WTB: ANY struts or springs, lowering preferred

[NeFaRiOuS_SLE]

**MODS if this is in the wrong section please move**

Hi Everyone:

I got in an accident shortly before getting laid off last year; fixed the damaged parts up, but I still needed an alignment, but since I had zero money left after the deduction, I did a ton of driving afterwards, and the problem "went away" I never thought much of the issue.

However, recently my front tires worn down to the point of getting to the metal belt starting to expose, so I thought that the noise resembling a bald spot on the tire was just that... But since the car chewed through the last set of tires relatively quickly and the sound worsened today, I'm going to actually get it aligned.

Now after my long-winded diatribe, here's a few questions:

1. Is a DIY alignment severly complicated? The Haynes manual only suggested what you should tell the alignment shop, but I know that DIY alignments can be done; esp. the days before computer alignment.

2. How hard is it to replace your own struts/shocks?



**I ask the above 2 because I'm broke, but most importantly:**



MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: Does anybody have a set for sale? New, used with low miles, lowering (e.g. Tein/Tokico), stock/OEM, even something with the clearance of a tractor, even a referral to a place that has low prices, I'm not complaining. HOWEVER, I'll ONLY buy if ride quality has little/no difference from stock; my back is a bit messed up so ride quality is a priority to me, and the smooth ride is what compelled me to buy this car over other cars in the first place.

Again, I'm flat broke and the tires (though used but only 29/32) were already a huge setback for me, so if you can find it in your heart to cut me additional slack and sell it for the lowest you're willing to go, please do and I'll be forever grateful.

[woa_its_j3ff]

**MODS if this is in the wrong section please move**

Hi Everyone:

I got in an accident shortly before getting laid off last year; fixed the damaged parts up, but I still needed an alignment, but since I had zero money left after the deduction, I did a ton of driving afterwards, and the problem "went away" I never thought much of the issue.

However, recently my front tires worn down to the point of getting to the metal belt starting to expose, so I thought that the noise resembling a bald spot on the tire was just that... But since the car chewed through the last set of tires relatively quickly and the sound worsened today, I'm going to actually get it aligned.

Now after my long-winded diatribe, here's a few questions:

1. Is a DIY alignment severly complicated? The Haynes manual only suggested what you should tell the alignment shop, but I know that DIY alignments can be done; esp. the days before computer alignment.

2. How hard is it to replace your own struts/shocks?



**I ask the above 2 because I'm broke, but most importantly:**



MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: Does anybody have a set for sale? New, used with low miles, lowering (e.g. Tein/Tokico), stock/OEM, even something with the clearance of a tractor, even a referral to a place that has low prices, I'm not complaining. HOWEVER, I'll ONLY buy if ride quality has little/no difference from stock; my back is a bit messed up so ride quality is a priority to me, and the smooth ride is what compelled me to buy this car over other cars in the first place.

Again, I'm flat broke and the tires (though used but only 29/32) were already a huge setback for me, so if you can find it in your heart to cut me additional slack and sell it for the lowest you're willing to go, please do and I'll be forever grateful.

im a noob at installing things mywself, but doing the springs and struts with help from friend took me 2 days adn a total of about 14 hours..
1. the backseat is a PAIN to remove, not as much to put back... dont forget to remove interior trim pieces too lol... broken tabs WILL occur, but no worries..
2. the front is relatively super easy to do.
3. the biggest pain was the stripped allen socketmajiggs.... be ready to have to replace your sway bar end links. expect to pay about 40-60 bucks per link...


-- I have the stock OEM spring/struts. they have about 45k on them... PM me if interested..

[Gadgetjq]

Nefarious,

I'm sorry to hear about your issues but find it a little surprising alignment wasn't checked by whoever did the repairs. You might want to check with your insurance company letting them know something slipped by and they didn't get all they paid for. Maybe even call the shop where your repairs were made and tell them the alignment is off. You paid your deductible, the insurer paid for repairs someone should be making good. If you don't get any satisfaction let me try to offer a couple of suggestions.

1. A wheel alignment (front 2) will probably cost you about $50 if you shop a bit (I just checked prices here in the big city so if you live in a smaller town it could be a lot less). In any case an alignment is a whole lot cheaper than new tires.

2. If you install new struts you'll need an alignment for each corner you do anyway so you might want to have your local shop do an inspection first to see if you really need replacement struts or whether something else has been bent by the accident. There's no sense replacing the parts if something else is wrong.

3. In spite of what you see during a Nascar race, aligning wheels using a piece of string stretched between the front and rear tires just isn't feasable on a modern car. There's no way to accurately eyeball toe, caster and camber and get them all within factory tolerance. That said, you CAN purchase home alignment systems. Here's one link: http://www.smartracingproducts.com/alignment.htm I'm sure there are others at varying prices.

So, if I were in your situation I'd first head for an alignment shop for an inspection. Once you know what's been knocked out of alignment (or bent) you'll at least know what you're dealing with and can decide where to go from there. It sure beats going through another set of tires in a few thousand miles.

Cheers

[NeFaRiOuS_SLE]

Well, the repairs only cost me $700; see 4th paragraph down on this post for details (and yes, that's just ONE strut; the noise is coming from the other side). I was going to get everything else done at my next proverbial paycheck (I only had the stuff that made the car temporarily drivable fixed), but my final paycheck was handed to me 5 days after... Bastard won't keep me longer or give me severance pay, so it was a choice between survival or a well-oiled machine.

1. That's the price I got, but I'm trying to save money since I'm still broke, so I was trying to do it DIY if possible.

2. The tire place offered to do an alignment, but the struts are past due for a replacement; like I said it's starting to moan when I drive into driveways/dips/bumps, and the mechanic that fixed all the accident-damaged parts told me that everything else is fine; the damage was "surprisingly minor".

3. HFC you really need all that?? I'm trying to save money, not blow thousands doing it! It's not that I don't trust mechanics, I'm broke!

In regards to J3ff's posts:
1. No worries, I've installed my own speakers before, I know what it's like.
How much for the struts? I'll give it some thought, but I'm going to see if there are any lowering equipment for grabs.

[Ruski]

Dude i got struts and springs with about 60k on them , If you want them Shot me a Pm. i need to get rid of them taking up space any reasonable offer . Ill work with you, Btw the car was drive by mom and the owner before that was a women in her late 40s . so car was driven well then i got it and lowered it hehe

[NeFaRiOuS_SLE]

BUMP

Sorry about letting this slide for so long; just yesterday I was overdrawn by about $60, the money I DID save up for the suspension had to be used towards other bills, a new phone (used POS BlackBerry died last week) and a new set of headlights (burnt out Wednesday, ironically 3 weeks after aligning both lights).

With that being said, are the offers still good or anybody have any new deals?

[Ruski]

Dude Pm me we can work something out

[LatinUSMC]

i have a set of OEM struts(4) in good conditionw 6kon em... 80 if i deliver . 60 if you meet me by the 405 and the 101 since i live off topanga cyn 91304 west SFV............lemme know ..just tryng to help out.

[woa_its_j3ff]

i got some springs struts. around 45k on them. shipping is roughly 100. so let me know how much you want for it shipped.
PM me if anything man.

[indiglosolara]

I have a set of OEM struts and springs with only 10 k miles.. they original came off my solara.. and have been sitting ever since.. I sold the car with my tokico and Tein set-up so this is just sitting around..

Willing to let them go for $100.00
They are pratically almost brand new..

[DatSRBoi]

I got factory springs for free, you pay shipping.

[NeFaRiOuS_SLE]

^How about struts? I'm tapped out again.

[DatSRBoi]

^How about struts? I'm tapped out again.

I threw it at the shop that took it out for being stupid.