"Swayze Train GTi" (swayzetrain)
09/17/2015 at 14:03 • Filed to: None
2
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"Swayze Train GTi" (swayzetrain)
09/17/2015 at 14:03 • Filed to: None | 2
| 6 |
Our story begins as so many do, with an uninformed denizen of the internet casually spewing completely misinformed opinions presented as facts unto an audience who generally don’t know better. In this case, our slovenly armchair mechanic had a set of struts and springs for sale after having seen 80k miles. Obviously, they were listed as “Used: Good Condition”, because blatant lies are the official dialect of the internet. I am not proud to admit that I engaged in a small amount of argumentative discourse over the subject with him, to little avail. My only hope is that no one spends the money on what are likely shot shocks.
It was around this time that I the hypocrisy of my statement, given the fact that the front struts on my Oldsmobile likely had 120k miles on them, and furthermore, I actually had the new ones in my garage. So I purchased a coil compressor and set to work over the weekend, and it gave me an opportunity to showcase at least part why struts should be more present on your mind.
Firstly, Quick Strut kits are the way to go if replacing your standard Macpherson setup. They’re preassembled spring and strut packages, and they save you a lot of work. While my front springs were fine, my rears, which are mounted separate from the strut, could use replacement soon. Because of this, I figured I’d need coil compressors anyways, so I saved 80 bucks and bought just the struts. After three podcasts and as many beers, I’d spent as much time compressing and releasing the old springs as I did on every other step of the process (including pads and rotors). By the end my hands were more blackened and raw than the finest sturgeon caviar.
As you can see in the video, the struts that I pulled off the car were in pretty poor shape. Oh sure, they passed the bounce test, but only cause they hold oil. It’s the equivalent of your doctor walking in, taking your pulse, declaring your alive, and concluding your physical without even touching your balls as you cough. With the strut piston compressing from the top on these models, it’s unlikely that they’d ever lose oil and fail a bounce test. However, these oils degrade over time, and more importantly, so do the rubber valves and seals that keep them damping properly. You see, the strut plays the good cop to the springs bad cop. Without the strut, the spring bounces Riggs out and bounces uncontrollably. The regulated, fluid motion of the strut is what keeps the vehicle sprung comfortably.
One of the rear struts (replaced about 2 years ago), failed a bounce test due to having a hole in it, and thus no oil. Three different shops had told me the rear suspension was fine before I finally buckled down and learned about it myself.
With new dampers on all four corners, the Aurora is back to the riding as an Oldsmobile should, with optimum smoothness. So get out there and have a look at your suspension components. Grease up your zerks while you look for any signs of oil leaking from your struts. Even if you don’t see any, take note of the condition of the strut itself. Look at the spring fittings and make sure they’re clean, and the springs are in good shape. And don’t forget to get an alignment after you replace your struts.
Mattbob
> Swayze Train GTi
09/17/2015 at 14:30 |
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I found compressing the springs to be pretty easy, but then again I used an impact wrench on rented spring compressors (everything pointed away from me mind you)
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Swayze Train GTi
> Mattbob
09/17/2015 at 14:51 |
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An impact gun is one of those things that’s a constant on my Christmas list.
Urambo Tauro
> Swayze Train GTi
09/17/2015 at 15:48 |
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I had a neighbor who owned one of those. The crappy aluminum steering column broke at the pivot pin (bad design and/or material). If yours is still holding, make sure you don’t use the wheel for support when getting out of the car.
e36Jeff now drives a ZHP
> Mattbob
09/17/2015 at 16:18 |
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Cordless Impact guns are the tools of the Gods(for shade tree mechanics at least). I a one for my dad for Christmas a 6-7 years ago, that thing is worth its weight in gold. Its a Milwaukee that can do up to 600 lb ft, it pulls old stuck bolts out of the cars like it was nothing. Will 100% be the in the first round of tools purchased when I buy a house of my own.
TheJMan92
> Swayze Train GTi
09/17/2015 at 17:17 |
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They make everything so much easier. And sometimes so much easier to shear!
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Swayze Train GTi
> Urambo Tauro
09/17/2015 at 22:44 |
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Good to know, thanks. I have a similar problem in my Corvette, the previous owner was a jackmonkey and used to to get out of the car, and it’s got a bit of play. Come wintertime I’ll be tearing it apart and fixing it