Previously, I've posted regarding declining ride quality over rough roads, 'sunken' asphalt, and a few clunks, knocks and other miscellaneous noises that were hard to track down. I refer to these Suspension Q, Ball joints and suspension, and Front End Rattles.
I had a rear tire separate, causing a rough ride. A replacement fixed that. Then I noticed the rear end sagging and a bit of a tail wag in the rear, so the rear shocks were replaced and not soon enough. The drivers side had no gas pressure sufficient to re-extend the strut and the passenger side, only to about 50% before it would stop. This made a huge difference and caused the worn front end to stand out even more by comparison.
After fixing the rear, I became suspicious of the front struts. I heard knocking noise coming from the front drivers side that I suspected was from the worn sway bar bushings. Yet nothing I'd done (short of replacing the bar and bushings as the later are not available separately) even gave a hint I was on the right path. I checked twice for loose bolts, worn sway bar end-links, and bad upper spring struts. No joy.
The CD player began to skip more over rough roads. I noticed the front end 'free-floating' over the whoop-d-doos (severe rolling asphalt pavement) and banging at times.
So I ordered new Sachs struts, bump stops and bellows taking advantage of Autohaus' free shipping. UPS delivered them yesterday on time and I installed both in the late afternoon. A rather straight-forward job with the right tools, including a spring compressor. I was pleased to see the Sachs struts were still made in Germany:
On the drivers side, the upper spring seat and bearing were fine as these had been replaced a few years back. The bump stop was long gone. No doubt this caused the BANG I heard at sharp road transitions.
I ordered a kit with both a new bump stop and bellows made by KYB in the USA for a reasonable price of $15 or so. Glad to see USA on both. Screwing the [censored] into the top of the bellows was frustrating as it took longer than expected. Removing the old strut was far quicker!
The driver side strut was indeed worn out. Very little resistance, not symmetrical between pulling and pushing and it would no longer retract when extended. It was original and had been in there now 195,000 mi over 15 years.
The passenger strut spring seat began to show wear and the bearing was a little rough. I'll have to keep an eye on them. All that remained of the bump stop was a small piece about an eigth of an inch thick! The top nut was quite difficult to turn, so I heated it with a torch. The new struts came with new top nuts.
This is a dirty job, but not a difficult one. Definitely was needed. I ran a few errands after I cleaned up and noticed a MUCH stiffer, taunt front-end. The drive was all nice pavement though so I'll have to report back after the whoop-d-doos, uneven RR tracks, and speed bumps. However, I noticed the annoying knocking sound was gone from the front left side. Yesss! Thank you! What a PITA that was....
Looking forward to a more thorough test and a smoother ride over rough pavement.
I had a rear tire separate, causing a rough ride. A replacement fixed that. Then I noticed the rear end sagging and a bit of a tail wag in the rear, so the rear shocks were replaced and not soon enough. The drivers side had no gas pressure sufficient to re-extend the strut and the passenger side, only to about 50% before it would stop. This made a huge difference and caused the worn front end to stand out even more by comparison.
After fixing the rear, I became suspicious of the front struts. I heard knocking noise coming from the front drivers side that I suspected was from the worn sway bar bushings. Yet nothing I'd done (short of replacing the bar and bushings as the later are not available separately) even gave a hint I was on the right path. I checked twice for loose bolts, worn sway bar end-links, and bad upper spring struts. No joy.
The CD player began to skip more over rough roads. I noticed the front end 'free-floating' over the whoop-d-doos (severe rolling asphalt pavement) and banging at times.
So I ordered new Sachs struts, bump stops and bellows taking advantage of Autohaus' free shipping. UPS delivered them yesterday on time and I installed both in the late afternoon. A rather straight-forward job with the right tools, including a spring compressor. I was pleased to see the Sachs struts were still made in Germany:
On the drivers side, the upper spring seat and bearing were fine as these had been replaced a few years back. The bump stop was long gone. No doubt this caused the BANG I heard at sharp road transitions.
I ordered a kit with both a new bump stop and bellows made by KYB in the USA for a reasonable price of $15 or so. Glad to see USA on both. Screwing the [censored] into the top of the bellows was frustrating as it took longer than expected. Removing the old strut was far quicker!
The driver side strut was indeed worn out. Very little resistance, not symmetrical between pulling and pushing and it would no longer retract when extended. It was original and had been in there now 195,000 mi over 15 years.
The passenger strut spring seat began to show wear and the bearing was a little rough. I'll have to keep an eye on them. All that remained of the bump stop was a small piece about an eigth of an inch thick! The top nut was quite difficult to turn, so I heated it with a torch. The new struts came with new top nuts.
This is a dirty job, but not a difficult one. Definitely was needed. I ran a few errands after I cleaned up and noticed a MUCH stiffer, taunt front-end. The drive was all nice pavement though so I'll have to report back after the whoop-d-doos, uneven RR tracks, and speed bumps. However, I noticed the annoying knocking sound was gone from the front left side. Yesss! Thank you! What a PITA that was....
Looking forward to a more thorough test and a smoother ride over rough pavement.
