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Broken rear strut mount


PTAaron

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I'm more or less a complete newbie to these cars - so bear with me if this is remedial.

 

I have a '94 Cutlass Supreme that I am borrowing from my inlaws. Since we got it it has had a clunk in the right rear - I assumed it was a strut bushing wearing out and was planning to replace it this coming weekend.

 

Today on the way home from work there was a new noise - sounded like something falling apart in the rear of the car, the clunking changed... and I knew something new had happened. I got home - popped the trunk and noticed I could no longer feel the top of the strut in the strut tower. Looking into the wheel well I see this:

E2C57237-4978-4505-88FD-135C010651BA-13637-00000BD4FD9688A0_zps0799c329.jpg

 

Clearly this means my strut mount is broken.

 

Question is - am I screwed here, or is this a part that can be replaced? It looks like there are 2 bolts in there, will they remove the whole mount? Google is not very helpful - my google-fu is not very strong today.

 

Easy fix, or am I in for a big ordeal? I just got the engine running perfectly... I was hoping to give this car back in much better condition than I got it - not in "junk yard" condition!

 

Thanks!

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yeah thats easy... provided the 2 bolts that hold the mount to the body don't break, if you live in a place that gets snow and salt a lot, soak the top of the bolts down in penetrant, but once those are out, just remove the strut and put a new mount on.

 

Probably best to 2 both rear struts and mounts though.

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yeah thats easy... provided the 2 bolts that hold the mount to the body don't break, if you live in a place that gets snow and salt a lot, soak the top of the bolts down in penetrant, but once those are out, just remove the strut and put a new mount on.

 

Probably best to 2 both rear struts and mounts though.

 

Thanks! That is what I was kind of gathering from searching around... I was hoping that it really was that simple. :thumbsup:

I ordered a pair of mounts with bushings, bearings, and bolts included - they should arrive Friday. I've also started soaking the bolts with PB blaster from inside the trunk - I'll reapply it every night this week, then the father in-law and I will do the replacement of both of the mounts Saturday morning (keeps fingers crossed that the bolts don't break).

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Is there a "How To" on replacing the rear struts on here anywhere? I really don't want to go out and buy the repair manual unless I absolutely have to.

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Chevrolet Lumina Remove & Replace Rear Struts

 

 

I watched part of the video. IMHO, use another jack or back-power to release the tension on the last bolt holding the rear spindle to the strut. :) I use another jack, or jack stand. :)

 

Also, Autozone has repair manuals on line. You need to sign up as a member (free) to get the links.

 

Also,

How To Install Rear Strut Shock Chevy Cavalier Sunfire 95-05 1AAuto.com

 

 

Good Luck!

Edited by Cutlass350
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Does the '94 Cutlass Supreme have leaf springs or coils in the back? If it has leaf springs, you don't have to worry about the coil spring install in the first video, just replace the strut assembly as shown in the 2nd video.

 

If it has coil springs in the rear, you're likely better off getting a full assembly.

Amazon shows the assembly below as compatible with the '94 Cutlass Supreme

 

41ujmj09OnL._SX342_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Monroe-171831-Quick-Strut-Complete-Assembly/dp/B000CD36D8/

Monroe 171831 Quick-Strut Complete Strut Assembly

Price: $92.76

Contains:

Bearing Plate

Upper Spring Isolator

Upper Spring Seat

Coil Spring

Boot Kit

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Replaced some parts today... For reasons mostly related to money and the fact that I'm trying to keep the car running long enough to save up for something else - I only replaced the mounts, not the struts.

 

The Passenger side - the one that fell apart - went pretty well, the mount came right off with no trouble. PB Blastering it 3 times over the course of the week seemed to have helped ;)

Once I got the mount off it was interesting to see just how damaged it was:

DA804D08-9EF5-4EBF-B229-A13E2A437C25-21359-0000122EDE471E89_zpsd29890cd.jpg

82755FE7-5B1E-4D5C-93C9-11C14532350D-21359-0000122EE7127E62_zpsa0f1aaa5.jpg

 

Getting the nut off the top of the strut was a bit of a challenge because the threads were destroyed from bouncing around, but we fixed them with a file. Put it back together without a hitch.

 

Switching to the Driver side was a whole different story... the mount there was only a little bit broken. We got it off the car very easily - but getting the nut off the strut turned into a nightmare. The allen hole at the top stripped out right away, so we tried slotting it to use a screwdriver... that stripped out. We ended up having to put the car back together and drive it over to my in-law's house to get out the "big boy tools":

4B65BEFC-4E48-487F-9503-27ED064B9104-21359-0000122EFB890228_zps519331e5.jpg

 

8B9C9B4E-E4E2-44B9-9979-E1BF40653411-21359-0000122F04BEE935_zps7779bf06.jpg

 

F39F7E3A-2AA8-4840-82D3-8DCE35E42E23-21359-0000122F0E1A2013_zps033e66b6.jpg

 

The rest went pretty easily...

 

Kind of nice to drive a car that doesn't bump, clunk, and squeal every time it hits a bump! It had apparently been like that for at least a year before I borrowed it!

 

Thanks for the help guys!

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