Bent strut? - Suspension and Brake Forum

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Bent strut?
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 2:35 AM
Noticed some steering issues here lately, at speeds above 45mph it tends to drift off to the left or right if you don't keep the steering wheel pointed slightly in ether direction.. then I Noticed this...

Left side:


Right side:



My friend said a broken strut or strut mount?


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Re: Bent strut?
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 4:10 AM
im going to say control arm bushing
Re: Bent strut?
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 6:50 AM
Bad control arm bushings will cause the wheel to sit that far forward?


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Re: Bent strut?
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 4:46 PM
the back bushing could allow the arm to pivot forward a bit, dont know if that mich would come from that but jacking the car up would tell you.
Re: Bent strut?
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 9:31 PM
If a strut was bent, it would have pissed fluid everywhere as the tolerances are rather tight, and the amount your suspension is off I would say thats improbable.

Same with a mount, if it was bad, It wouldn't allow that much travel. And it would make a clunking noise while going over bumps.

Strut to spindle bolts, rear control arm bushings, improperly lined up subframe (bit of a stretch), tweaked frame (has the car been in an accident?), are all possibilities.

Jack the car up and visually inspect all suspension components, the issue is most likely VERY apparent. Good luck.



Re: Bent strut?
Wednesday, October 27, 2010 9:21 AM
and the control arm bolts have a specific torque reading as well.
Re: Bent strut?
Wednesday, October 27, 2010 10:37 AM
Well the transmission was replaced back in june-ish, but it hasn't had this issue till now.
It started happening after I changed the brake pads a few weeks ago,
Far as I can tell when the subframe was out for transmission swap it wasn't bent or nothing.

I know the bushings(just about everywhere) need changing bad, body has almost 215k on it.

It also does clunk every once in a while, but I've just gotten used to it.
I have to paint the steering knuckle/caliper today or tomorrow, I'll give it a good look about and see what I can find.


Is there any difference between 95-99 and 00-02 front struts?
I pulled some struts from a 01' at the junkyard 2 months ago.


<img src="http://www.majhost.com/gallery/HCAJosh/crap/shooshined.jpg">
- putting the pieces back together -

Re: Bent strut?
Wednesday, October 27, 2010 5:36 PM
Should be the same - be weary of scrap yard suspension bits. The cars are there for a reason.



Re: Bent strut?
Wednesday, October 27, 2010 7:56 PM
well I know the girl's car the struts came off of.
I looked at everything, doesn't appear to be anything broken or damaged,
if you grab the steering knuckle and move it around it moves slightly, and you can hear noise coming from the back control arm area/steering column, but I'm thinking its prob the control arm bushing.

Guess I'll pick some bushings up and see if that fixes anything.
Do you have to change both sides at the same time?


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- putting the pieces back together -

Re: Bent strut?
Thursday, October 28, 2010 7:00 AM
it would be better to change both sides at the same time



Re: Bent strut?
Thursday, October 28, 2010 10:00 AM
my clunk went away when i properly torqued the control arms.

Re: Bent strut?
Thursday, October 28, 2010 3:44 PM
Which is why I don't take my car to a shop unless absolutely necessary. Most mechanics in a shop don't give a sh!t and don't do it properly. Some of the better mechanics I have found work for themselves but you have to be very wary of the backyard mechanic that doesn't truly know what he is doing.


Whats up people?
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