Ah, shit.

"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa) 08/09/2014 at 22:57 • Filed to: None

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The Buick is starting to hemorrhage money and I dunno if I can keep it on the road. Left-rear air shock appears to be biting the dust, and the car now lists like a sinking ocean liner. Also both of my rear hubs are complete crap, and the car shakes at almost dangerous levels, and pulls hard to the left when I brake on brakes less than two years old.

And I'm about to start college which means driving it at least 50 miles a day. Fuck.

Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/09/2014 at 23:02

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Here's what you do:

weld the dif

weld the shocks

weld the hubs

weld the brakes

weld the steering wheel

weld the campus

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur 08/09/2014 at 23:02

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I see no problems with this.

Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/09/2014 at 23:03

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I mean if it's daily'd you gotta have a welded dif, duhhh

especially when it's FWD

JGrabowMSt > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/09/2014 at 23:07

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1) new rear struts. Monroe Quick Struts will make that a very easy job. Slightly pricier than struts alone, but way better in the long run.

2) 4 new wheel bearings. Might as well make sure you wont have to do it again.

3) alignment. Absolutely necessary.

Rock Auto is your friend. Look at surrounding areas for a cheaper alignment. Can be done, even on a college budget.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > JGrabowMSt 08/09/2014 at 23:10

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How about "no budget"? I've got no job, and my parents are broker than I am; they're in the negatives. I'm kinda boned. Just gotta hope it won't fall apart on the highway, and I guess I can kiss autocross goodbye as well.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/09/2014 at 23:18

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Just do what I do:

Hope nothing falls off/breaks/explodes on the highway or any other road.

#oldGMvehiclelyfe

PS9 > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur 08/09/2014 at 23:24

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Those last three will probably be the most problematic.

Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur > PS9 08/09/2014 at 23:27

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But also the best for performance. Easily adds 300hp

JGrabowMSt > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/09/2014 at 23:31

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Time for a job. Search for the parts on amazon, rock auto and other sites. Get an idea of what you need in order to finish the job, and start saving up.

I commuted to college for 5 years, had 1-2 jobs at the same time. No walk in the park, but it worked out.

PS9 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/09/2014 at 23:32

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If it tries to set itself on fire, you could change your name to 'My Buick Is Too A Real Supercar'

All Motor Is Best Motor > Velocity- Peuguette Connoisseur 08/09/2014 at 23:33

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Okay, you made me genuinely laugh pretty hard.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Logansteno: Bought a VW? 08/09/2014 at 23:34

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Looks like almost $200 for new hubs and a shock conversion kit. Ugh.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > JGrabowMSt 08/09/2014 at 23:35

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Looks like it'll be $200 for a strut conversion kit and rear hubs. Then I have to try putting it all on myself (hah).

For an extra $100 I could have slotted and drilled brake rotors as well, but I don't think so.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > PS9 08/09/2014 at 23:36

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Then Doug and I could hang out and talk about our Ferraris.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/09/2014 at 23:45

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Just do a little at a time.

My vans needed a bunch of work for a while. It runs like shit, but hey, it's still runs and starts and drives every day without hesitating.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Logansteno: Bought a VW? 08/09/2014 at 23:48

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It's just frustrating because it used to be INDESTRUCTABLE but now all of a sudden everything's gone to shit at once. I think we've spent twice the car's value in repairs in the past 20 months.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/09/2014 at 23:49

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I know that feel bro.

How many miles? And how old is it?

Usually once you hit that ~250k miles or 20 year old mark, stuff starts going down hill.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Logansteno: Bought a VW? 08/09/2014 at 23:52

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around 220,000 miles, 14 years. Several accidents.

It all leads me to wonder why we bother, but we sure can't afford to replace it with anything. *MAYBE* I could save up and buy a Buick LeSabre parts car my friend has and replace the front clip with my intact front clip and end up with a running car (a nicer one, at that), but I doubt it.

JGrabowMSt > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/09/2014 at 23:57

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It's a buick, not a mercedes, no reason to use anything other than stock rotors. Drilled and slotted just cost more money. If anything, you could go for slotted rotors, but drilled rotors can damage much more easily, so I don't recommend them.

If you use Monroe Quick Struts for the rear, you unbolt the old assembly, and bolt the new one in. There's no spring compression business at all. Much safer. If you have access to another car, you can take the hubs off the rear of your car, and take the new wheel bearings to a shop and ask them to press them in. I've done this before, and it's never a super expensive thing. Look at garages at gas stations instead of places like Midas, they're far more likely to help you out. Pulling the rear hubs isn't that big a deal, especially if you're doing the whole strut assembly at once. In fact, doing the whole job at once will make it very easy to pull off. Do it on a week day, and early, so you can get the bearings done, and the whole car back together.

What state are you in by chance? Wondering how close you are...

Viggen > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/09/2014 at 23:59

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Listing like a sinking ship? Counter ballast! All ahead full!

Nah, just kidding. Hope you're able to sort the car out.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/09/2014 at 23:59

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S0 it's had a hard life.

Sounds like me and you are in the same boat here. Keep dropping cash into our clunkers a little at a time because we can't afford something else.

Time to start saving for that parts car, or maybe something else.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > JGrabowMSt 08/10/2014 at 00:09

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I'm in the smack middle of Kansas. With school starting soon this is something I'd have to order the parts Monday and hope they get here by Saturday so I could do it all over the weekend. I'd have to buy/borrow a torque wrench and hope to GOD that the rotors come off easily so I can get to the hub. Just watched some videos on how to replace the hubs on these cars and it looks like an enormous pain in the ass due to rust.

Funnily enough, the Monroe struts are the cheapest thing I could find so I'll definitely be going that route. Will it change how my car handles?

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Logansteno: Bought a VW? 08/10/2014 at 00:09

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Monday I'll probably go see the condition of the parts car and see what's going on. I'm already going to be buying a bumper from him.

JGrabowMSt > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/10/2014 at 00:37

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It'll be a whole new assembly. The only car I have that can use quick struts has never seen autocross or anything else. They're good stuff though. Great for DD use at minimum.

Once you take the wheel off, caliper and rotors should come right off. Once that's done, the wheel hub is the next visible part, when that comes out, the bearing should be immediately visible. I can't think of any reason why the hub wouldn't come right off..

Keep blocks handy to rest the brake caliper on, that way, you can take the entire shock tower out, wheel hub and all, to make it easier to work with. if it's really stubborn, take the whole thing to a shop and tell them what you need to do.

The order you'd have to attack things specifically is:

1) remove wheel

2) Remove rear sway bar if you have one

3) remove brake caliper and rotor

4) unbolt the wheel hub from the strut assembly, take it to replace the wheel bearing

5) unbolt the strut tower from the trunk

6) install the new parts and follow the checklist in reverse to put everything back in.

It'll be about a day, maybe two to get the whole job done if you're not used to it. I'm all the way out in NJ, so unfortunately no chance I could come help out.

To make life easy, if you borrow or rent a torque wrench, get a can of PB Blaster while you're there. If anything wont budge, PB blast it, smack it a couple times with a hammer, and try again. Should come right off in most cases. Best $5 towards any project with a car is a can of PB Blaster before you even start. I keep a can in my toolbox that stays in the trunk.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > JGrabowMSt 08/10/2014 at 00:44

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Awesome advice. Hopefully I'll have a $500 landslide soon that'll fix these issues as well as my rear bumper cover.

deekster_caddy > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 08/10/2014 at 07:02

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owning a car requires money for maintenance, no matter what kind of car it is! Get a job!