pitzel Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 (edited) Finally replaced my struts, ostensibly to address a rear "creaking" noise, and discovered that there were no pads underneath the monoleaf spring. In other words, the monoleaf ends were rubbing against the metal directly, and approximately 1/8th of the thickness of the tips of the monoleaf has been obliterated. I threw a set of Moog K6544 inserts in there, and the noise stopped. My question is just how bad have I compromised the life of the system/car by leaving this issue probably for 30-40k miles, with worn struts? Should I be shopping for a new monoleaf at the junkyards at this point? Or if I keep an eye on the K6544 pads, will I probably be okay for a while? Has anyone seen a case of the spring failing due to tip rub? I see a few old Luminas from time to time that are dragging right on the ground almost -- probably just months away from the crusher in most cases. Edited May 16, 2014 by pitzel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfewtrail Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 The springs on those Luminas you see are likely just weakened over time. So long as the spring doesn't have the car sagging badly or it's not cracked up to the point where you can hear it popping or binding, it's generally going to be ok. I'm not sure if you're aware of it or not, but some people have claimed the plastic isolators have damaged their springs. There's a thread about it likely in this section withing the first few pages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitzel Posted May 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 Yeah I just saw those threads (after I ordered the pads). But how else to get rid of the noise? Damned if you do, damned if you don't. And its not going to be easy to remove them. Funny thing is, ACDelco literally has them branded with their identity as well: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=356401&cc=1223233 I guess I'll have to keep an eye on it, might have to look at the Dormans: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=617059&cc=1223233 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfewtrail Posted May 17, 2014 Report Share Posted May 17, 2014 Yeah I just saw those threads (after I ordered the pads). But how else to get rid of the noise? Damned if you do, damned if you don't. And its not going to be easy to remove them. Funny thing is, ACDelco literally has them branded with their identity as well: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=356401&cc=1223233 I guess I'll have to keep an eye on it, might have to look at the Dormans: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=617059&cc=1223233 If the plastic actually causes an issue the dorman or OE(if still available) rubber would be the best option. I've had plastic insulators on one of my cars for a few years now. I'll pull them out soon and see what condition the spring is in. The plastic has less "give" than rubber, so they probably do stress the spring a little more. Couple that with a an already high mileage spring that might not be in such good shape and that could explain why some think they're damaging their springs. I know before I installed mine, the spring on my car was in great shape. The rear doesn't sag and there's no visible cracking at all. I've had a spring fail years ago on my '93 SE. It was cracked up rather badly around 200,000 miles. Under a good amount of weight transfer the cracked pieces eventually split and would rub against each other. That created a nice popping noise that could be felt all the way into the front of the car. I recall thinking it was something around the subframe area making the noise before I looked at the rear way back then(2000 or 2001). Besides the one car I mentioned, I have another in the family w/ the plastic isolators on it. They've been there a good two years or so. I'll pull them out soon as well to look at it and report back my findings in this thread or the one mentioning the isolator spring damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitzel Posted May 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2014 Hmmm. I guess I could probably put a set of calipers on mine and actually measure the gap. If it gets larger, I know its the pads and should seek out the Dormans. The Moogs/plastic blocks were so easy to install though while the others seem a bit more complicated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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