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shocks/alignment?

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Old Jun 4, 2004 | 06:21 AM
  #1  
smoon629's Avatar
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shocks/alignment?

the front right side of my car "rattles" when i drive somtimes. usually on bumpy roads. could this be fixed with an alignment? could it also be my shocks? how do i check if my shock is broken? is it possible to change just ONE or do i have to do all four?
i hit a deep pothole a few months ago, but to check, i pushed down on the front right side of my car and it bounced. doesn't this mean my shocks are still good? ah, very frustrated. please help. thanks
Old Jun 4, 2004 | 06:37 AM
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sounds like bad upper strut mounts to me...trust me i know
Old Jun 4, 2004 | 06:51 AM
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hmm, please post more info! i need ALL the help i can get. is it broken? how much does it cost to repair? can i just repair one or do i have to change all four? etc. thanks!
Old Jun 4, 2004 | 07:31 AM
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Noise from front left

I have an 02 GLE and had the same noise/vibration/frustration you are describing. I took the car to a good front end shop and they could not find anything loose or worn. I just kept getting more and more frustrated.

What I found (some of you may know diff) is that there is really no way to check the struts to see truly if they are good or not. At least with 30k miles. My noises seemed to be more noticable over small bumps; like 1/2" - 1" sudden up or down.

Anyway, I was tired of the 4x4 look of the GLE (I mean this thing sat so high that sometimes I left vapor trails off the rear spoiler at high speed, haha) so I purchased a set of GR-2s and H&Rs. The noise was gone and the car was tight again. Even my wife said she liked the way it drove now.

BTW, I re-used my upper strut mount assembly and all original mounting hardware, so it wasn't that.

My .02
Old Jun 4, 2004 | 12:29 PM
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It sounds like you may have a bad wheel bearing. Especially since you hit a big pothole. If your wheel bearing is bad it will continually get worse. If it gets bad enough, you can jack up the front end and wobble the wheel back and forth a bit.

I've had an issue with a loose noise on small bumps on the front right tire area since I hit a huge pothole after installing my Illumina/Progress combo. I had the car inspected and they couldn't find anything either. I'm guessing my wheel bearing is lightly damaged and will slowly get worse.

Any other ideas would be great.




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