NVMY03GT Posted April 23, 2007 Report Posted April 23, 2007 Guys - I have a clunk on my rear end. Only on a slow roll. It could be in reverse or drive as long as Im rolling. My initial thought is struts first because I can see the boot dangling off the strut which tells me the mount is most likely shot also, which leads me to my next question. do they make the mounts and the struts as one or are they two seperate pieces? I've been trying to read as much info as possible on this project and Im scared to try it, but at the same time it has to be fixed but if I take it to a shop it could be $300-$400 depending upon what they all find wrong. I think I need rotors and pads on the rear first because I think the strut caused a negative camber causing the rotor to warp as well. Any other idea what it could be on a thumping noise back there? Can't hear the noise at normal road speeds only when slow roll. Quote
terryk2003 Posted April 23, 2007 Report Posted April 23, 2007 hmm...what kinda car do you have!?...that might be helpful in determining your problem... Quote
FordBoy Posted April 23, 2007 Report Posted April 23, 2007 what do you have? GP, CS, regal, monte come on give something to help determine the prob. Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted April 24, 2007 Report Posted April 24, 2007 I dont think a worn strut will give you brake problems. Everything, brake wise is attached to the knuckle, so if the knuckle is out of adjustment, the brakes will follow the knuckle, but wont wear any different. More than likely im going to say the strut mounts, but then again theres so many things that would/could make noise. Quote
NVMY03GT Posted April 24, 2007 Author Report Posted April 24, 2007 I dont think a worn strut will give you brake problems. Everything, brake wise is attached to the knuckle, so if the knuckle is out of adjustment, the brakes will follow the knuckle, but wont wear any different. More than likely im going to say the strut mounts, but then again theres so many things that would/could make noise. Well the strut boot itself is basically hanging in Mid Air, Its in the middle of the struts thats why Im guessing Its also struts, plus when you push down on the rear of the car it bounces continuously. LOL! Ive been quoted a few different ways. Tires plus wanted $258 in labor alone to do the rear of the car. That was ANY parts. Another quote I got was a personal friend said he would do it for $60.00 I pay for the parts. Of course I would do the strut AND the mount just to make sure its done right. The tire on the Driver rear is WAY out of wack balding on bother inner and outter. I think it may be just a gimp tire, but as many things as I have going on back there its really hard telling. When the brakes get warm the car shakes to hell when Im slowing down. I checked to see if it was the caliper and the caliper appears to be functioning fine. The pads look okay they don't appear to be worn or anything. I haven't checked the front yet. The prior owner before me said she just did brakes on it, but Im not sure if that means pads and rotors, just pads and turned rotors or what the hell "I did brakes means". Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted April 24, 2007 Report Posted April 24, 2007 Well if you replace the struts yourself ( which is really easy, its just 4 bolts ) youll need a rear wheel alignment anyways, which is about $60. So that will take care of any misaligment you might think you have. But really, I would advise you do to this yourself. It is a very easy job to put new rear struts in. jack the rear of the car up, take off the wheel, take out the two lower bolts, then the two upper bolts on the strut mount, and theres there blown strut out of the car! Then to put one in, just do the reverse. Quote
NVMY03GT Posted April 24, 2007 Author Report Posted April 24, 2007 LMAO 200,000 Mile car and the strut is going to come out that friendly? Doubt it! Ive heard those bolts are a BITCH to get off. I could attempt to do it myself my fear is Im going to snap something . Not to mention even with some type of lubricant I know the bolts are going to move very friendly. Also someone told me you DONT need to do an alignment on the rear when doing the rear struts? Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted April 24, 2007 Report Posted April 24, 2007 trust me, with a breaker bar and a pipe, anything will come off. use some PB blaster, that stuff is tits! And wrong, you DO need a rear alignment after doing the struts. Why? Because the bottom bolt hole is elongated to adjust the camber. And chances of you putting to back together within the spec is slim to none. Quote
slick Posted April 24, 2007 Report Posted April 24, 2007 what do you have? GP, CS, regal, monte come on give something to help determine the prob. Umm... as long as its a first gen(which he posted that is is), it's all the same stuff. Quote
NVMY03GT Posted April 24, 2007 Author Report Posted April 24, 2007 trust me, with a breaker bar and a pipe, anything will come off. use some PB blaster, that stuff is tits! And wrong, you DO need a rear alignment after doing the struts. Why? Because the bottom bolt hole is elongated to adjust the camber. And chances of you putting to back together within the spec is slim to none. LMFAO!!! Yeah I understand on the breaker bar and the pipe. I guess Im more scared than anything Im sure watching someone do it once Ill be like damnit I should have done that. Its just a daily driver I don't want to mess it up (worse) than what it is. Speaking of which. On the strut lower bolts Obviously Right tighty lefty loosey as your looking AT the bolts. But what about on top of the strut tower which direction do you look at it from? Quote
GutlessSupreme Posted April 24, 2007 Report Posted April 24, 2007 But what about on top of the strut tower which direction do you look at it from? always look at the stud pointing at you, ie pretend you're looking down through the rear window at them. from the rear of the car facing forward you'd be turning them towards the driver's side to loosen. Quote
NVMY03GT Posted April 24, 2007 Author Report Posted April 24, 2007 But what about on top of the strut tower which direction do you look at it from? always look at the stud pointing at you, ie pretend you're looking down through the rear window at them. from the rear of the car facing forward you'd be turning them towards the driver's side to loosen. Agreed the only thing I get confused on is the brakes I burned myself because the bolt is on the back side This was on a previous car. Quote
FordBoy Posted April 24, 2007 Report Posted April 24, 2007 what do you have? GP, CS, regal, monte come on give something to help determine the prob. Umm... as long as its a first gen(which he posted that is is), it's all the same stuff. my bad but the fist post says nothing about what gen/what car it was Quote
NVMY03GT Posted April 24, 2007 Author Report Posted April 24, 2007 update - Im not sure if this helps. But every time I go over a bump I can feel a REALLY FAST VIBRATION back there and it makes a weird noise. I thought when Struts go bad, the car will sit way lower or when you got around corners it will lean WAY too one side? The car handles like its on rails its just whenever I go over bumps it feels bouncy and obviously the noise when rolling. Does this help at all? Quote
Dark Ride Posted April 24, 2007 Report Posted April 24, 2007 what do you have? GP, CS, regal, monte come on give something to help determine the prob. Umm... as long as its a first gen(which he posted that is is), it's all the same stuff. LOL OWNED! and you tried to make the Newbie look bad Quote
toms92gpse Posted April 25, 2007 Report Posted April 25, 2007 It seriously is easy to do your rear struts. Like 19Cutlass94 said, a breaker bar, peice of pipe, and pb blaster is all you need. I didn't even need the Pb blaster on mine and it was the origionall with about 120k when i did them. You just need to have a little confidence in yourself. Quote
NVMY03GT Posted April 25, 2007 Author Report Posted April 25, 2007 It seriously is easy to do your rear struts. Like 19Cutlass94 said, a breaker bar, peice of pipe, and pb blaster is all you need. I didn't even need the Pb blaster on mine and it was the origionall with about 120k when i did them. You just need to have a little confidence in yourself. Well Struts and brakes are what make me nervous everyone talks about using 6 point bolts on these in risk of breaking them. Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted April 25, 2007 Report Posted April 25, 2007 you wont break the sockets. Ive used 12pt and 6pt. The only reason to use 6pt over 12pt, is 6pt theres less of a chance of rounding. But if you have the correct size, you will not need to worry about this anyways. Quote
NVMY03GT Posted April 25, 2007 Author Report Posted April 25, 2007 you wont break the sockets. Ive used 12pt and 6pt. The only reason to use 6pt over 12pt, is 6pt theres less of a chance of rounding. But if you have the correct size, you will not need to worry about this anyways. Well the bottom bolts should be fairly ease you couldn't break those if you tried unless the screw turns in the hole LOL. The tower bolts are the ones I've heard of breaking. On the bottom ones you should be turning counter clockwise like turning the ratchet INTO the car like towards the inside of the car and the one on the tower your turning towards the inside of the trunk. Correct? Again the Center bolt in the middle of the tower? What is it Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted April 25, 2007 Report Posted April 25, 2007 The bottom bolts, by the knuckle, you should be turning into the car to break them loose. The tower bolts, you should be turning towards the front of the car to break them loose. If you turn the to the trunk, you will be tightening. The center bolt in the middle of the mount is what holds the strut to the mount. Quote
NVMY03GT Posted April 25, 2007 Author Report Posted April 25, 2007 The bottom bolts, by the knuckle, you should be turning into the car to break them loose. The tower bolts, you should be turning towards the front of the car to break them loose. If you turn the to the trunk, you will be tightening. The center bolt in the middle of the mount is what holds the strut to the mount. Well technically if your turning in towards the trunk you would be turning towards the front of the car Ithink if the ratchet hand is towards you I think wait.. Im confused Okay so do the mounts first correct? Bolt the mount in with the center bolt and then get the strut bolted up follwing that right? Quote
19Cutlass94 Posted April 25, 2007 Report Posted April 25, 2007 For the mounts, turn the ratchet like your walking around the car from the drivers rear to driver front to the passener front to the passenger rear. You want to remove the lower bolts by the knuckle first. Then remove the to two top bolts. This will remove your strut completely. Once you have this out of the car, remove the center bolt on the top of the mount to seperate the strut from the mount Quote
toms92gpse Posted April 25, 2007 Report Posted April 25, 2007 It seriously is easy to do your rear struts. Like 19Cutlass94 said, a breaker bar, peice of pipe, and pb blaster is all you need. I didn't even need the Pb blaster on mine and it was the origionall with about 120k when i did them. You just need to have a little confidence in yourself. Well Struts and brakes are what make me nervous everyone talks about using 6 point bolts on these in risk of breaking them. The only thing i've broke sockets on is the crank pulley when i was trying to do my ud pulley. Quote
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