I am planning having new struts installed on my 94 Camry over the summer. How do I know if I should also replace the strut mounts? (165K miles). I assume strut mounts are also called strut plates and bearings?
struts and strut mounts
- Thread starter Donald
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I have found great struts (all four) for maybe $250 on EBAY, but if I had to do the mounts also, that would come close to doubling it.
On FWD cars the front mounts are more likely to be worn, back ones *should* be fine. Pop the hood and check the condition of the rubber on the mounts - look for cracking, aging, etc. Shop around also, I found the best price for my front mounts at Pep Boys (Monroe mounts that even came with bearings) - better than various online sources. rockauto.com autopartsgiant.com are some to check.
Also on the front mounts, you need to check any bearings for smoothness/freeplay/etc, since these need to turn smoothly for steering. Some strut mounts have the bearing built into the mount; others use a separate little almost plastic bearing thing.
Also if they're really rusted might want to replace them.
Of equal concern is your coil springs - most makers have wheel arch heights you can check at curb weight to see if your springs are weak. Or if they're rusty, etc, might as well replace those while you're in there. Yes it's tempting to wait, but you have to the entire job over to replace the springs later.
Also if they're really rusted might want to replace them.
Of equal concern is your coil springs - most makers have wheel arch heights you can check at curb weight to see if your springs are weak. Or if they're rusty, etc, might as well replace those while you're in there. Yes it's tempting to wait, but you have to the entire job over to replace the springs later.
I'd imagine alot of shops have an Altrom account (canada/us)
They will have a listing for strut mounts/bearing for about 55 bucks retail (depending on shops profit margin)
Dont forget the strut boots too.
KYB GR2's are good stock replacements.
They will have a listing for strut mounts/bearing for about 55 bucks retail (depending on shops profit margin)
Dont forget the strut boots too.
KYB GR2's are good stock replacements.
So you are saying the mount is the same as a plate and it may or may not have a bearing attached?
The issue is I can bring this shop the parts when I drop off the car and will bring the struts. But if half way through the strut install they determine a mount is needed, they will have to go to NAPA, etc and get one and I will pay full retail. If I knew ahead of time I needed mounts I could get them at a discount price.
The issue is I can bring this shop the parts when I drop off the car and will bring the struts. But if half way through the strut install they determine a mount is needed, they will have to go to NAPA, etc and get one and I will pay full retail. If I knew ahead of time I needed mounts I could get them at a discount price.
Well seeing it's a '94 with 156k miles in salt laden, NY, I would just replace the mounts now. If it's too much, at least replace the fronts. If you have a mount issue shortly later, you'll be paying the labor again to replace the mount anyway.
I just replaced all four shocks (front struts and rear shocks), plus the strut mounts, spring seats and bearings on our '99 Sienna. It had 160,000 miles on it, so a little more miles but fewer years than your Camry. When I changed it all out everything looked really good, much better than I thought it would. But new struts and shocks have made a difference in the ride quality, that is for sure.
I ended up buying everything from KYB except for the upper spring cushions. The KYB mounts are of a slightly different design than the Toyota ones, but come with their own bearings. Overall the KYBs are fine.
I guess in the end I would go ahead and replace the mounts if it doesn't add up to a lot of extra money.
I ended up buying everything from KYB except for the upper spring cushions. The KYB mounts are of a slightly different design than the Toyota ones, but come with their own bearings. Overall the KYBs are fine.
I guess in the end I would go ahead and replace the mounts if it doesn't add up to a lot of extra money.
BTW I got the KYB shocks, struts, mounts and lower spring cushions from Performance Peddler:
http://www.performancepeddler.com
The mounts are on sale for your Camry (so are the shocks). The gave me this discount code too: ebay2e
It made a difference on the price but my stuff wasn't "on sale" like yours.
Also FWIW KYB is the OEM strut for the Sienna. I don't know about the Camry however.
http://www.performancepeddler.com
The mounts are on sale for your Camry (so are the shocks). The gave me this discount code too: ebay2e
It made a difference on the price but my stuff wasn't "on sale" like yours.
Also FWIW KYB is the OEM strut for the Sienna. I don't know about the Camry however.
If top nut heights are visibly different one of them is bad. I'd change in pairs.
If hood has a prop rod place it extra safe. Place one or two fingers on the strut top nut while palm rested on the shock tower. Shake the car, if there is a slack, that can be felt as a knock. This shows -although not proven- there is something wrong above the shocks upper half. You may also hear the simultanious knock normally can't be noticed from the all that squishing hydraulics. Or you may notice an obvious feel difference between left and right towers.
When I replaced my 200K km struts nothing has changed because shocks were still fine but it was the strut mounts that were bad. I'd just replace them, they are rubber intensive parts and are cheaper than the shocks. Also if there are rubber stoppers change them too (some are built in struts, some are attached to the plates). If front-end ever bottomed out they may be torn. You could need to remove the springs again for this 3-dollar part.
If hood has a prop rod place it extra safe. Place one or two fingers on the strut top nut while palm rested on the shock tower. Shake the car, if there is a slack, that can be felt as a knock. This shows -although not proven- there is something wrong above the shocks upper half. You may also hear the simultanious knock normally can't be noticed from the all that squishing hydraulics. Or you may notice an obvious feel difference between left and right towers.
When I replaced my 200K km struts nothing has changed because shocks were still fine but it was the strut mounts that were bad. I'd just replace them, they are rubber intensive parts and are cheaper than the shocks. Also if there are rubber stoppers change them too (some are built in struts, some are attached to the plates). If front-end ever bottomed out they may be torn. You could need to remove the springs again for this 3-dollar part.
I learned this the hard way. After replacing the struts on my Buick Century at 80K (with KYB's) one of the front mounts/bearings began to make noise approx. 2 months later. I now need to have them replaced and I assume I'll need another alignment. At 165K I would DEFINITELY replace the mounts/bearings.
Rockauto had several for my application and I was surprised at the variation in price. Good luck.
I too learned this the hard way. I replaced the struts on my Toyota Cressida at around 155K (with KYB's GR-2). Now a couple years later the right front mount is cracked so bad the nut on top of the strut has risen up about 1/4" higher. Not making too much noise yet.
Now I'm finding it very hard to find aftermarket strut mounts for this car. Most of the online sources don't list having this application anymore.
I've wondered if one can take off the top nut from the strut and then remove the 3 nuts holding the mount to the car frame and be able to reach up and replace the mount without having to remove the strut assemble from the lower control arm?
I'm holding off as I may go ahead and replace the lower control arms so that I'll have new ball joints / bushings otherwise it seems I'll be back again to do the lower end bushings and ball joints in another year.
Now I'm finding it very hard to find aftermarket strut mounts for this car. Most of the online sources don't list having this application anymore.
I've wondered if one can take off the top nut from the strut and then remove the 3 nuts holding the mount to the car frame and be able to reach up and replace the mount without having to remove the strut assemble from the lower control arm?
I'm holding off as I may go ahead and replace the lower control arms so that I'll have new ball joints / bushings otherwise it seems I'll be back again to do the lower end bushings and ball joints in another year.
just wanted to answer this one real quick. theoretically it is possible, however you wil have to compress the spring with it still in the car, plus have it all line back up when you put the new mount on. for safety's sake definately remove the strut from the vehicle. also i always replace the top nut. on my track car, i keep a bag full of the nuts in my toolbox, they are nylock.
I would not attempt that method of replacing the strut mount in-situ. It does not sound safe. The spring, when fully extended, will extend above where it sits on the mount when the mount is installed on the strut. I don't know if the spindle could be pushed down enough to get the spring out of the way to get the mount out. Also you'd have to get the spring to seat properly on the new mount while lowering the vehicle to recompress the spring.
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