheel and tire are ok, I would replace the tires and have the car aligned. As for the struts, check for oil leaking around the piston or crushed bump stops. I put Stechs on the stock struts (springs shipping fast, struts slow) that lasted a week or two. When I put the AGXs on the stock bumpstops were destroyed. With H&Rs your struts may still be ok?? I would not suspect struts causing your issue, they could however amplify a wheel or tire issue.

 

Some great recommendations. Thanks. I'll check the wheel bearings and struts for leaking tomorrow. The wheel bearing sounds like it might be the cause.

The car was fine, then a cold spell and huge snow storm hit and I had to drive 100 miles or so on bumpy icey roads and right after the trip is when the problem was first noticed. Maybe the conditions somehow caused the damage.

I found the camber bolts that I got when I ordered my H&R's and never installed. I'll try to figure out how to install those tomorrow as well. Any tips?

Now that I think of it I rotated the tires (front to back and back to front) about 6 months ago so the majority of the wear on the back tires was actually probably caused when they were on the front. I bought the car used with these tires and they didn't look like they'd been rotated before.

thanks for all the help guys, much appreciated.

E

 

Aha! Some very pertinent information! If the wear was mainly caused when on the front; and they were worn on the outside; then, correct me if I'm wrong, someone, but I think that means the toe-in is excessive.
I think your best first option is alignment. To give an example why, I got back my other car, a Sentra, and the shop forgot to align it after fitting new steering parts. I nearly got in a wreck because at 50, I couldn't get the car to stay in one lane, it drifted first one way and then the other. Which sounds very like the problem you described.

 

I just thought I'd give an update on this. I ended up removing the rear wheels to inspect them and found that one tire had a huge bulge in it and looked like it was getting ready to blow. I got 4 new Sumitomo tires installed and now the car rides excellent again. So looks like I can hold off on replacing my struts for a little while.

thanks for everyones help and suggestions.