Hot answers tagged suspension
7
It is always recommended to replace suspecsion and braking components on both sides of the same axle at the same time, wherever possible.
Both will currently be the same age - if one has failed, it is likely that the other is in a similar condition and so could easily fail soon. In the case of springs, the constant flexing of the metal can eventually lead ...
7
Driving at a right angle will make the front and then the rear move further up and down than travelling over one wheel at a time, but that movement will be in one plane.
Driving diagonally puts more stress on the chassis as it tries to twist first one corner then then next. The car will not move up and down so much, but will move sideways a lot more.
So of ...
6
The front suspension has a lot of travel (e.g: bumps are fairly
comfortable, but the car is 'rebounding' for a long while after the
bump.)
I'm going to go ahead and call it: you've used up your shocks.
A lot of people forget that a shock (aka strut aka damper depending on your particular flavor) is a consumable part. It exists to damp out the ...
6
Usually the bolts that strut braces attach to are the ones that attach the strut assembly to the car. The spring is held in place in the strut assembly by the nut in the middle, which I have never needed to remove to install any strut braces. See how the brace below has a hole in the middle for the top shock nut:
This shock nut holds the upper spring ...
6
The weight of the car will be sufficient to keep the spring from decompressing fully and pulling out the bottom of the strut frame in the car.
You must be careful not to jack the car up without the bolts secured tightly though, this could produce a dangerous situation. Also if you are ever working on the 'southern' half of the spring, where it interacts ...
6
What is a shock absorber?
I'm going to answer the basic title question with a carefully selected quote from the great Wikipedia:
... their intended sole purpose is to dampen spring
oscillations.
Think of how you want your car to ride when driving down a smooth road that has a bump or pothole. You expect to feel a mild jolt when the car travels ...
6
The only thing I see of any real concern here would be the left rear toe - it's off enough to possibly cause some tire wear. However, since it can't be adjusted, your best bet is to just rotate the tires regularly (every other oil change is a good rule of thumb) and keep an eye out for wear. You didn't say which Nissan you're driving, but I'm assuming it's ...
5
Normally strut failure makes it to where they are ineffective in dampening the movement of the vehicle on the springs.
This wouldn't cause a "rough" ride but in fact the opposite making it very soft and wavy. Where you'd hit a bump and the car would bounce multiple times as it settles back down on the springs. The strut reduces that movement allowing the ...
4
I don't know the specifics of that car, so I'm going to take a stab and assume we're talking about coil springs.
Springs only squeak where they contact something else, which is why spraying them didn't help. If you can't see anything else in contact with the spring have a look at the top and bottom seats. Those seats sometimes wear. Not necessarily all the ...
4
There's an excellent Subaru parts catalog online. I think this is the drawing you want. I'm not sure what you mean by "front" bolt, though -- isn't one directly above the other?
4
In my experience, Polyurethane bushes last longer than standard rubber ones, as the plastic doesn't perish in the same way that rubber does.
As you mention, there is a price to this, as they are generally harder than the equavalent OEM bushes, however many manufacturers offer a variety of stiffnesses, depending on the intended use - some of the softest ones ...
4
Replacing shocks on a 1994 vehicle sounds fairly reasonable (assuming that they were the original shocks). I tend to agree with the alignment shop that you needed to replace those before doing anything else. I replaced my wife's struts not too long ago and one was completely collapsed - on her car, that has a distinct effect on the camber of the wheel.
In ...
4
Wakeeta is right: this is your stabilizer bar link (AKA sway bar link). This is apparently a common failure point. Here's a very similar picture. A quick shopping search indicates that a replacement part is on the order of $30 (sweat equity not included).
3
Without knowing the cause, it's hard to say whether or not it is a safety issue, but it could be - it would be worth it to take it to a mechanic to determine the cause.
It might be as simple as a loose muffler hanger, or it could be a broken strut or something else that could let go and leave you stranded.
3
It could be various things:
loose fixing on a strut
worn damper washers
broken or loose mount points
damaged universal joint
And various others.
I would definitely recommend getting it checked out, as if it broke at speed and was a component that keeps the wheel in contact with the ground then steering could get...interesting, with the front left ...
3
when you describe "rough ride" most people associate that with stiffer than normal suspension and uneven road conditions making their way all the way from the wheel to your butt. In other words, any unevenness in the road makes it uncomfortable or difficult to drive. Reading your post, sounds like that's not your problem.
If you have a constant vibration ...
3
I've owned several FWD cars and the clicking, especially while turning or accelerating, is a pretty sure sign of a CV (constant velocity) joint going. So if your mechanic told you "joints," +1 to that.
Further info:
You can usually drive a ways (5000mi/8000km) before the sound becomes unbearable. I never got past the clicking phase, but I'm told you ...
3
You are very close to answering your own question:
... what can i do to reduce the swaying?
What you're looking for is an upgraded sway bar. This is "... usually a torsion spring that resists body roll motions." This is in contrast to a strut bar "... designed to reduce ... strut tower flex by tying two parallel strut towers together."
In general, ...
3
The vibration at speed is very unlikely to be the alignment.
I would suggest getting your tires balanced. The most likely cause is that one is slightly out - perhaps a tire-weight fell off, or the wrong weight was put on last time you changed tires.
-
Bad alignment will eat your tyres faster than good alignment, but if all the shops you have been to say ...
3
Absolutely - I've never done the work on a Civic, but you're probably going to have to take them off to swap the bush. I'm in the UK, but those LCA's are coming in at £100 ea, so at those prices, you could do the work yourself and get shiny new arms and bushes for half the price of what the shop is quoting.
Personally, as it's a 20 year old car, I'd just ...
3
If you really believe there's something noticeably wrong, ask the dealer if you can test drive an identical vehicle with a technician in the car with you. Then drive your car the same route at the same speeds with the same technician. If there's truly a noticeable difference, he'll be more inclined to admit it.
Otherwise, it's a very subjective thing to ...
2
Claptrap is on the money with grease points, but many modern cars don't have them, and I can't speak to how the Wrangler is setup. That is the perfect starting point, though.
The next step would be to spray down all the rubber mounting points (suspension bushings, shock mounts, etc) with white lithium grease to see if that quiets it down at all. I fear ...
2
Talking a look at the article some of the items you can check yourself, for example the ball joints. Other balancing and alignment actions require special equipment. I would suggesting taking that list and checking everything you are able to on your own first. Your Hayne's Manual should walk you through steps to check the suspension parts.
2
tl;dr: Consider new tires instead.
If you provided a little more information, the answers might be more focused.
That said, here are my short answers: No and too much.
Longer answer:
Let's think about some goals and parameters:
How rough is "a little rough"? Annoying for you? Or just the passengers? Are you losing fillings? Teeth?
Do you care ...
2
If all you are doing is changing the boots (and not removing the tie rod ends), then no, it probably isn't essential to have the alignment done. However, alignment changes over time as various things wear and get damaged by the roads, potholes etc, so I'd get it done anyway.
It is also worth making sure that the grit hasn't worked its way into the balljoint ...
2
I am a bit confused by your question, but I am going to attempt to guess...
If your actual axle moved back:
Put a block in the front to keep tires from rolling, lift the rear of the truck, place on jack stands, and use the jack(Assuming its on wheels) to maneuver the axle until aligned where you want it. The jack stands will keep the truck airborne, and then ...
2
What's actually worn? Are the original springs damaged?
Normally the wear part is the shock absorber so unless you're trying to achieve other goals at the same time (like improving the handling/lowering so it'll hit every speed bump etc), I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense to change out struts and springs.
Given that Monroe makes a bunch of ...
2
Based on my experience, I'd suspect the strut bearing plates if it has struts in the front (I'm not familiar with that particular model)... Those plates usually last about 5-10 years, then start falling apart. Makes snapping/banging/sometimes even grinding noises when turning. Eventually the steering will start to bind up and popping noises will start.
2
You have a couple of simultaneous questions going on here:
You have an older / non-new car. Should you have to replace the shocks?
Shocks wear out over time and mileage. I'm going to be replacing the wife's shocks this weekend (assuming they arrive on schedule). The existing shocks have at least 50K miles on them so they're at the end of their expected ...
2
One of the most common cause of broken springs are worn out struts. It is possible that the struts are bottoming out. Does the car have alot of body sway while cornering? Does it keep bouncing if you push down on the bumper real hard 5 or 6 times? Is the rubber suspension stop damaged or missing? Notice any oil stains on the strut body? Any of these are ...
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