I own a 1995 Chevy Lumina 3.1L V6 I purchased with 50k on it. Car now has 163K. I have tires on it that are fairly new and this vehicle is mostly driven in town. Maybe one 80 mile round trip every other week at the most on the highway. Basically, it needs new suspension. My mechanic told me that if it is mostly driven around town, then I should save my money for other repairs. He feels that my tires will not wear much more around town as they would if I put new suspension on them. Cost to replace the struts would be approximately 700.00 give or take. It takes these inserts that cost around 100.00 a piece and about 3 hours labor. Guess I would like to hear from others if this is good advice as I am sort of meticulous about keeping up on my repairs and just knowing it needs this work bothers me. I plan to keep this car until the last bolt falls of it.
Is this good advice? Suspension issue
- Thread starter Mark72
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Knowing nothing about this car....
Is the only concern really tire wear? 700 dollars buys a lot of tires. But I'd assume that you'd save tire wear and have a better riding car. Then it's up to you how much that's worth to you.
Is the only concern really tire wear? 700 dollars buys a lot of tires. But I'd assume that you'd save tire wear and have a better riding car. Then it's up to you how much that's worth to you.
Originally Posted By: bepperb
Knowing nothing about this car....
Is the only concern really tire wear? 700 dollars buys a lot of tires. But I'd assume that you'd save tire wear and have a better riding car. Then it's up to you how much that's worth to you.
This is just it..I want a nice riding car. Sure I could spend 700.00 on and wreck it the next day. The car would be a total loss as it is not worth much..but it's in over all good condition.
Knowing nothing about this car....
Is the only concern really tire wear? 700 dollars buys a lot of tires. But I'd assume that you'd save tire wear and have a better riding car. Then it's up to you how much that's worth to you.
This is just it..I want a nice riding car. Sure I could spend 700.00 on and wreck it the next day. The car would be a total loss as it is not worth much..but it's in over all good condition.
IF you're planning on keeping the car for a while...I'd be inclined to do the suspension.
It is expensive - I was facing a suspension replacement on my Cavalier, among other things, that lead to it being traded in.
Suspension problems can become very annoying - the car 'wallows' on the road, bottom-out over bumps and dips, and tire wear becomes very bad, and the tires get shaky from uneven wear...gets very tiring after a while.
It is expensive - I was facing a suspension replacement on my Cavalier, among other things, that lead to it being traded in.
Suspension problems can become very annoying - the car 'wallows' on the road, bottom-out over bumps and dips, and tire wear becomes very bad, and the tires get shaky from uneven wear...gets very tiring after a while.
Having bad struts compromises both stopping distance and you're ability to control the car.....get em fixed
There are a lot of different parts to a suspension.
What exactly needs to be replaced?
Tie rods, ball joints and bushings could be perfectly fine.
Does the car bounce around a lot due to "bad struts?"
Do you have the tools to replace them yourself? You'd only need typical hand tools. You can get a loaner spring compressor from a parts store.
What exactly needs to be replaced?
Tie rods, ball joints and bushings could be perfectly fine.
Does the car bounce around a lot due to "bad struts?"
Do you have the tools to replace them yourself? You'd only need typical hand tools. You can get a loaner spring compressor from a parts store.
MarkM66, The car does not bounce at all, I hear thumping coming from the back/trunk area, and thumping in the front which could be tie rods/bushings. Heck, might need an entirely new suspensin underneath for all I know. I'm having my tire shop check it out tomorrow before I let my mechanic have it so that I have more knowledge as to what exactly is wrong underneath it.
I think your mechanic gave you reasonable advice.
Originally Posted By: Mark72
MarkM66, The car does not bounce at all, I hear thumping coming from the back/trunk area, and thumping in the front which could be tie rods/bushings. Heck, might need an entirely new suspensin underneath for all I know. I'm having my tire shop check it out tomorrow before I let my mechanic have it so that I have more knowledge as to what exactly is wrong underneath it.
I don't think it was that good of advice and the price seems a little high unless we are talking replacing all 4 struts but still a little high, unless it include new strut mounts. I think you should have someone else look at it although I'm not sure if a tire shop would be best. You don't have signs that the struts are worn out, although they could very well be at their age.
The front struts have a cartridge insert and are about the easiest struts to replace and not a 3 hr job. Being cartridges a good price for aftermarket replacements are under $50 a piece. On top of that you don't have realign the suspension as you do after replacing regular struts. You do have to have a special tool kit but auto part stores rent those. The rear struts are conventional and have to come off like a normal strut.
You mentioned thumping noise from front and rear but that the ride isn't floaty. That usually indicates a strut mount or maybe even the strut cartridge needs tightened. With the cartridges replacing the strut mount or tightening the strut cartridge is easily done right at the top. The mount comes out before the cartridge and you can tighten the cartridge and replace the mount without even taking the cartridge out. The thumping could be caused by something else in the suspension being worn but from what you've said most likely it's bad strut mount(s) and not the strut itself.
Maybe the mechanic knows your strut mount(s) are loose/broken and is just going to replace all the struts and mounts and if that is the case the price wouldn't be so bad. I'd have someone else take a look at it first.
MarkM66, The car does not bounce at all, I hear thumping coming from the back/trunk area, and thumping in the front which could be tie rods/bushings. Heck, might need an entirely new suspensin underneath for all I know. I'm having my tire shop check it out tomorrow before I let my mechanic have it so that I have more knowledge as to what exactly is wrong underneath it.
I don't think it was that good of advice and the price seems a little high unless we are talking replacing all 4 struts but still a little high, unless it include new strut mounts. I think you should have someone else look at it although I'm not sure if a tire shop would be best. You don't have signs that the struts are worn out, although they could very well be at their age.
The front struts have a cartridge insert and are about the easiest struts to replace and not a 3 hr job. Being cartridges a good price for aftermarket replacements are under $50 a piece. On top of that you don't have realign the suspension as you do after replacing regular struts. You do have to have a special tool kit but auto part stores rent those. The rear struts are conventional and have to come off like a normal strut.
You mentioned thumping noise from front and rear but that the ride isn't floaty. That usually indicates a strut mount or maybe even the strut cartridge needs tightened. With the cartridges replacing the strut mount or tightening the strut cartridge is easily done right at the top. The mount comes out before the cartridge and you can tighten the cartridge and replace the mount without even taking the cartridge out. The thumping could be caused by something else in the suspension being worn but from what you've said most likely it's bad strut mount(s) and not the strut itself.
Maybe the mechanic knows your strut mount(s) are loose/broken and is just going to replace all the struts and mounts and if that is the case the price wouldn't be so bad. I'd have someone else take a look at it first.
Originally Posted By: Mark72
MarkM66, The car does not bounce at all, I hear thumping coming from the back/trunk area, and thumping in the front which could be tie rods/bushings. Heck, might need an entirely new suspensin underneath for all I know. I'm having my tire shop check it out tomorrow before I let my mechanic have it so that I have more knowledge as to what exactly is wrong underneath it.
Sounds like your struts are fine, but some other parts are worn out. Before you let a mechanic loose on it I'd have him show you what's wrong and what needs to be replaced. A blank cheque and an old car could get expensive for you!
MarkM66, The car does not bounce at all, I hear thumping coming from the back/trunk area, and thumping in the front which could be tie rods/bushings. Heck, might need an entirely new suspensin underneath for all I know. I'm having my tire shop check it out tomorrow before I let my mechanic have it so that I have more knowledge as to what exactly is wrong underneath it.
Sounds like your struts are fine, but some other parts are worn out. Before you let a mechanic loose on it I'd have him show you what's wrong and what needs to be replaced. A blank cheque and an old car could get expensive for you!
thanks for the advice..the tire shop I go to is a huge outfit and they have a shop attached. I agree..that is why I'm having them look at it to. I'm going to confirm exactly what is gonig on with the car before I allow any teardown on it.
To their credit they aren't going to know what's wrong, like if they go through the labor to remove your old struts they'll take issue if you balk at replacing the mounts too, or make them put the old parts back on.
If the car isn't rusted to bits I'd get the work done. Other used cars are in much worse shape than yours.
If the car isn't rusted to bits I'd get the work done. Other used cars are in much worse shape than yours.
Shops like shocks and struts.
Fast money and big markup. Relatively easy to do with an air wrench.
Sure, at 165k yours are worn. But so should be other more important pieces.
So like mentioned, if you are going to keep the car, have it looked at carefully to see what components need replacing, even if you have to pay to do it. I would trust the pay method more than the free inspection method.
Fast money and big markup. Relatively easy to do with an air wrench.
Sure, at 165k yours are worn. But so should be other more important pieces.
So like mentioned, if you are going to keep the car, have it looked at carefully to see what components need replacing, even if you have to pay to do it. I would trust the pay method more than the free inspection method.
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