1. I have the original Sport Tuned Suspension on my max, has about 97K miles on it. When I hit pot holes its pretty stiff at times, and at times pretty soft, which is kinda cool since I know it is not shot. However, at low speeds when going over a little bump you hear a whinney noise swort of like a squeeky high pitch sound. What I am wondering is if it's the dust boots that I have to replace? Do they cost a lot? How hard are they to put in?

2. The steering on the highway at high speeds is kind of weird. There is no shaking or juttering of the wheel, even at speeds above 80MPH. However the steering wheel becomes very stiff at times and its pretty hard to control. Is this normal? Is it caused by my tire size/pressure?

3. When accelerating I feel the car being sword of like on a turbo (as far as the noise). Not that it is a bad thing but I wonder if that is how it supposed to sound. It is swort of like vrmm but very humble and low pitch, no one hears it except me, maybe it in my head It feels similar to a new M5 sound when you start to accelerate from 1st gear that is. Also, when you brake you hear the same sound, when you stop, its swort of like vruumm sound.. I wonder what can it be...

Well thank you for taking your time to read all of this, since you got this far all suggestions are welcomed, and appreciated.

 

1. No, it's not your dustboots. They just protect the strut rod. The sqeaky noise is likely a sign your struts are nearing the end. Do this: When your car is parked, push up and down on each corner. Do you hear the squeak? Is the squeak coming from one corner?

2. You need to elaborate. Power steering is less boosted at higher speeds, so more effort to move the wheel is normal. It sounds like you think something changed, but it's unclear what.

3. It sounds like you may have some sort of vacuum leak. Can you hear it when the car is idling at all? If so, open the hood and see if you can hunt down the root of the sound.

 

I also have a squeak coming from what I believe is the front struts. It only seems to happen on smaller bumps and I will occasionally hear it after I get out of the car and shut the door depending on the angle the car is sitting. It's not real loud but high pitched. Is this a sign the struts are shot or is there some kind of adjustment which can be made??

 

I noticed the suspension on my 2000 SE were rather harsh over potholes... I've swapped struts for the Tokico Illuminas, and at a setting of 2f/3r they've softened out a lot of that "harshness", while maintaining top notch stability at street and highway speeds.

 

that a perfect description one of my suspension problems Im experiencing. im currently on Tokico HPs / Progress. I've had the Toks for 17k miles now.

 

I'm on stock SE setup with 46,000 miles. Any help/advice??

 

There is a TSB for 2000's with suspension noise coming from the right front strut. It describes it as more of a "knock" sound, not so much a squeak. The fix is to remove and disassemble the strut/spring assembly, reinstall the plastic/rubber spring protector at the bottom of the spring using 3M Scotch-Grip Rubber & Gasket Adhesive leaving around 1/2" of the spring protector dangling off the end of the spring coil, and reassemble the strut/spring assembly with a NEW Rubber upper-spring seat. Remember that doing this kind of work REQUIRES a strut spring compressor, and you should consult a good guide, or a shop manual, for procedures involving the removal/disassembly/reassembly/reinstallation of the strut/spring assembly.

In addition, there is a word about the Power Steering Pressure Switch on the passenger side near the strut tower--the PSP switch is bolted onto the strut tower, where the bolts protrude into the strut tower area. The fix for this is to remove those bolts and reinstall them with some washers as spacers so the bolts no longer protrude into the inside of the strut tower. I guess the idea is that under some circumstances the strut upper mount can bump those bolts while turning.