Aboom

I just bought this car 2 days ago. The day I test drove it and then bought it, I drove on relatively smooth roads. That drive was nice and quiet. The next day however, I was driving on a rougher road on the way to work. It has lots of patches in the asphalt that are a little bumpy. Every bump there was somewhat of a loud "popping" sound at the right front.

Once home, I took the right front wheel off. Nothing looked out of the ordinary except the "boot" on the upper end of the strut was detached at the bottom where it meets the lower half of the shock. From that point downward was what appeared to be leakage that had caught dust and so forth.

When grabbing the rotor and working it up and down the shock "clunked" a little. By hand, I wasn't expecting to get that much play. So i think i can count on buying a strut. Any recommendations on a particular brand? Also, Is it important to do the other side at the same time? Thanks for any input.

audiophool

Always replace shocks in pairs - front pair or rear pair. Ideally, all at once.

ripley

Since you are under there it might be good to check out all the other components for wear as well (grab and shove).

It's often too late once the strut is off but you its worth checking the top mount for bearing condition.

I used an ebay strut compressor on mine - essential tool.

What Mr Phool said is gold. If the shocks are different in behaviour left and right, the braking becomes a really marginal proposition - never mind the handling.

seanjordan20

When I change struts I do them as an assembly. That way is easier for me than having to compress the springs but everyone has there way of doing things. No way is wrong.

Aboom

I honestly forgot to update this thread since life has been hectic since I started it....but anyway, here's what I discovered:

The "popping" I described turned out to be a loose and bent passenger side front stabilizer link. I ordered a new one, it arrived and when I got it home, i matched it up to the old one and found it was obviously the wrong part. I ended up taking out the "bad" one beat it straight with a hammer (with care) re-installed and it's been ok for nearly 2 months now.

FormerE30Owner

That's good.
BTW, you need to "repair" your V6 and make it an L6 as that is the original design.