Getting ready to change my front & rear struts. The front strut mounts are toasted.

My question is what other than the mount needs to be changed when doing the job? Is the bearing neccessary to be changed as well? (for the front)

The rears are just regular bushings that can be reused no?

Thanks in advance for your advice

 

You should change the bearings up front and make sure you put new dust boots all around. If your buying Tokico shocks, they come with new bushings for the rears.

 

Is this preventative? What if the bearings seem to be in good working order? Thanks.

 

Better to replace the front bearings now since you're replacing the mounts (the bearings usually go bad and the mounts rarely do) - you don't have to replace them if you don't mind taking everything off again and getting your car realigned if they go bad later on

 

Makes sense. I'll add strut bearings to my list. Thanks.

 

how do you tell if the mounts are bad? or the bearings... i priced these out the other day, 46.40 each for the mounts and 37.38 each for the bearings from courtesyparts. if i don't have to replace the mounts then i'll save myself almost $100.

 

The mounts are just hunks of rubber - if they look good and appear to hold the same shape as they were when new, then they are fine. I think it takes extended exposure to oil or severe grit to wear them out.

The bearings are plastic thrust bearings - press them in the palm of your hand and see that they rotate smoothly without sticking. When they are bad, you'll notice a popping sound when steering the car and it hits a bump.

I don't remember there being any bushings in the rear to speak of. So I must have re-used them. I wish I would have bought new dust boots - mine are about crumbling to dust. But I don't think it matters too much.

Dave

 

well u will knoe ur bearings r bad when u take em out in 3 pieces. mine was in 3 pieces. so i ordered new ones from nissan. change ur dust boots. i changed my mounts and everything. i didnt realy wanna pair new parts with old parts so to speak.