it's been between -20 and -30f some mornings here in maine and when it is, the rear struts freeze and when i hit little bumps its like i have no suspension... this mean my struts are blown? i have an 03 with 82k
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A simple check on suspension parts is to push 1 time on the corners and the car should only bounce just once.Now I will not say that cold temps do not affect suspension bc it does on my old 87 mazd trk until I drive it for a while.While most manuf recomm replacing struts/shocks every 25000 miles and agree based on exper.Granted the temps u have are extreme and greatly affect the (how do I put this) loosness or normal performance under normal conditions.Unless u noticed alot of bounce,poor braking (nose dive on the front end) when stopping the struts may be just so cold they are not reacting normally due to coldness.You can always use a shop light with a standard bulb place at ur strut for a while on both sides when u have the time get the metal hot and see if this helps the clunk in those temps.I would think the cold is hurting them and just not working as normal based soley on that.I would still do a check and see if the car bounces up and down one time,and with ur mileage it prolly would not hurt to repl the struts anyway.
I have the same problem, I live up in Northern Canada, It hit -30 to -40 @ times. At those temps it feels like Ive got cut coils stiff suspension. Plus my rear struts are no good. As ron was saying its the winter weather temps. I am guessing really nothing really could be done, Once of those things of winter unless you keep youre car in a inclosed garage.
It could also be the tires you're driving on...... all-seasons start to freeze and harden around -7 Celsius.. at -30 - -40 it can feel like your'e driving a wagon..... I don't notice it much with my winter tires..
For me, this is usually a sign that I need to kick a load of snow out of the wheel wells again. You would probably know if this was your problem for no reason other than the extra noise.
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