No wonder my strut mounts where makin horrid noises (56K...no way) - Page 2

xBlitzerx · 05-11-2007, 05:59 PM

I have a question. My front right is creaking. Since my car is in the shop right now (see my post in the other thread) I'm thinking of having the creak fixed.

Now my question is. Do I need all 4 done? Or just the front 2?
How much can I expect to spend?

myneedforspeed · 05-13-2007, 08:16 AM

Front two...got rid of my horrid creaking noises...and get ready to do this more than once.

05-17-2007, 02:51 PM

I hope this is all correct, cuz damn i have been fightin with my flippin eibach springs ever since i put them on 1 year and a half ago. Mine look like coupes. so i broke down and spent like 200 to replace everything. im thinking while im in there i may as well replace the shocks with the adjustable ones from pfyc. but well see. Im thinking bout the strut braces, i hear those are a night and day difference.

coupe · 05-17-2007, 05:02 PM

Strut tower braces? IMO you wont notice a thing.

AaronGTR · 05-17-2007, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozzy701

I hope this is all correct, cuz damn i have been fightin with my flippin eibach springs ever since i put them on 1 year and a half ago. Mine look like coupes. so i broke down and spent like 200 to replace everything. im thinking while im in there i may as well replace the shocks with the adjustable ones from pfyc. but well see. Im thinking bout the strut braces, i hear those are a night and day difference.

If you originally installed the eibachs with stock struts, and your strut mounts are now shot, you probably didn't install them correctly. Either something wasn't lined up properly or you didn't lube the mount or didn't torque the nut correctly.

You'll definitely notice a handling difference with the KYB AGX struts combined with the eibachs. You would notice some improvement with strut braces as well, but nothing like the difference the other stuff will make. If you're getting stiffer springs and struts though I would recommend getting the braces eventually.

CUSTOMGAGT2000SEDAN · 07-07-2007, 10:31 PM

question. i have those billet front strut tower area covers, mine will not snap in flush or completely. the gap they are supose to smap it too is not equal all the way around .

i was told by the maker of them . to loosen up the 3 tower bolts jack up ? or not to jackup ? the car and just move the stut assembly or top part of the upper mount, so the gap that the caps snap into is equal all around the grey painted inner wheelwell tower hole.

with out messuring exactly ,right now gap can vary around 1/8th an inch or less . an a neighbor say when you loosen up thos three top mount strut bolts the room for adjustment is not much larger the the bolts that go threw those 3 holes.

also when i do this movement will i then need alignment for that much and type of movement. another description is like a smaller circle inside a larger circle with un-equal space between the 2 circles.

my 2000 gagt only has 75,000 klms. not drive during winters either. yes i feel and hear that movement and pop or thump when driving over ruff spots etc on roads. but i do not think it's real bad at all. you either have to know ga's well or be a mechanic to even know it is a problem. what effect will my small movement of strut assembly in the inner wheel well framing of the car have on that thump or poping.

i too have the stut bars you see in this thread but nut installed yet. i can send photo's of the tower gap i am talking about to anyone who can help. just do not know how to post photo's on websites .

i am pretty sure my struts mount tops do not look that toast as the above photo's show nor rusted like that or would think they would not be gouged like that. my struts and coils etc and top of stuts all though still on car are all still nice and shiney semi-gloss blk.

mjtr21 · 07-26-2007, 11:51 AM

okay i was wondering if i would need new strut mounts. on my car it makes a thumping noise when i turn the steering wheel left and right. so i jacked up the front end and had my brother turn the steering wheel for me and i could see the strut mounts turning and everything but i noticed that when it makes the thump noise, the coil jerks. so i was thinking there is something wrong with the upper strut mount. maybe the coil isnt stopping at the stop on the mount or something. i was reading in a previous post that somebody greased their mount. is that possible or do i have to get new mounts. also how much would it cost to get this done at a shop. i am not good with suspension repairs

. and sorry for hijacking this thread. please and thank you.

coupe · 07-26-2007, 12:06 PM

If it where me i would take out the strut/spring assembly, dismantel all of it and inspect.

Bouchie11982 · 07-29-2007, 07:54 PM

well i definately need new strut mounts.....but the dealership is retarded. im sure you read the thread Rand on GAOC

so ive decided to look into lowering the car. ive been thinking of Eibach and KYB
i know my strut mounts must look liek what yours did Rand HAHA they've definately sound like they've goten worse since June. and my car has like 40,8xx miles on them and the strut mounts are bad.

Shadowfaxgt1 · 08-02-2007, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryanbgb22

well im planning on attempting a spring/strut install as soon as my struts arrive in the morning. So what i gather from this thread is that the top of the spring has to line up with the stop on the strut; and after doing this you just let the bottom go where ever it ends up?
Is there anything else i should watch out for, and whats with the greese, is that necessary? Any last minute advice would be appreciated.

I'm not trying to be a wiseass but that grease will attract road dirt and grime and you'll find yourself in the same prediciment. You can put a light coating on but that is too much.

Shadowfaxgt1 · 08-02-2007, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CUSTOMGAGT2000SEDAN

question. i have those billet front strut tower area covers, mine will not snap in flush or completely. the gap they are supose to smap it too is not equal all the way around .

i was told by the maker of them . to loosen up the 3 tower bolts jack up ? or not to jackup ? the car and just move the stut assembly or top part of the upper mount, so the gap that the caps snap into is equal all around the grey painted inner wheelwell tower hole.

with out messuring exactly ,right now gap can vary around 1/8th an inch or less . an a neighbor say when you loosen up thos three top mount strut bolts the room for adjustment is not much larger the the bolts that go threw those 3 holes.

also when i do this movement will i then need alignment for that much and type of movement. another description is like a smaller circle inside a larger circle with un-equal space between the 2 circles.

my 2000 gagt only has 75,000 klms. not drive during winters either. yes i feel and hear that movement and pop or thump when driving over ruff spots etc on roads. but i do not think it's real bad at all. you either have to know ga's well or be a mechanic to even know it is a problem. what effect will my small movement of strut assembly in the inner wheel well framing of the car have on that thump or poping.

i too have the stut bars you see in this thread but nut installed yet. i can send photo's of the tower gap i am talking about to anyone who can help. just do not know how to post photo's on websites .

i am pretty sure my struts mount tops do not look that toast as the above photo's show nor rusted like that or would think they would not be gouged like that. my struts and coils etc and top of stuts all though still on car are all still nice and shiney semi-gloss blk.

I'd like to see pics....not sure I understand. There should be no adjustment with the three strut mount bolts. The camber is not adjustable in the front or the rear. The toe is adjustable at both ends.

The struts are actually very simple to do. Buy a shop manual and follow the directions.

A best practice is to change your strut mounts each time you change the struts (you can purchase some moog mounts faily cheep versus OEM). Consider, you are changing your struts at say 70k to 100k miles. The next time you will change your struts will be about the same. If you do it yourself it is not a real big deal but if you are paying a shop, chances are you are going to replace those mounts before the strut wears again. Now you are paying labor to take it all out again and you now have to decide if you want to replace the struts again. Pay me now aor pay me later type of thing.

Shadowfaxgt1 · 08-02-2007, 06:00 PM

Example....I had a 2000 GA GT and a 2002 GA GT1. I replaced all of the mounts with the GR-2 struts on the 2000 at 80k. When I did the the 2002 I decided to go the cheap route and just replace the struts with GR2s (at 97k miles). Needless to say I ended up replacing the mounts at 150k miles. I decided to put new GR2s on and do a complete rear suspension rebuild because of the sqeaking and thumping. I replaced the lateral links, trailing arms, bushings, springs, struts and mounts. Cost me about $650 in parts and I did the work myself. The 2002 has 157k miles on it now and I plan on doing a complete front end build on that also. Here are some pics I took.

All of the parts laid out.....

Removing the lower bolts. The first time I did these I thought there would be a camber adjustment on the bolts so I marked them with white out.

Strut spring compressors with the strut assembled.

Assembled rear strut and spring

Installation complete........

You can see how baldly cracked the bushings were on the lateral links......

CUSTOMGAGT2000SEDAN · 08-07-2007, 03:52 PM

that photo of comptessed put together strut asembly has at the bottom of coil a blk plastic covering with slices in it around coil bottom. that different from my factory flatter piece of clear plastic just on the lower part of the coil.. did you make theat and add it or was it part of the setup you bought.

CUSTOMGAGT2000SEDAN · 08-07-2007, 04:20 PM

shadowfazgt1 what is your email i will send you photo's of the uneven gap that needs to be set even in order for my billet stb caps to snap in fit.

also mjtr21... i once had a zipper noise in my sterring when i turn steeering back and fourth quickly even with car sitting. they replace a seal etc and it was gone. at that same time show the dealer that noise i pointed out in clunked hard when turning whell back and forth fast. thus thouht both noises were the steering system.

but as you point out it sounds like my strut mounts making the clunking when wheels / steering wheel is turned / rocked back and forth quickly left to right.

because as you say the struts move with the turn of the wheel. something i did not know..

while driving i rarely if ever turn the steering hard or fast enough to hear this clunking .

but do hear it when going over bumps or rocks etc like others hear it, bigger the bumps more i hear it . nothing to loud sounding atleast from the inside of the car with windows up or down.

. my car 2000 gt 75,000 klms only no rusting mounts etc . i spray lubes up there every once in a while like i do other parts of the car.

i could have had struts or mounts or both done under warranty but thought not too much noice and thought i would replace struts and mounts with better equipmment later down the road.

i am rather anal thus less folks fooling with my car the better . less other damages get done while trying to fix the things it goes in for.

mjtr21 · 08-10-2007, 04:23 PM

yeah my car kinda sounds like its clunking. if i turn the wheel to the left, all the way to the stop, it will do the noise about 3 times. and the same for the other way. i had my brother get in the car and turn the wheel and i can feel the clunk in the spring and up on the mount but im trying to figure where exactly my problem is. i was thinking my problem was inside the strut mount. which part inside the mount would be causing this? i read that there are bearings inside the mount, so could these be worn out? if so would i be able to replace just the bearings or would i need the whole mount? what are the different parts inside the mount? there is the plate, and bearing as far as i know.

05-17-2007, 05:02 PM	#24
coupe lick it AKA: Rand Join Date: May 2003 Location: Grand Rapids, Mi Age: 40 Posts: 7,347 Vehicle: 99 GAGT/96 Z71/05 R6	Strut tower braces? IMO you wont notice a thing. __________________ CarDomain.com http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...endID=31690558 he has asserted his dominance over competing males with the loud masculine sound form his exaust system, Females searching for a potential mate will be driven away by weaker exaust systems and attracted to his SLP.

07-26-2007, 12:06 PM	#28
coupe lick it AKA: Rand Join Date: May 2003 Location: Grand Rapids, Mi Age: 40 Posts: 7,347 Vehicle: 99 GAGT/96 Z71/05 R6	If it where me i would take out the strut/spring assembly, dismantel all of it and inspect. __________________ CarDomain.com http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...endID=31690558 he has asserted his dominance over competing males with the loud masculine sound form his exaust system, Females searching for a potential mate will be driven away by weaker exaust systems and attracted to his SLP.

07-29-2007, 07:54 PM	#29
Bouchie11982 Look What I can Do! AKA: Katie Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Chicopee, MA Age: 38 Posts: 870 Vehicle: 2009.5 Pontiac G8	well i definately need new strut mounts.....but the dealership is retarded. im sure you read the thread Rand on GAOC so ive decided to look into lowering the car. ive been thinking of Eibach and KYB i know my strut mounts must look liek what yours did Rand HAHA they've definately sound like they've goten worse since June. and my car has like 40,8xx miles on them and the strut mounts are bad. __________________ -=Katie=- RED SOX FOREVER!

08-02-2007, 06:00 PM	#32
Shadowfaxgt1 GAGT - Member AKA: Bill Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 39 Vehicle: 2007 Cobalt SS/SC	Example....I had a 2000 GA GT and a 2002 GA GT1. I replaced all of the mounts with the GR-2 struts on the 2000 at 80k. When I did the the 2002 I decided to go the cheap route and just replace the struts with GR2s (at 97k miles). Needless to say I ended up replacing the mounts at 150k miles. I decided to put new GR2s on and do a complete rear suspension rebuild because of the sqeaking and thumping. I replaced the lateral links, trailing arms, bushings, springs, struts and mounts. Cost me about $650 in parts and I did the work myself. The 2002 has 157k miles on it now and I plan on doing a complete front end build on that also. Here are some pics I took. All of the parts laid out..... Removing the lower bolts. The first time I did these I thought there would be a camber adjustment on the bolts so I marked them with white out. Strut spring compressors with the strut assembled. Assembled rear strut and spring Installation complete........ You can see how baldly cracked the bushings were on the lateral links...... Last edited by Shadowfaxgt1; 08-02-2007 at 06:07 PM.

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05-11-2007, 05:59 PM	#21
xBlitzerx GAGT - Newbie AKA: Dave Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Windsor, Ontario Age: 40 Posts: 12 Vehicle: '03 GAGT1 4dr	I have a question. My front right is creaking. Since my car is in the shop right now (see my post in the other thread) I'm thinking of having the creak fixed. Now my question is. Do I need all 4 done? Or just the front 2? How much can I expect to spend?

05-17-2007, 02:51 PM	#23
ozzy701 Guest Posts: n/a	I hope this is all correct, cuz damn i have been fightin with my flippin eibach springs ever since i put them on 1 year and a half ago. Mine look like coupes. so i broke down and spent like 200 to replace everything. im thinking while im in there i may as well replace the shocks with the adjustable ones from pfyc. but well see. Im thinking bout the strut braces, i hear those are a night and day difference.

07-07-2007, 10:31 PM	#26
CUSTOMGAGT2000SEDAN CUSTOM gagt BADHABIT AKA: Troy Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Dartmouth Nova-Scotia Canada Age: 59 Posts: 1,185 Vehicle: 2000 Grand Am GT Sedan	question. i have those billet front strut tower area covers, mine will not snap in flush or completely. the gap they are supose to smap it too is not equal all the way around . i was told by the maker of them . to loosen up the 3 tower bolts jack up ? or not to jackup ? the car and just move the stut assembly or top part of the upper mount, so the gap that the caps snap into is equal all around the grey painted inner wheelwell tower hole. with out messuring exactly ,right now gap can vary around 1/8th an inch or less . an a neighbor say when you loosen up thos three top mount strut bolts the room for adjustment is not much larger the the bolts that go threw those 3 holes. also when i do this movement will i then need alignment for that much and type of movement. another description is like a smaller circle inside a larger circle with un-equal space between the 2 circles. my 2000 gagt only has 75,000 klms. not drive during winters either. yes i feel and hear that movement and pop or thump when driving over ruff spots etc on roads. but i do not think it's real bad at all. you either have to know ga's well or be a mechanic to even know it is a problem. what effect will my small movement of strut assembly in the inner wheel well framing of the car have on that thump or poping. i too have the stut bars you see in this thread but nut installed yet. i can send photo's of the tower gap i am talking about to anyone who can help. just do not know how to post photo's on websites . i am pretty sure my struts mount tops do not look that toast as the above photo's show nor rusted like that or would think they would not be gouged like that. my struts and coils etc and top of stuts all though still on car are all still nice and shiney semi-gloss blk.

07-26-2007, 11:51 AM	#27
mjtr21 V6 HO AKA: Mike Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Cornwall, Ontario Posts: 121 Vehicle: 1999 Grand AM GT	okay i was wondering if i would need new strut mounts. on my car it makes a thumping noise when i turn the steering wheel left and right. so i jacked up the front end and had my brother turn the steering wheel for me and i could see the strut mounts turning and everything but i noticed that when it makes the thump noise, the coil jerks. so i was thinking there is something wrong with the upper strut mount. maybe the coil isnt stopping at the stop on the mount or something. i was reading in a previous post that somebody greased their mount. is that possible or do i have to get new mounts. also how much would it cost to get this done at a shop. i am not good with suspension repairs . and sorry for hijacking this thread. please and thank you.

08-07-2007, 03:52 PM	#33
CUSTOMGAGT2000SEDAN CUSTOM gagt BADHABIT AKA: Troy Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Dartmouth Nova-Scotia Canada Age: 59 Posts: 1,185 Vehicle: 2000 Grand Am GT Sedan	that photo of comptessed put together strut asembly has at the bottom of coil a blk plastic covering with slices in it around coil bottom. that different from my factory flatter piece of clear plastic just on the lower part of the coil.. did you make theat and add it or was it part of the setup you bought.

08-07-2007, 04:20 PM	#34
CUSTOMGAGT2000SEDAN CUSTOM gagt BADHABIT AKA: Troy Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Dartmouth Nova-Scotia Canada Age: 59 Posts: 1,185 Vehicle: 2000 Grand Am GT Sedan	shadowfazgt1 what is your email i will send you photo's of the uneven gap that needs to be set even in order for my billet stb caps to snap in fit. also mjtr21... i once had a zipper noise in my sterring when i turn steeering back and fourth quickly even with car sitting. they replace a seal etc and it was gone. at that same time show the dealer that noise i pointed out in clunked hard when turning whell back and forth fast. thus thouht both noises were the steering system. but as you point out it sounds like my strut mounts making the clunking when wheels / steering wheel is turned / rocked back and forth quickly left to right. because as you say the struts move with the turn of the wheel. something i did not know.. while driving i rarely if ever turn the steering hard or fast enough to hear this clunking . but do hear it when going over bumps or rocks etc like others hear it, bigger the bumps more i hear it . nothing to loud sounding atleast from the inside of the car with windows up or down. . my car 2000 gt 75,000 klms only no rusting mounts etc . i spray lubes up there every once in a while like i do other parts of the car. i could have had struts or mounts or both done under warranty but thought not too much noice and thought i would replace struts and mounts with better equipmment later down the road. i am rather anal thus less folks fooling with my car the better . less other damages get done while trying to fix the things it goes in for.

08-10-2007, 04:23 PM	#35
mjtr21 V6 HO AKA: Mike Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Cornwall, Ontario Posts: 121 Vehicle: 1999 Grand AM GT	yeah my car kinda sounds like its clunking. if i turn the wheel to the left, all the way to the stop, it will do the noise about 3 times. and the same for the other way. i had my brother get in the car and turn the wheel and i can feel the clunk in the spring and up on the mount but im trying to figure where exactly my problem is. i was thinking my problem was inside the strut mount. which part inside the mount would be causing this? i read that there are bearings inside the mount, so could these be worn out? if so would i be able to replace just the bearings or would i need the whole mount? what are the different parts inside the mount? there is the plate, and bearing as far as i know.