so i was driving to practice this morning...and i noticed that my car felt a little more bouncy/floaty than usual. it was really weird.

so i was driving and i noticed whenever my right rear tire would go over a bump, there is this like thud sound that shakes the car pretty bad. so after i park...i go over to that side...and start pushing on the trunk on the right side to see if i can make the suspension make any noise.

sure enough...there was some like ping when i really got it rocking. any ideas what it could be? my handling is crappy and whenever i go over bumps im like oh ****.

it happened out of nowhere...it got cold as **** here in philly last night and thats the only thing i can think of. could something be frozen? it went from like 50 to 20 in a night. i really dunno much about suspensions so any ideas would be awesome. HELP!

 

time for some new struts.

 

Yup, sounds like you blew that strut. Time for Illuminas and lowering springs all around!

 

how hard are they to replace...

and could you post a link on where to buy?

ps...the car is too old for a suspension re-do. plus i dont have the loot.

 

bump to the top

 

not hard to replace. but time consuming. what kind of struts do you want to buy? what is your budget? are you going to buy all four or just the rear 2? (almost always replace in pairs).

 

i just want stock. cant i just replace the one?

 

you can change jsut one. but if the other one is no good you will have one good side and one bad side. i would recommend changing all 4 but if $ is an issue then replace the rear 2. for a stock ride, buy a piar of Tokico HP's. they have the same feel as original nissan struts but at about half the cost (depending on where you get them from). You can get a set from EBAY or from Shox.com. EBAY will prob have warranty but SHOX does. they only list the price for a set of 4 so call for the price for 2. in order to change them you will need a set of spring clamps,1/2 inch ratchet set, 14mm wrench and a set of vise grips. I may be missing some tools but i'll remember if i make a writeup.

KYB GR-2's will be a tiny bit cheaper than the tokico's but have a harder bumpier ride. how old are the ones that are on it now?

 

i assume they are original. 145k miles.

 

ps...just struts, correct? i see single struts on ebay from car parts wholesale being sold for like 50-80.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/STRUT...spagenameZWD1V

 

get all 4. the others are prob dead too and you just didnt realize it.

 

Tokico HPs cost 50% more than GR-2s($200) which means GR-2s are 33% cheaper. In my opinion, that's pretty big.

 

There are great deals from reputed wholesale guys on Ebay. The whole set of Tokico Blues costs $300 or something, I think they are great deals compared to OEM which are also Tokico's/KYBs.

Now coming to replace them, it is time consuming but not hard. Things you need for replacing struts.

1) Breaker bar (if you cant budge the big bolts on the bottom of the struts, don't even try to loosen the ones on the top).
2) PB Blaster to loosen those large strut bolts, soak the bolts for 2 days before getting to replace the struts.
3) Universal 3/8 joint for the rears strut bolts.
4) If the dust boots are also tearing, time to replace them too.

Check the How-To's there is one URL on how to replace struts. Finally you will be glad you did it at the end of the day!!

 

Dont replace just one, thats going to make for an unanticipated ride. At least replace both rears. You get what you pay for, so remeber those $35 ebay struts will not last like OEM or any other reputable brand for that matter. OEM is Tokico BTW.

Also make sure its accutally the strut, there are other parts that can make noises and wear out.

 

http://www.sportcompactonly.com/perf...?c=112&pl=2685
Just my suggestion, although I'm sure there are better deals.

 

you also get a warranty and a better ride not to mention he said he wanted to stay stock.

 

best way to diagnose the problem?

 

It is quite difficult to diagonose a rear strut problem, in my case there were no leaks etc. but when I went fast over a bumpy part of the highway I would hear metal-metal scrapping for another few miles and then the sounds would settle down. There was no difference felt in ride quality when the rear struts were about to go, you will feel as if the muffler is scraping something under.

Now, coming to the fronts it was obvious and it bounces like crazy and also one could do the bounce test.

Now take you time to replace them, since the rears are easier then the fronts, starting with the rears will give you the degree and time needed for the fronts -- the hardest part with the fronts are with those large bolts....

Stick with Tokico, they are really good and Ebay deals are good in a set of 4. Since you have so many miles on the vehilce it is time for new struts and boots since you live on the east coast!!! The boots don't come cheap the set of 4 could send you backwards by atleast $60 dollars if you were to get it from DaveB. If you went to the stealership, they would want a lot more....

Trust me you will be happy you replaced them once you are done!!!

 

it is dead simple to diagnose bad struts. bounce the car with your hand. if it goes down and comes up and doesnt move, struts are good. goes down and up more than once....we have a problem.

And the front are easier than the rears to me. unscrewing those top 2 screws in the trunk is a pain in the ****.

 

thanks for the info, i appreciate it. i have tried the 'bounce test' but its hard to tell. the left side seems way stiffer than the right. so that would seem to coinside with the blown strut. is there anything else that it could be? or does strut the most likely...

 

definately a strut same happened to me one month ago i got gr-2 of ebay and insalled them on my parking lot in 8 hours

 

I had the same exact problem. Its not Struts. A damn mechanic told me struts. So i dished out $350 and it got worst. Then they drove it and looked at it and realized its the springs and strut mounts.

The bouncing and shaking were from the springs being shot. And noise was from the strut mounts being old

 

Springs usually dont wear out and the rear mount is all metal so thats another part that rarely goes bad. If the shock is blown then overtime the spring could wear out since there is no dampening. But a ping or a clang is probably from metal on metal, check all the rubber parts, exhaust clearance, and for foreign objects.

 

My r/r strut was pretty bad, when I got it out, it would actually pee fluid out whe I compressed it

 

Their BORN ON dates were all the same if one is dead the others are all in line.Tokico's are good struts and a oe supplier.

 

I seriously doubt springs going bad -- the damn thing is made of some serious stuff. That is just my thought but I could be wrong too...

Anyway the first casualty for a spring/strut setup is the strut and not the spring, that itself explains the weak point.

 

so the problem seems to have fixed itself...

its 50 degrees here today. coincidence?