by Black Bob » Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:17 am
Update: had both of my front struts replaced yesterday by a friend. Definitely a better ride now! I was correct on 3 things though:
1) The strut that I thought was shot was DEFINITELY shot. Once taken off I could take my pinky finger and contract the piston with barely any effort.
2) I was correct that the Sport springs was the only thing supporting the passenger-front part of the car even though the car didn't bounce over rough road. To be more specific, over rough roads the tire bounced like it was on meth but the overall body of the car did not.
3) If you have the clamps/press to compress the spring and an impact wrench the struts are as easy to replace as the PDF manual suggests.
I got my 4 wheel alignment and oil change scheduled for Saturday morning at a shop down the street from me house (which means no binge drinking Friday night), so I should be right as rain in no time. While my friend had it up on the rack we inspected the ball joints and they looked good (hope I ain't jinxing meself!). I also took a look at the rear struts and I'm probably gonna have those replaced this Spring or Summer just so I don't wind up scrambling around at the last minute if one just suddenly fails again. One weird thing I did notice is that my whole steering gear assembly was not even rusted or dirty--from the gear to the boots to the tie-rods, everything looked brand new for whatever reason.
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