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I have a 2011 Town and Country (70k miles) and I had a clunking develop on the driver's side a few months ago. I figured out that the strut bushing/bearing was the cause and the clunking was the spring winding up a little and then releasing.

I sprayed some spray lube in the top and the clunking went away for a while. It came back a few weeks ago and I finally got around to replacing the struts. What I found was that on both of the front struts, the spring had slipped off of the top pad that it rests on.

My question is: What could cause this to happen to both of the struts? Is there something more systemic that could be causing this that I would want to fix as well?

Here is a picture of the old strut next to the new one. enter image description here

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From the detail in the image it looks like the top part of the spring is broken and has fallen out.

The final turn of the spring should have a diameter smaller than the rubber pad so it sits on it and the left hand image is not smaller...

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  • I'll have to look closer when I get home and see if it was broken. The spring is crooked on there so I thought it shifted and that is how it fell off. But your explanation would make sense.
    – Andy
    Aug 14, 2018 at 15:22
  • The end against the rubber on the left-hand image looks pointed as well - normally they have a "square cut" end...
    – Solar Mike
    Aug 14, 2018 at 15:33
  • Sorry took so long to get back. This looked like the case on both of the struts. While odd they both failed relatively close to each other, but that was the case.
    – Andy
    Aug 24, 2018 at 20:28
  • It may be a local weakness created during the manufacturing process. Some models get known for it and then an aftermarket make gets the rep for a good replacement. Hope it sorts out for you.
    – Solar Mike
    Aug 24, 2018 at 20:45

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